Gerald Ratner is famed for his roles as the Chairman and CEO of the Ratner Group. First joining the family business back in 1965, Gerald worked in sales and marketing, learning all he needed to know about the jewellery trade and how to achieve business growth and success. When he was aged 34, Gerald took the helm of the company as CEO and within the space of six years Gerald was able to grow the business- boasting an impressive 2000 stores, annual sales of £1.5 billion and 25,000 members of staff. Despite the immense success that Gerald found with the company, this all came to an end after he gave a speech at the Institute of Directors annual conference.
At the Institute of Directors annual conference, Gerald gave a controversial speech in which he slated the quality of the products that his company sold- titling his products ‘total crap’. Initially intended to be humorous, Gerald’s words had a devastating impact on the Ratner Group, resulting in the loss of £500 million in value. For the following two years, Gerald tried to overcome the adversity that he had created, but in failing to do so he left the company for good. Since leaving the Ratner Group, Gerald has set up his own businesses, founding the Workshop Health Club and Gerald Online.
The Workshop Health Club allowed Gerald to come back from the ruin of his career, creating a company that ran health clubs with support from crowd-funding. After four successful years with the company, Gerald sold his health club business for an impressive £3.9 million and went on to found Gerald Online. Gerald Online is now deemed as the UK’s largest online jewellery business, allowing Gerald to build his knowledge of online business after many years working for an in-person business. Working at the helm of the company for almost two decades, Gerald Online is now estimated to be worth an impressive £35 million- a testament to Gerald’s true talent for business management.
With such an influential story to his name, Gerald is now a popular choice as a speaker for corporate events. Sharing his story of rising, falling and rising once again, Gerald informs audiences of the inside story of his business, the lessons that he learnt from the mistakes that he made and all about his character. Filling audiences with the tales of how he self-destructed his company, he also speaks on how he picked himself up from the ruins and turned his career back around. An expert on all things business, Gerald is booked to cover topics such as reputation management, disaster management, internet and online business, start-ups and character. Having previously spoken for the likes of Boots, Toyota and KPMG, Gerald Ratner is a seasoned speaker and a fantastic choice when looking for a speaker who has turned disaster into success.
