One of Britain’s best known businessmen will be speaking at tonight’s York And North Yorkshire Chamber Of Commerce Annual Dinner.
Gerald Ratner, a recent star of Comic Relief Does The Apprentice, is guest speaker at the event at the National Railway Museum.
The jewellery king was reduced to virtually nothing following a notorious speech to the Institute Of Directors in 1991.
Mr Ratner, then chief executive of a Ratners riding high with 2,500 stores and profits of more than £120 million, told delegates his products were cheap because they were “crap” and “wouldn’t last as long as a prawn sandwich”.
He eventually picked himself up and clawed his way back – first with a health club, now with an internet jewellery business said to be the largest in the sector.
After turning around his fortunes, Gerald will talk about the rollercoaster journey he has endured since the now infamous remarks he made in 1991.
The dinner is now billed as the largest and most prestigious dinner in the county’s business calendar.
Gerald Ratner follows in the footsteps of former speakers including the Duke of York, Greg Dyke, former director-general of the BBC, and last year, Peter Jay, former economics editor of the BBC and ambassador to the US.
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