Chairman's Dinner with Gerald Ratner, The Ratner Group

Gerald Ratner took over his family’s business - The Ratner Group - in the mid ‘80s and transformed it into the world’s largest jewellery retailer. By 1990 he’d taken the company public and owned 2,500 stores with sales of over £1.2bn and profits in excess of £120m.

What happened next has been voted the worst business mistake of all time. In 1991 everything changed when Gerald gave a speech at the Royal Albert Hall and mocked his own products.

Gerald’s fall from grace was one of the most spectacular ever seen, with the consequences of his joke ultimately forcing his resignation from the business he’d spent years building.

In 2003, Gerald launched a new venture, geraldonline.com. The specialist diamond retailer sells jewellery, watches and hallmarked gold and silver through a secure site. It has formed alliances with a number of partners and now trades in India and is the largest of its kind in Britain.

Join us for an inspirational evening and the chance to hear in a humorous and erudite manner about the rollercoaster rise and fall and rise again of Gerald Ratner.

The Small Print - Unfortunately, we are unable to reimburse the cost of your ticket if cancelled after Thursday 10th January.