Thank you RBS

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Brown and Boris

Original Poster:

11,800 posts

236 months

Monday 16th March 2009
quotequote all

Just heard that RBS have pulled the plug on a local business, putting 500 people on the dole, including my sister in law and nephew. Company was just in profit ( £1.7M last year)and has plenty of work but poor cashflow.

Just as well the same criteria wasn't applied to them when they came with the begging bowl to protect their bonuses.

Landlord

12,689 posts

258 months

Monday 16th March 2009
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What does pulling the plug mean? Recalling an overdraft or recalling a mortgage or both?!

Can they not finance elsewhere? Just interested, really.

Jasandjules

69,982 posts

230 months

Monday 16th March 2009
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Sad times.

It's not going to be easy to kick start the economy if they won't lend to small businesses.

Anyway, isn't it one of the terms of the bail out that they have to keep money flowing?

10 Pence Short

32,880 posts

218 months

Monday 16th March 2009
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Brown and Boris said:
Just heard that RBS have pulled the plug on a local business, putting 500 people on the dole, including my sister in law and nephew. Company was just in profit ( £1.7M last year)and has plenty of work but poor cashflow.

Just as well the same criteria wasn't applied to them when they came with the begging bowl to protect their bonuses.
I sympathise, condolences to your family.

What isn't always obvious at first is the real situation of the company, though.

Take Wrekin, for example. They had a forward order book of more than £2m and people blamed RBS for pulling the plug due to nothing more than cashflow. Then it transpired that Wrekin owed the tax man more than £3m and much of the company's asset value was in fact a mysterious ruby worth £11m which has yet to surface and doesn't seem to exist.

AlexKP

16,484 posts

245 months

Monday 16th March 2009
quotequote all
Jasandjules said:
Sad times.

It's not going to be easy to kick start the economy if they won't lend to small businesses.

Anyway, isn't it one of the terms of the bail out that they have to keep money flowing?
500 isn't small. The knock on effect of such a closure will be substantial to the local economy and many families.

I find it hard to believe that the banks are still being allowed to behave like this.

revrange

1,182 posts

185 months

Monday 16th March 2009
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Yes but I thought Gordon had saved the banks and kick started lending!

Did he lie to us?

Sorry to hear that, the banks are saving their own skins and are now going to spend the next three years getting out of state ownership as fast as they can, so they can go back to their good old days.

This means more charges, higher rates of interest on loans etc. Makes me sick when RBS just had a cash flow issue it got to carry on just fine, although i know being a bank its a "special" case.

loafer123

15,455 posts

216 months

Monday 16th March 2009
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anonymous said:
[redacted]

cardigankid

8,849 posts

213 months

Monday 16th March 2009
quotequote all
Brown and Boris said:
Just heard that RBS have pulled the plug on a local business, putting 500 people on the dole, including my sister in law and nephew. Company was just in profit ( £1.7M last year)and has plenty of work but poor cashflow.

Just as well the same criteria wasn't applied to them when they came with the begging bowl to protect their bonuses.
This is precisely the sort of thing which you can expect to result from the irresponsible manner in which the government has pumped our money into the Banks, making the recession worse not better. This should get maximum publicity, whatever the facts because we would benefit from the debate.

And before some tt tells me I don't know what I'm talking about I have suffered as well, as have many, and we face the triple whammy of inflation, higher taxes, and being shafted through harder banking terms. Brown is an utter fool.

Edited by cardigankid on Monday 16th March 09:23

emicen

8,601 posts

219 months

Monday 16th March 2009
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10 Pence Short said:
Brown and Boris said:
Just heard that RBS have pulled the plug on a local business, putting 500 people on the dole, including my sister in law and nephew. Company was just in profit ( £1.7M last year)and has plenty of work but poor cashflow.

Just as well the same criteria wasn't applied to them when they came with the begging bowl to protect their bonuses.
I sympathise, condolences to your family.

What isn't always obvious at first is the real situation of the company, though.

Take Wrekin, for example. They had a forward order book of more than £2m and people blamed RBS for pulling the plug due to nothing more than cashflow. Then it transpired that Wrekin owed the tax man more than £3m and much of the company's asset value was in fact a mysterious ruby worth £11m which has yet to surface and doesn't seem to exist.
Exactly, define pulling the plug? Recalling an overdraft, increasing an overdraft's rate or something else?

Doesnt change the fact unemployment is a terrible thing, especially 2 people being hit within the same family.

siscar

6,887 posts

218 months

Monday 16th March 2009
quotequote all
Brown and Boris said:
Just heard that RBS have pulled the plug on a local business, putting 500 people on the dole, including my sister in law and nephew. Company was just in profit ( £1.7M last year)and has plenty of work but poor cashflow.

Just as well the same criteria wasn't applied to them when they came with the begging bowl to protect their bonuses.
'Pulled the plug', what does that mean exactly?

Cashflow is all that matters, you can make a thumping great loss and still survive, you can make a profit and still fail, it's all about having the cash. I'm not sure why that's the bank's fault through, if you run your business such that you run out of cash that's nothing to do with the bank. It's only the bank's fault if they withdraw a facility they had previously agreed to.

10 Pence Short

32,880 posts

218 months

Monday 16th March 2009
quotequote all
emicen said:
10 Pence Short said:
Brown and Boris said:
Just heard that RBS have pulled the plug on a local business, putting 500 people on the dole, including my sister in law and nephew. Company was just in profit ( £1.7M last year)and has plenty of work but poor cashflow.

Just as well the same criteria wasn't applied to them when they came with the begging bowl to protect their bonuses.
I sympathise, condolences to your family.

What isn't always obvious at first is the real situation of the company, though.

Take Wrekin, for example. They had a forward order book of more than £2m and people blamed RBS for pulling the plug due to nothing more than cashflow. Then it transpired that Wrekin owed the tax man more than £3m and much of the company's asset value was in fact a mysterious ruby worth £11m which has yet to surface and doesn't seem to exist.
Exactly, define pulling the plug? Recalling an overdraft, increasing an overdraft's rate or something else?

Doesnt change the fact unemployment is a terrible thing, especially 2 people being hit within the same family.
It could be refusing to supply new debt, could be cancelling overdraft and so on. My point is that there may be many factors that aren't in the public domain and that it might just not be the bank's fault after all.

Losing your job stinks, I was made redundant in December, but it's not fair to blame RBS without the full facts.

Fittster

20,120 posts

214 months

Monday 16th March 2009
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anonymous said:
[redacted]
What do you think the purpose of banks is and how should the behave?

Dracoro

8,691 posts

246 months

Monday 16th March 2009
quotequote all
Can it (or rather SHOULD it) be argued that there may be a shift and companies should look again at running at a cash flow they can afford. i.e. like you or I having a little saved up so that we don't have to borrow everytime we need some more cash.

Obviously, this isn't appropriate to all and many companies need large cash injections to fulfil a profitable order and may not have vast sums saved to finance that, but on smaller scales this should certainly be possible.

There are many companies out there who don't use overdrafts/loans and suchlike and survive and flourish.

As with the public, most people borrowed and spent during the boom years rather than saved for these current rainy days. The problem is, Gordon Brown was the worst at this boom, borrow, spend ethos and that *culture* spread through the country and now we are all suffering.

This all may or not be the case with the OPs post but there is more to the story than we know I think. They made £1.7m profit and they can't ride out the storm???? Why can't that £1.7m finance the new work? Can't they just take smaller orders that they can afford with their £1.7m? Many questions unanswered here.

s3fella

10,524 posts

188 months

Monday 16th March 2009
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"pulled the plug" is what crap managers and business owners use as a term to absolve themselves from any blame for what happened.

I am sorry that your family members lost their jobs, but you can be sure that the bank are absolutely not repsonsible for the fiduciary duties of the business.

That Wrekin report made me laugh too, what a load of twaddle. Massive laibilities, no cash, depreciating assets and no sales worth a damn, and it is all the Bank's fault....

Brown and Boris

Original Poster:

11,800 posts

236 months

Monday 16th March 2009
quotequote all
s3fella said:
"pulled the plug" is what crap managers and business owners use as a term to absolve themselves from any blame for what happened.

I am sorry that your family members lost their jobs, but you can be sure that the bank are absolutely not repsonsible for the fiduciary duties of the business.

That Wrekin report made me laugh too, what a load of twaddle. Massive laibilities, no cash, depreciating assets and no sales worth a damn, and it is all the Bank's fault....
I think you may be right as several posters here have identified the company involved. They have been telling the world they have full order books and were in profit but looking at the detail now, it is looking like a bizarre case where RBS had preference shares and the 'white knight' boss swapped shares for some large ruby etc tec. . In many ways it would perhaps have been better had they folded when the gem dealing boss took over when they had a better chance of getting jobs?

Never let the wrong facts get in the way of a spur of the moment post I say!

cazzer

8,883 posts

249 months

Monday 16th March 2009
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I want to hear more about the Mysterious Wrekin Ruby.
I feel a quest coming on. smile

stormin

1,304 posts

212 months

Monday 16th March 2009
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cazzer said:
I want to hear more about the Mysterious Wrekin Ruby.
I feel a quest coming on. smile
Are you a Knight that says ni? biggrin

Kaelic

2,688 posts

202 months

Monday 16th March 2009
quotequote all
[quote=cazzer]I want to hear more about the Mysterious Wrekin Ruby.
I feel a quest coming on. smile
[/quote

I read that with the Indian Jones music playing in my twisted mind biggrin

Dum De Dum Dum Dum De Dum, Dum de dum dum, dum de dum de dum.....

stormin

1,304 posts

212 months

Monday 16th March 2009
quotequote all
Kaelic said:
cazzer said:
I want to hear more about the Mysterious Wrekin Ruby.
I feel a quest coming on. smile
[/quote

I read that with the Indian Jones music playing in my twisted mind biggrin

Dum De Dum Dum Dum De Dum, Dum de dum dum, dum de dum de dum.....
Got Bonanza theme turn going through mine now.!!!

posterboy

1,144 posts

194 months

Monday 16th March 2009
quotequote all
they should have stayed in college