Ultraconsultancy

Boots has been in trouble as a business for some time - a trawl of the Nottingham Evening Post online will reveal just how pesimistic the locals are in its home town. We all think of it as a chemist but in fact it has a dreadfully unfocused product profile, none of which it is any good at. And its pahrmacy and toiletries business is under attack from corner chemists [better hours] and superdrug. What once made it stand out - it's premium locations - have become a very heavy rental liability. So it may well be that if Boots have a chance to close a millstone store in Peckham, they'll be glad of it. UC

Sadly all too true CWALD; and how much worse if you're the sole earner, and english is your third language.

alachlan a company can no more have a policy of asking you to travel out of hours, than could a pub have a policy of not providing toilets. The law takes precedence; and as I understand it employees have a responsibility to travel and report to their normal site of work; everything else must be reimbursed.

Crikey! AP I have just finished a bit of a contre temps with the Administrator about accusations of illegal behaviour on the part of shopkeepers. What is alleged here is definately illegal; the company should be paying for both the time and the expenses, and if the journey covers a lunch break then probably food too. Over to you Mark UC

Mark I'll stand down; you've got a tough job to do, and I'm glad you've done it so even-handedly. Last word; if any libelous allegations were made [and I don't think any were] they didn't originate from me. I'm simply a commentarist. Back to arguing about prams and coffee, then... UC

I thought Ibo's assertion was that the shop had (text removed as it says what the alleged illegal incident was). But these things happen; as a professional retailer I thought the more serious aspect was the refusal of the manager/owner to resolve the complaint about the nuts. I'm meeting someone I do research for later today; he's looking to open art supply shops in suburban London. Shall I tell him it's ok to (text removed as it says what the alleged illegal incident was), because any resulting complaints will be censored? No word in all of this from the grocer concerned, I see.

Mark Maybe i missed something during the day yesterday, but I think Ibo [and his son] are the aggreived party here, and a couple of others were being pretty nasty to him too. But you're in charge, so no fingers to be pointed at local shops. UC

Point taken, macroban; but even disputing whatever the actual numbers are, they are a lot bigger now than back then.

It was a widely accepted axiom in customer services for many years that a bad shopping experience would be communicated to nine people. One of the fantastic things about web2.0 forums like this is it raises the complaining power of the recipient shopper by a HUGE amount. In fact it's 207 on this thread. Retailers have three clear choices; 1. Shape up 2. Get your defence in early, then try 1. above later 3. Don't worry, you can get along fine without all theses geeky net-heads And if you don't do 1 or 2, you'll have to do 3. Ibo, I hope you find walnuts somewhere that loves you, your son, and your return business.

Crikey! I just don't understand people who stand up on behalf of bad, disreputable retailers! And of course at the end of the day it isn't really about disability - although if any advantage was taken of this young chap it's reprehensible - it's quite simply about looking after people who give you money for the things you sell. It ain't rocket science guys!

That's awful ibo - I've run shops for a number of years and always saw people with challenges as a valuable source of return business. It's the difference between appearance and reality that makes a business successful.

Beat me to it Nero. Is toast vegan? There used to be a very good vegan hare krishna place in a basement in neal street about ten years ago;probably a shoe shop now.

I know some of the top banana in the drug squad; I'll see if I can get the skinny...

MP we go to Ireland quite a bit and my understanding is that there's a kind of rural divide thing going on. So while Dublin now feels like Copenhagen, beyond the pale there's still smoking in pubs, kids working on building sites, and horses delivering the Guinness.

Marmora Man Whether you agree with it or not, the legislation was designed to protect pub staff, not you, from secondary smoke. In Boston the rule is that you can't smoke while standing still, so pavement smokers from pubs have to walk round the block while fagging it. NB Americans don't call cigarettes fags; don't say I didn't warn you. UC

Crikey look at that ashtray! You guys must have been tabbing like they were going to ban it! Oh..but then... UC

This thread seems to have descended into a rally about whether James Nesbitt is alright... Coincidentally I was up at the TDF roll-out this morning [fantastic BTW] and ran into David Bathurst, who played the posh bloke in Cold Feet. He used to come into my bookshop occasionally, and was always just so nice in a way Hugh Grant only wishes he could be. Also coincidentally the last series of Cold Feet was script doctored by a friend of mine. Small world eh? Ultraconsultancy Cyclingfan.

Steve Frost, one of the REALLY original new comedians of the 80's brit stand up boom, and I think co-owner of Jongleurs, spotted not so long ago in North Cross Rd. Tall and broad...

Caimar Aha I spent a bit of time in Gods Own Country where the smoking ban has been in place for a year or so. The pubs seem to have dealt with it pretty well, indoors is quieter, cleaner, and brighter; ingenious methods of paddocking smokers [and inpubs I'm one of them] outdoors have worked well. It almost seems to have revived the lounge/tap divide of many years ago. Hardest hit in scotland have been the wee family cafes, mostly italian owned, where folks could go for a fish tea or an ice cream. Every town has one and it has been an insttiution since the fifties; rightly or wrongly it has done for them. UC

an lengthy article in The Standard last year lamented the departure of the last real bespoke tailor in savile row. in the interests of journalistic balance it offered some examples of famous trading areas of London that were doing well. one of those cited was hatton gardens, but another was charing cross road. if any of you have been to CXR recently you may have noticed the decline and death of the worlds most famous bookselling street. if you could take your eyes off the pavement pizzas. all priced out by coffee bars and lager barns. the problem with ramping rents isn't so much that it brings the big guys in; the problem is it removes the communities ability to choose to keep them out. incidentally it seems there is quite a spate of large businesses dressing themselves up as cooler, smaller, shops. i thought brixton ritzy was a collective until one of their striking protesters told me it is owned by a big company that pays min wage to its [generally] hard working staff. UC

This is a real turning point. On the basis of the figs supplied the rent looks to be ?65 a foot ITZA. That's double the footage price on available units when I did some sampling a couple of months ago. If these guys ramp the local footage price [which adds value to their superior lease] then any of the smaller shops due for a review soon should start keeping their cash under the bed. Basically if someone signs at that price, LL will turn into Hammersmith King Street. Ultraconsultancy

It's not so long since in Scotland you could get deep fried fish that wasn't battered but rolled in oatmeal - delicious, despite the bigotry of Dr Johnson.

With you on the cod refusal, Alan Dale. A few beers with a "seafood chef from Padstow" recently pointed me in the direction of LING for a tasty flaky fish. Is cod kosher? Any rabbis in the house? My jewish chums like their herring and their salmon. UC in fishy mode.

Calm Down chaps They are transporting the heavy gear for trooping the colour, that can't come in by road.

An acquaintance of mine is a PR manager for Foxtons [but despite this she really is a totally lovely girl]. I'll get her to have a look here and she if she'll respond...