Unhappy Chairman

[melonhead]

ouch - no wonder hes got no money left for us

[Northern Git]

And a bit more bleak news from SJM's print empire.

http://www.printweek.com/bulletin/printweekdailybulletin/article/1110677/goodhead-group-proposes-pay-cut-20/

Seems he has finally had enough of p*ssing his cash up the wall. Will be interesting to see how this one goes. I think the 'only £2,000,000 away from a profit' statement is quite frankly laughable.

Goodhead Group proposes pay cut of up to 20%

By Jo Francis Thursday, 05 January 2012

Goodhead Group employees have been asked to take a pay cut in order for the business to continue as a self-supporting entity.

The announcement, which was anticipated in a letter to staff last week, was made this morning by chief executive David Holland.

He told workers that a pay cut of "more than 10% but not more than 20%" would be required.

Sources close to the company said that owner Sir John Madejski is unwilling to continue bankrolling the business using his personal fortune.

However, Holland told PrintWeek that Sir John would continue to support the £68.5m turnover group "as long as it's on the right track".

"We are about £2m away from making a profit on a regular basis, and that's an imperative rather than an aspiration," he said.

"The important thing is we are not looking at savings through redundancies. We are still on a growth path and we are not looking at cutting capacity.

"We can improve our performance and are looking to reach an accord," he added. "The message is we have to have a self-supporting business. But we still have someone standing behind it."

An employee committee is being formed to consult on the proposals and determine the percentage of the pay cut. There will then be a secret ballot of all staff to determine whether employees are willing to accept the cut.

[Tilehurst End]

He told workers that a pay cut of "more than 10% but not more than 20%" would be required.

Would be interesting to see how some of these badge kissing, "love the club" footballers would react in a similar position.

[Terminal Boardom]

So, in a nutshell, the only profitable business that SJM has been involved in was when he set up Auto Trader in the 1970s/80s and sold his share for a reported £166m there or thereabouts. Meanwhile, the rest of his investments and businesses are all losing money hand over fist. Does this explain why he has never taken part in Dragons Den?

He got lucky once. End of!

[FiNeRaIn]

So, in a nutshell, the only profitable business that SJM has been involved in was when he set up Auto Trader in the 1970s/80s and sold his share for a reported £166m there or thereabouts. Meanwhile, the rest of his investments and businesses are all losing money hand over fist. Does this explain why he has never taken part in Dragons Den?

He got lucky once. End of!

Bit of truth in this in all honestly. He's made some really poor investments which he was given the benefit of the doubt over at the time.

[RoyalBlue]

He told workers that a pay cut of "more than 10% but not more than 20%" would be required.

Would be interesting to see how some of these badge kissing, "love the club" footballers would react in a similar position.

Like those badge kissing "love the club" footballers, I should imagine those workers that have value/talent will leave and join another employer, just as soon as they are able to.

And we all know what happens when you lose your most valuable/talented staff.

[Extended-Phenotype]

So he's cutting cloth on another of his businesses.

The man should be a f/cking tailor.

[Bowman's Quiver]

He told workers that a pay cut of "more than 10% but not more than 20%" would be required.

Would be interesting to see how some of these badge kissing, "love the club" footballers would react in a similar position.

Like those badge kissing "love the club" footballers, I should imagine those workers that have value/talent will leave and join another employer, just as soon as they are able to.

And we all know what happens when you lose your most valuable/talented staff.

Were it that easy!.

Most printing operations these days work on the law of diminishing returns. Across the sector it's an industry in crisis and many of these places are leveraged to the hilt.

The £2 million the CEO of Goodhead reckons the Group is away from making a profit might as well be £20 million. The only way companies are making any profits - or in most cases minimising losses - is by cuttings costs. And that invariably involves staff reductions.

Newspaper and commericial print centres across the country are closing at an alarming late. There's nowhere for many of these valuable/talented staff to go, as the likes of David Holland know and exploit only too well.

[melonhead]

he made a business gamble, and a poor one, knowing what we all do now about digital media, and the demise of the printed word.

c'est la vie though. thats what happens when you take business risks in the hope of making a profit

if i were him id get the oxf*rd out now before i lost even more

[Royal Rother]

So, in a nutshell, the only profitable business that SJM has been involved in was when he set up Auto Trader in the 1970s/80s and sold his share for a reported £166m there or thereabouts. Meanwhile, the rest of his investments and businesses are all losing money hand over fist. Does this explain why he has never taken part in Dragons Den?

He got lucky once. End of!

Interesting. Most self-made millionaires "got lucky" with something that took off. But when it does take off it takes a helluva lot of steering to keep it on track and maximise its potential. And (apparently) for every successful business a serial entrepreneur builds, he will have had circa 10 that failed. In fact I believe as many as 30% of UK millionaires have been bankrupt at some point, higher in USA.

SJM (and perhaps RFC) "got lucky" in that (as far as we know) it was one of his first ventures that took off and exploded... law of averages suggests he was always going to have some failures to follow. Fortunately he has kept his senses when it comes to running RFC.

[Extended-Phenotype]

^^^ Not entirely true. There is still a market for print based media; it’s just shrunk.

They said Vinyl would die, but it’s still going.

[Extended-Phenotype]

That depends on your running costs, doesn't it? The Metro doesn't even charge for it's paper and makes a great profit.

[Terminal Boardom]

I know a bit about printing and it isn't cheap. The internet has been a large factor in the demise of the print industry. Anyone remember the size of the Reading Yellow Pages directory 10 years ago? Compare it with now. The consumables cost a fortune. The price of ink some 10 years back was something like £80 a gallon! Paper isn't cheap either and involves a hell of a lot of shipping. Presses aren't cheap either and require an enormous amount of investment to keep them running. Throw in the global financial mess and it doesn't need anyone with a University degree to understand the shrinking value of SJM's business empire. Hence his gamble to get into property. At least at RFC there are assets that have been sold to ensure the club stays solvent and it is quite a long time since he, personally, put any money into the club.

Does Reading FC actually require further investment? Is SJM in a hurry to sell the club? Is there any pressure on him to do so? I would suggest that in all three the answer is no. SJM has done well out of being Chairman of RFC. Sure as anything that he would never have had the media exposure had he not been the Chairman for 20 plus years.

[Terminal Boardom]

That depends on your running costs, doesn't it? The Metro doesn't even charge for it's paper and makes a great profit.

It's a free newspaper, they probably outsource the printing, and take advantage of the market where there's not enough demand compared to the supply.
So they can print cheaply at placed like SJM's printing company, and make a profit.

Isn't the Metro published by the same group that publishes The Express? If so, they will have their own presses - as all newspaper publishers do. They may issue it as a loss leader or the advertising revenue generated covers the costs. Newsprint (the paper used) is crap quality and subsequently cheaper than the stuff that would be used to print a glossy magazine if you were comparing similar print runs.

[Extended-Phenotype]

The point is you said print was dead, when it quite clearly is still a profitable enterprise if you adjust for the market changes.

Not everybody has, or wants a Kindle.

[melonhead]

Fcuk off kindles

[FiNeRaIn]

Fcuk off kindles

lol!

Seriously though...kindles are brilliant for the world. Both for the enviornment( save the amazon) and also for the average user. Benefits all round. Apparently there is a colour one available now?

[Extended-Phenotype]

Ideal:

Printed newspapers are in fact dying.

>> Not denying print businesses are collapsing. Just stating the industry is not dead, profits are still there to be made and are being made by those who adjust their business model to cope with the new market.

Even the simpsons ran a gag a few years ago, where that "ha-ha" kid pointed at some newspaper dude and shouted "ha ha, your medium is dying!".

>> Wouldn’t know about that as I get my business and finance news from Peppa Pig.

[mr_number]

That depends on your running costs, doesn't it? The Metro doesn't even charge for it's paper and makes a great profit.

It's a free newspaper, they probably outsource the printing, and take advantage of the market where there's not enough demand compared to the supply.
So they can print cheaply at placed like SJM's printing company, and make a profit.

Isn't the Metro published by the same group that publishes The Express? If so, they will have their own presses - as all newspaper publishers do. They may issue it as a loss leader or the advertising revenue generated covers the costs. Newsprint (the paper used) is crap quality and subsequently cheaper than the stuff that would be used to print a glossy magazine if you were comparing similar print runs.

Apparently the Guardian is about to shut it's own presses and outsource printing to save money.

[Bandini]

Fcuk off kindles

lol!

Seriously though...kindles are brilliant for the world. Both for the enviornment( save the amazon) and also for the average user. Benefits all round. Apparently there is a colour one available now?

Very good.