Gerald Ratner is a British household name and a well-known businessman. He is also a name associated with one of the business world’s biggest falls from grace. Gerald took over as CEO of the family jewellery chain in the mid-80s, becoming one of Britain’s best known businessmen. He transformed it from 130 stores with sales of £13m, to a public company with 2,500 stores and sales of over £1.2bn. By 1990, Ratner’s was the world’s largest jewellery retailer with profits in excess of £120m.
Following a high profile gaffe in which he described one of the products sold in the stores as ‘total crap’, he spent 18 months trying to do damage control but was eventually forced out of the business.
Gerald eventually bought and developed a health club then sold it three years later for £3.9m. This was the start of his comeback. He then started his online jewellery business after a fellow jeweller did some market research showing Ratners was still, over 10 years after the event, the most publicly-recognized name in jewellery retailing. However, he was blocked from using his own name by his old company and had to settle for GeraldOnline which today is turning over some £25m and is ready to go public.
