How not to run a business - the Gordon Ramsay way

This might be well worth adding to your scheme of work as an up-to-date, celebrity-fuelled example of how a business can run into cash flow and other problems from over-expansion.

Gordon Ramsey has given this brief, but illuminating interview to The Times in which he explains how his restaurant empire was rescued from the brink of insolvency.  A classic case of how over-trading and an overly-ambitious business plan can lead a business to the edge.

Some great business studies materials in here, even though it is only a short piece:

- Secured bank loans and overdrafts
- The power of external stakeholders - particularly the Inland Revenue
- Sale of personal assets to raise finance
- Cutting operating costs to improve cash flow
- The role of auditors

Revision Presentation - Improving Cash Flow [17 May 2012]
Revision Presentation - Calculating and Measuring Profit [13 May 2012]
Revision Quiz - Cash Flow Forecasting for a Startup [12 May 2012]
Revision Presentation - Corporate Planning and Strategy [4 Apr 2012]
Barriers to entry for business expansion to Brazil [23 Feb 2012]
The Business of Football - Everton explain where the money goes [16 Jan 2012]
The Rise and Fall and Rise of Gerald Ratner [27 Nov 2011]
Cut price cup cake deal goes wrong…... [22 Nov 2011]
Unilever hit by rising costs [6 Nov 2011]
Batten down the hatches - strategies for the next downturn [24 Oct 2011]
How PepsiCo are trying to control diseconomies of scale [18 Oct 2011]
Revision Quiz - Costs, Revenues and Profits [12 Oct 2011]
Revision Quiz - Business Costs [12 Oct 2011]
Profits dive and put pressure on liquidity - the Distress Monitor [29 Sep 2011]
The puzzle of rising profits [5 Sep 2011]
High growth, fast-track firms that end on the scrapheap [2 Aug 2011]
Where there’s muck there’s brass [6 Jul 2011]
The costs of redundancy [5 Jul 2011]
Retrenchment for Thorntons following strategic review [28 Jun 2011]
Cash flow crisis at Saab: what went wrong? [23 Jun 2011]
Business investment: the UK corporate cash pile [15 Jun 2011]
An end to outsourcing? [18 May 2011]
Retrenchment in action - Comet turns off the retail lights [12 May 2011]
Using Chucklevision to Teach Business [8 May 2011]
Lesson Worksheet - Cash Flow Management Basics [5 May 2011]
Toffees in a Sticky Situation [17 Feb 2011]
The end of the line for JJB? [13 Feb 2011]
Cash flow and trade credit - putting the squeeze on suppliers [3 Feb 2011]
The Year of Corporate Philanthropy [31 Jan 2011]
An idea that’s a lot of hot air…. [11 Jan 2011]
Q&A - How is the current ratio calculated and interpreted? [8 Jan 2011]
Q&A - What is the “creditor days” ratio? [8 Jan 2011]
Q&A - How can the debtor days ratio be calculated and interpreted? [8 Jan 2011]
Q&A - How is stock turnover calculated and interpreted? [8 Jan 2011]
Q&A - What factors determine the amount of working capital in a business? [7 Jan 2011]
Q&A - What is “working capital”? [7 Jan 2011]
Q&A - Explain what is meant by outsourcing [29 Dec 2010]
Dominos Pizza - Growth & Strategy (Part 3) - Smart Marketing [26 Nov 2010]
Dominos Pizza - Growth & Strategy (Part 2) - Innovation, Service and Smart Operations [26 Nov 2010]
Cash flow problems put Pontins into administration [13 Nov 2010]
Cash flow Clue-doh! The Mystery is Revealed… [2 Nov 2010]
Profits up at Amazon - but so are costs [22 Oct 2010]
Rationalising & Redeployment at Alliance Boots [9 Oct 2010]
The business cost of labour turnover [7 Oct 2010]
Would you stand for it? [14 Sep 2010]
Inflation and profit margins - lessons from the market [27 Aug 2010]
Cash flow continues to trouble small businesses [25 Aug 2010]
Cashflow-Cluedoh! [10 Aug 2010]
BUSS4 data - what happened to business investment in the UK recession? [14 Jun 2010]
The Business of Running a School [3 Jun 2010]
Strategy Case Study - Vauxhall/Opel restructuring [24 May 2010]
25 Ways to Get The Startup Right [22 Apr 2010]
Cash flow problems persist after the recession [15 Apr 2010]
Recession Survival Strategies Cost UK SMEs £16bn [31 Mar 2010]
Global technology giants are hoarding their cash [26 Mar 2010]
Starter Activity - Cash Flow Forecasting for Celebs [25 Mar 2010]
Wipeout Challenge - UK Recession [15 Mar 2010]
Strategy in a recession - cost optimisation not cost minimisation [25 Feb 2010]
Strategy in a recession - Don’t Panic Mr Mainwaring! [25 Feb 2010]
Cash management becomes a strategic priority during the recent recession [22 Feb 2010]
A CEO’s take on the effect of the recession on UK restaurants [18 Feb 2010]
UK companies conserve cash in the recession - bad news for shareholders? [8 Feb 2010]
The 40 Schoolboy Errors Made by Startups [6 Feb 2010]
Business priorities in a recession [1 Feb 2010]
Flexible working thrives in the recession [1 Feb 2010]
Revision Presentation - Profit and Cash [30 Jan 2010]
Source of finance - SMEs turn to the private alternatives to banks [27 Jan 2010]
Excel AS Teaching Resource: Cash Flow Forecast [16 Jan 2010]
Q&A - Is there an optimal level of gearing? [5 Jan 2010]
Revision Presentation - Cost Basics [30 Dec 2009]
Some good reasons why startup business plans are a waste of time [17 Dec 2009]
Cash flow problems and the business of dying [3 Dec 2009]
Outdoor Ice-skating heads firmly down the product life cycle [3 Dec 2009]
A tale of two bakers [16 Nov 2009]
Innocent Drinks - Teaching Accounts Exercise [9 Nov 2009]
Q&A - What are the main causes of unemployment? [27 Oct 2009]
Managing Cash Flow - Beware the Economic Recovery [26 Oct 2009]
Dyson launches a new premium product [14 Oct 2009]
The Decline of Newspapers Creates a Surge in Local Startups [4 Oct 2009]
Todd Stitzer’s Strategic Test [14 Sep 2009]
Beat the Teacher - Introduction to Costs [14 Sep 2009]
A Day in the Life - Cash Flow Forecasting [9 Sep 2009]
Patent Theft threatens enterprising inventors [3 Sep 2009]
More trouble in the skies [27 Aug 2009]
Demand and supply in action - tea prices surge [4 Aug 2009]
BA cuts out the cost of short-haul meals [29 Jul 2009]
Product life cycle - end of the line for Teletext [17 Jul 2009]
Workforce planning - getting ready for swine flu [16 Jul 2009]
How to improve profitability? - give customers a “staff appraisal” [12 Jul 2009]
What makes a profitable menu? [6 Jul 2009]
Standing room only - on Ryanair? [6 Jul 2009]
Q&A - Outline the main costs and benefits of inflation [1 Jul 2009]
Q&A - Explain the causes of inflation [1 Jul 2009]
East Coast Rail Line is Nationalised [1 Jul 2009]
Small businesses waiting for the upturn [29 Jun 2009]
Snap, crackle and ... crumbs? Are cereal boxes toast, now? [22 Jun 2009]
Work For Free?  Or Pie In The Sky? [16 Jun 2009]
A Razor Sharp Way To Add Value [10 Jun 2009]
A stunning example of how wage costs can differ for the same job [10 Jun 2009]
How to improve a profit margin through a hidden price increase - the Snickers way [4 Jun 2009]

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