The London riots - commercial fallout

One of my clients has had to close several stores over the last few days, they've not been attacked, but they're in shopping centres which have been, sensibly, locked down. That will be a significant loss, right at the start of the busy back to school season. Not just a loss to the firm (although the MD's view of what the Police should do to the rioters is understandably robust) but to the locally living staff as well - particularly those who have a bonus element to their income.

4N made the call to cancel a meet this morning in one of the affected areas - again the loss there isn't just to 4N.

No real point to this post, except that the rioters seem to be mainly affecting their local economy, money will need to be spent on cleaning up rather than improving. Local business owners and employees will have less money to spend, some people will be without a job now if their place of work has been burnt down.

I am utterly amazed at this entire situation. People rioting in what is either their home town, or somewhere very close to their home town.

In a country which is still not performing very well, they are creating massive amounts of financial damage, and actual damage, to shops, businesses, families, the list goes on.

I wonder just how these rioters would act if a member of their family was in trouble. Would they ring the police? The very police they are attacking. Double standards to a very big length

Would be so nice to see them dealt with in the way they are acting, being violence towards them, water cannons etc, or even shoot them if they refuse to back down.

And the Glaziers, Boarding up Companies, Demolition Companies etc are all having a field day

Kev

Frightening to hear how badly some areas have been affected.  Listening to local radio this morning there is one horror story after another telling how innocent people have been hurt or had their property stolen/trashed.

I've written a short article on the matter which some businesses may find useful: http://www.4networking.biz/Articles/Details/3486

I wonder how long it would take before society started to police itself and groups of independent business owners took to the streets to physically stop these pesky little turds. By the looks of it the demographic has completely changed and its now 17 year olds out for kicks and free trainers doing the damage. Muppetts.

As I said in the other thread, it wont be long until shop owners are getting guns and knives to protect their shops.

It is digusted to see the police saying "nobody will get away with it" when they were looting Currys there wasn't a policeman in sight and they were all wearing hoods and scarves.

The loss to small business is going to be huge, like that poor family business in Croydon that was burnt to the ground!

 

This is what happens when a society breakdown, imagine this across the entire UK, it needs leadership, firm decision, on firm action, can't help but think Blair would have started to get this under control by now.

The satellite issues are sprading further a field now, with even 4N members being impacted.. I think there was a level of excitement from the TV news teams Saturday.. The carnival has ended.. It's real people being hurt out there

Not just small business either. The shop managers and area manager that I work with have a bonus structure, so a week of disrupted trade has an impact on them, which then has an impact on what they can spend locally, and so on.

 

You are having a laugh, Blair?

He'd of grinned a lot made political platitude statements and blamed everyone but himself. Seriously.

There are very few politicians left that actually have the balls to stand up and be counted. Theresa May last night was a total disgrace, almost smirking through her non-statements.

What this country needs are leaders not politicians because its politicians who have broken this country in subsequent governments pandering to the PC brigade, the European parliaments etc

We've gone so far across the line now it's going to take some real balls to bring it back. Of course the worrying thing is that it's going to be quite easy now to enforce a police state and start stripping civil liberties. Is that the price we're willing to pay?

Yep, Birmingham, Bristol and Liverpool. People are seeing they can just walk into shops and get new phones and computers and walk out and get away with it so are just getting involved. They are getting away with it so are doing it.

I am pretty sure once they see somebody get taken out by the Police they would think twice about it....

(Maybe too much COD for me)

Where are the politicians now? I saw one in Birmingham earlier saying how people wont get away with it and how the police will arrest them if they are on the streets causing trouble. He then went on to say how there were a good few thousand people out causing trouble but they made 130 arrests. That isn't a very good ratio and the chances are they will get away with it.

It is ok people in suits standing there saying "you will get in trouble if you do this" and shaking their finger but when people are seeing on TV people walk out of the Carphone Warehouse with 20 mobiles and the police just watching them it says the opposite.

Around here the 'immigrant' businesses are protecting themselves. Turks in Dalston drove off a group of looters, in the East End a mosque was going to be targeted until the locals came out to protect it.

Teaching us a lot about community spirit.

 

Fair play to them... Just have to hope that it in turn doesn't start some sort of race riot when they are just protecting their business / mosque.

A guy was interviewed onthe news earlier who was an Eastern European and I just hope whoever smashed his shop doesn't get found. He looked like something from a true ganster movie and could just see 10 chavs being found in the Thames.

 

A whole street in Newington charged the rioters last night, was a video on youtube about it at one point  but it got removed. Pretty cool seeing normal people coming together like that. Wish we could bottle that stuff.

Watching the news last night was like seeing scenes from Children of Men. Leaving aside the awful human cost of all these people made homeless, injured and now jobless, how depressing that several buildings that withstood the Blitz have now been destroyed by some grubby little ferals after a flatscreen TV and some new trainers.

A real shame, UK has always been considered as a safe place to visit, a few friends of mine planned to travel with me to UK in the next week or so, all of us have to cancel the flight tickets, lost 150 pounds each.

For me, it's work, I just need to postpone it to a visit in September. For my friends here, UK become a no-go for the near future,  and it lost some tourists' money straight away.