THE BUDGET - WHAT IS THE POINT?

Politicians do love to talk and posture, and the Chancellor of The Exchequer has a wonderful dramatic platform every year.

In fact he likes it so much he'll slip in a mini-budget wherever possible.

The recent event was labelled by the media as "THE GRANNY BASHING BUDGET" !

Is it any wonder that on the honesty perception scale journalists and politicians compete for the lowest place?

One proposal out of dozens is inflated to banner head-line status.

However far more important was the increase of the tax threshold to over £9200. That's the measure that will put £200 a year into millions of pockets.
Think about it.

My personal view is that a flat rate tax of 20% should be paid by everyone, starting at £12000 p.a.
No other grades or per centages.

It works well in many countries.

It strikes fear in the hearts of all bureaucrats as it could reduce 72,000 pages of tax law down to one side of A4!

Cannot see the Brussels brigands accepting that.
Can I asume that everyone knows that the EU's accounts have not been approved by their annual audit for the last 20 years?
Did I hear the words gravy and train?

If the EU Commission went on strike, would you notice?

Anyway, as my readers will recognise this column has narrow self-interest at it's heart.

Let's get to the real question.

What is the point of a politician who uses the same battered old attache case year after year, waving the old relic at the cameras with a triumphant grin?

We have quite a good selection, brand new, quality leather, starting at £79.95......

WHERE DOES THE LEATHER COME FROM?

Having been asked this question many times over the years, the simple answer is -
From the hide of the animal.

No-one can say this is an English, Brazilian or Italian leather with any degree of certainty.

Here's the latest information of cattle populations - top 10 countries.

India        282m
Brazil       187m
China       139m
USA          96m
EU             87m
Argentina    51m
Australia     29m
Mexico       26m
Russ Fed    18m
S.Africa      14m

But here's the top six countries producing tanned leather

China, Italy, India, Brazil, Korea, USSR.

In other words, the hides are often shipped to another country for processing. For example one UK company buys hides in Eire, ships them in refrigerated containers to a tannery in Italy, and re-imports the finished leather to the UK.

Remember that leather is a by-product of the beef and dairy industries.
The hide typically is just 5% of the value of the animal.

Just to finish off the basic facts, finished leather is used in these products

65% footwear
15% furniture and automotive
15% clothing
5%   leathergoods

In this webshop products are carefully described.
If an item is made in Italy that is made clear....although the leather may have come from any where in the world as shown above.
Italian tanneries are rated the best.

The Chinese products that are made with leather imported from Italy could be described as "Italian leather bags", which is true but misleading...so they are always described as made from Italian leather.

80%+ of the world's leather goods are now made in China...now that's something you may be certain of!

Here's an excellent selection of leather briefcases to choose from. www.theleatherbriefcase.co.uk

Lemmings

Lemmings are small rodents, notable for prodigious breeding, often followed by mass migrations to find new food sources.

They obey a herd instinct, and will attempt to overcome any obstacle in their way.

If this is a cliff....the story is true...they charge straight on, into the sea, and swim till they perish.

What made me think of this?
I'm fascinated by business, and why companies rise and fall.

Tescos has just lost 20% of it's share price...due to reduced turn-over at Xmas which has been well-publicised in the "Daily Lemming" and on Lemming Channel XX.
[ Proprietor  - Lord Rupert of Fleece the Lemmings-on-Sea. ]

Warren Buffett [ the legendary investor ] was buying into more Tesco straight away.
Upped his holding from 3 to 5% I believe.
It's an excellent company, with tangible assets, great management and frankly it's like buying £10 notes for £8 each.

Do you remember 6 years ago when Friends Reunited was sold for £175 million?
Latest figures value it at just over 3% of that...just £5.2m...ouch!
Great idea, but it was a fad...and peaked...and fell off the cliff.
There was no real long-term substance to it once people had used it.

So, let me forecast, that Facebook has got all the investor lemmings in tow.
How many $billion is it worth !!
Did you know it's lost millions of accounts in North America recently.
What is it's long term attraction...how does it make money?
Advertisement revenue is a highly volatile income ...

Whichever way the lemmings are going, look very carefully in the opposite direction.

BAD NEWS FROM COLOMBIA

Looks like there won't be any Colombian bags this side of Xmas.

My supplier is notorious for delays / excuses / misunderstandings, but eventually along come these very nice bags I cannot find elsewhere.

He obviously uses the same business approach to his leather suppliers and others in Colombia.

For once I believe his excuse for the delay.
The bailliffs have called...and all our consignment [ paid for - ready to ship ] has been impounded.

So for you, my faithful patient customers - some who have waited months for the right suiter or travel bag - yet another disappointment from my company.

My sincere apology.

One thing I hope you will take from this is that we've done our best to keep you informed.
AND - I'm going to keep every enquiry on my memory board because:-

1. I'm trying to contact the people who've got "my" goods, and see what's possible.
2. I've been in the fashion trade long enough to see many a company back in business the next day!

Please note our UK business is unaffected.

More news as soon as I have it.
Joss 0208 404 6451

Funny thing happened on the way to the Leather Briefcase Company

I've heard some excuses for late delivery, to which I can now add that the courier has locked himself out of his own van today- fairly common, so it was bound to happen to us sooner or later.

Less usual, also on my list, the fire at the oil terminal on the M1 - closing the motorway for days.

Or - the truck has been taken for forensics by the police - someone introduced illicit goods into the consignment.

The container was washed overboard in the Bay of Biscay...look it up...this happens all the time! 
There's 29,000 rubber ducks fell off a ship in the Pacific 19 years ago, which are still landing on beaches all round the world!

My personal favourite - VERY UNFUNNY AT THE TIME! - we flew in a very big urgent consignment from Calcutta, and the air-freighter was an old Russian Iluyshin.

When it landed in Gatwick, it was impossible to open the cargo bay.
The doors were jammed solid.
I think they burnt a hole in it - it took two days to get to the goods, and we paid a hefty penalty for a late delivery.

Still, what else can you do for a bit of excitement, when you sell luggage?

10 weeks to go...

Most retailers are geared to taking their major turnover in the 8 weeks before Christmas.
We're no exception.

Right now I'm reviewing every description / price / photograph....checking we have enough cartridges for the office machines etc.... a day in December can equal a week's takings in June.
Hopefully all the prep will allow things to run smoothly.

About Tuesday Dec 20th the annual buying rush will be over. Big question is whether the purse strings will be loosened - and if so - what's left to spend.

I could have been a teacher...on second thoughts I'll not mention that again!

FAILURE GUARANTEED.

Some years ago, I had to give a very short introductory talk to a meeting of worthy citizens.

They'd been well watered and fed, and were waiting for the main event to appear, and trying to stay awake and look interested.

"I'd like to announce that Tony Blair has resigned as Prime Minister, and Gordon Brown has immediately called for a General Election to confirm that he and New Labour should continue to govern."

The effect of my opening words was electric.

As the meaning sunk into the many minds in the room, I timed my next statement carefully...

" I'd like to announce it...but of course it couldn't possibly have happened".

Great merriment and applause followed, and some people still ask me to functions to this day to make after dinner speeches.

And the point is...

"All political lives end in failure" was the prediction and verdict of a man who has been voted as one of the 100 Greatest Britons....and whose political career fulfilled his own words.

As politicians struggle to run the business of Europe, [ or anywhere ] we can expect failure.

Politicians should make laws, police should enforce them.
Businesses should make money, and provide good employment, pay taxes, to be spent by public servants who know that "good house-keeping" is the only target!

Too simple?

Fluff my Mugbook

A well worn joke with my closest, is that I'm studying hard to become a High Court Judge.
What this means is I'm losing touch with reality, that's if I wanted much to do with it anyway.

So what if I couldn't recognise Madonna if she walked in the room?
Who cares what goes on in East Enders?...especially when you were born and lived in Barking for 20 years!

Now Mugbook and Fluttering appear to be vital to the air that I breathe.
Or was it Face-Up and Tooting?

It seems to me that the human urge to accommodate the LCD...that's not a drug, it's the Lowest Common Denominator... is more prevalent than ever.

Anyway, if anyone ever reads this, I'm unashamedly interested in high standards.

Life is short.

It gets shorter every passing day.

Trivial pursuits like Facebook and Tweets - damn, that will set me back on the High Court Circuit - may be fun...but they're a waste of valuable time.

Must go and see if the cricket is on....