Ratner tells agents to cover all markets

Monday, 25 Nov, 2005 0

ABTA Convention special report: Keynote speaker Gerald Ratner has warned travel agents that they need to be all things to all men if they are to succeed in the future.

Ratner will always be remembered for making a speech rubbishing his company’s products in 1991. His ill-judged comments lead to the downfall of Ratners, which had previously made profits of 131 million pounds.

Speaking before addressing the conference, Ratner said: “Travel agents need to have a website, they can’t ignore it because a third of Christmas presents are bought online, they need to have shops, they need a brand and they need expertise. It’s not easy.”

But he added that agents had an advantage over other retailers because they did not need large spaces to store stock. “They are middle-men. Other retailers need huge amounts of space to store stock, so in that respect they are lucky.”

Ratner now runs a modest online jewellery business, Geraldonline, and employs just eight people compared with the 2,500 working for Ratners at its prime. Ratner admits he is bitter about his company’s collapse, but did not blame journalists who printed his comments.

“I am bitter, because I was struck down in my prime and I loved the job. But I don’t blame journalists. I blame myself, I’ve got a sense of humour and it got me into trouble. I was making a joke and actually said that we managed to sell sherry decanters for 4.99 pounds because they were absolute crap. It was a joke I’d made many times before and it was interpreted as me saying that all my products were crap and that I was making fun of my customers. I would never do that.”

In the years since the collapse of the family business, Ratner made a tidy sum by borrowing 650,000 pounds to buy a health club in Henley and selling it three years later for 3.9 million pounds.

He drives a Bentley convertible GT and has not lost that famous sense of humour. “I’ll say to travel agents that, with my track record, you might not want to take tips from me.”