218 lines
6.7 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
218 lines
6.7 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
culture
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tvandradio
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5836434
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-----
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# Interview: Sir Gerry Robinson
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## The business expert and star of Channel 4's Gerry's Big Decision says that
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Gordon Brown is the wrong man to run the country
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![Gerry's Big Decision: Sir Gerry Robinson][1]
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Gerry's Big Decision: Sir Gerry Robinson
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By Gerard O'Donovan 12:02AM BST 16 Jul 2009
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[Comments][2]
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'I've never believed Gordon was the right guy. Whereas I did believe,
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genuinely, that Blair was. In the end, that's a follow through on my own
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management principles. With the right person most things will work, with the
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wrong person they won't.'
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As with all opinions voiced in Sir Gerry Robinson's soft-spoken Anglo-Irish
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accent, his damning view of the Prime Minister is delivered in tones of
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infinite reasonableness. There's no sense of anger or spleen to it. In fact
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Sir Gerry, the hugely successful businessman, management guru and corporate
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trouble-shooter sounds relaxed and contented.
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We're discussing his business rescue TV series Gerry's Big Decision, the final
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episode of which airs on Channel 4 tonight. We've veered into politics by way
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of Sir Alan Sugar's appointment as the PM's "Enterprise Tsar". But while
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Robinson is happy to critique The Apprentice ("It's compulsive telly and I
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think Alan's just brilliant - but it's not really very businessy, is it?") he
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politely declines to go on the record regarding Sugar's Government
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appointment. Which may well speak volumes in itself.
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A prominent New Labour supporter, Robinson declared very publicly last year
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that he would no longer donate to the party while Brown remained leader. Yet
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he's scrupulously fair, giving Brown credit for dealing "quickly and solidly
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and soundly" with the economic crisis when it first hit, before deciding:
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"That was his territory. But as someone who gets the good from people and
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allows them to run their own thing… I think Gordon's a micro-manager, really."
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There's a big sigh from the other end of the line. A sigh anyone who's been
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watching Gerry's Big Decision will recognise as the one he makes before making
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any tough judgement call. "Oh God," he says, "if we get onto politics I'll get
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onto what I always go on about: how the hell can you have a system that allows
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somebody who's never run anything to run the bloody country."
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Running things is, of course, is something Sir Gerry is very good at. As a
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former chairman of Allied Domecq and ex-CEO of Granada, the youthful 61 year-
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old is used to operating at the highest levels of business. More recently,
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though, he's brought his skills and appealingly un-corporate personality to TV
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in such excellent BBC shows as I'll Show Them Who's Boss and Can Gerry
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Robinson Fix the NHS?
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His latest series, Gerry's Big Decision on Channel 4 is a unique and very
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timely departure. Robinson sets out on a valiant one-man quest to rescue small
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British firms from going to the wall in the credit crunch, principally by
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investing large amounts of his own cash.
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And we're talking big money. Last week, Sir Gerry decided to invest £1?million
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into a struggling Lancashire chair manufacturer. So far, he's committed
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upwards of a further half a million to other firms in the series.
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He admits that wasn't the plan from the outset. When the series was conceived
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the banking crisis hadn't even happened. "But by the time we got around to
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doing it, of course, the world had fallen apart."
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From over 1,000 applications six businesses were chosen for Sir Gerry to spend
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time examining, and in tonight's edition he returns to a commercial problem
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that in I'll Show Them Who's Boss seemed a particular fixation for him:
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dysfunctional family firms.
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"I sort of wonder whether they're a gift or a burden, these family
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businesses," he muses at one point, in what may best be described as an
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understatement.
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In one instance a father and son are in danger of letting their hotel and
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coach company go under for want of being able to communicate simply. In the
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second, the owners of a chain of department stores are, if anything, too nice
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to each other to keep their ailing business afloat.
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As ever, Robinson proves amazingly adept at tip-toeing through these emotional
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minefields, the tension crackling all around him.
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"People say business is all about avoiding emotion. I've never believed that.
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There is quite a large emotional content. Particularly with small and family-
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run businesses where individuals have histories with one another that are
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sometimes difficult. You can't ignore that."
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With so much at stake, it makes this evening's finale genuinely gripping.
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Gerry's Big Decision is on tonight on Channel 4 at 9.00pm
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[X][3] Share & bookmark
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[What are these?][4]
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* Share: [Share][3] [ ][5] [ ][6]
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[Tweet][7]
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/5836434/Interview-Sir-Gerry-
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Robinson.html
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Telegraph
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## [TV and Radio][8]
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[![TV Guide][9]][10]
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### [TV Guide UK: searchable TV listings][10]
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[![Paul Merton presents the Birth of Hollywood][11] ][12]
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### [Today's TV highlights][12]
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[![][13] ][14]
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### [Britain's Got Talent: where are they now?][14]
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[![][15] ][16]
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### [Doctor Who - the top ten best Doctors][16]
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[X][3] Share & bookmark
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Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][4]
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Share:
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* [ ][3]
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* [ ][5]
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* [ ][6]
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* [Tweet][7]
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* Advertisement
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![][17]
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telegraphuk
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Please enable JavaScript to view the [comments powered by Disqus.][18] [blog
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comments powered by Disqus][19]
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sponsored features
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Classified Advertising
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* [RHS Chelsea][33]
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