An Evening with Gerald Ratner

An exclusive 3 course dinner at Il Rosso and an audience with Gerald Ratner on Thursday 25th May 2023

Gerald Ratner will be joining us for dinner and will be sharing his interesting business experience, which will have lessons for us all to learn from. Known for his quick wit, guests will have the opportunity of an exclusive Q&A session during this special occasion.

Gerald Ratner inherited his father's jewellery business and within six years he had turned a Petticoat lane retailer into a multi-million pound empire with over two thousand stores and sales of more than a billion pounds.

Then came Ratner's infamous speech of 1991 to the Institute of Directors. The event at Royal Albert Hall was attended by thousands. At the last moment he inserted a couple of jokes including: 'we sell a pair of gold earrings for under a pound, which is cheaper than a prawn sandwich from Marks & Spencer. But I have to say that the sandwich will probably last longer than the earrings'.

Denigrating his own products, in a few moments Ratner undid a life's work. Five hundred million pounds was wiped instantly from the value of his empire. After being forced to resign and re-brand, in 2003 he recovered, re-invented, and launched geraldonline.com specialising in jewellery, branded watches and hallmarked gold and silver at budget prices. The new venture became the largest of its kind in Britain – a demonstration of Ratner's perseverance, skill, and determination.

Today Gerald Ratner talks candidly on how to deal with such adversity and how to carry on. The story is an inspiration – and a bit of a lesson.

Find out more here ​