In the wee small hours, battling with pain and insomnia, I took to musing seriously about the situation with Tom Archer and its ramifications, and what it would mean in real life. I ended up putting on my business consultant hat. I know, I need to speak to my carers about getting out more, but bear with me... There are four (or five) businesses involved Bridge Farm itself, producing veg, yoghurt, and eventually dead cows when Tonys Aberdeen Angii start sprogging. Still organic. Is it a partnership under the Partnerships Act 1896, and who are the partners? Ambridge Organics (the shop) Still organic, and presumably Helen Archer is a sole trader. With, currently, a staffing problem. The cheesemaking business. Is this part of Bridge Farm, part of A. O., or yet another separate standalone venture with Helen Archer as a sole trader. Organic. Tarm Archer Sossidges, formerly organic, now in crisis. Is this a separate standalone venture with Tarm as a sole trader and if so is it part of - or separate from - the ready meals? I started wondering who pays who for what? Presumably Helen pays BF for the stuff she sells in AO, and the cheese contributes income if its part of the core BF product range. Does/Did Tom pay anything for the grazing of his pigs at BF? Plus the scriptwriters seem to have a fairly loose grasp of the mechanics of disposing of a business. To get the best price for his Sossidges and Ready Meals, Tom should - instead of buggering off to Ontario to wrestle beavers and trap bears - spend a month or two back at the helm, restoring order, visiting his key customers (Underwoods, the Supermarket etc) and assuring them of the continuity of the business, including introducing his chosen successor. The message should be seamless transition and business as usual, plus the possibility of exciting new ideas fro the new owners. If he can, in that period, perform whatever act of contrition is necessary for him to restore his organic status, so much the better. Meanwhile, turn the stockpiled pork into non-organic ready meals and freeze them, they have a long shelf life anyway and this will minimse wastage. As it is, by decamping to the land of the seal-clubbers within 24 hours of his return to Ambridge, he is sending all the wrong signals to those people. If I was a customer and I heard that the business had lost its organic status AND the owner had fled to Canada, I would be cancelling any future orders and probably not paying for what Id had, on the grounds that it would probably just end up lining the pockets of the Official Receiver. And what about Gourmet Grills? Will LoxFest go unfed? Obviously Peggy will be changing her will now that Tom no longer needs the money, especially if he jets off to the Hudson Bay Company without saying goodbye in person. And what will the loss of a partner and the loss of the income do to Bridge Farm. Not to mention the continuity of that business, since Pat and Tony are getting to the stage where they themselves should be planning an exit/retirement strategy. Unbelievably, even the above didnt send me to sleep and I eventually had to resort to saying the Rosary in my head.
Posted on: Sat, 24 May 2014 12:36:16 +0000
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