sounds familiar

[not4me]

does this story sound familiar to anyone?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-19292821

[The Great Dictator]

Yes it does.

[popgoestheweasal.]

Shame alot of people were taken in by the likes of i,ve made myself millions Coe.

[Turns Out Toxic]

There will have been winners like McDonalds but the small to medium trader does not stand a chance.

I heard that a number of traders quietly got pay offs to stop this kind of publicity hitting out against further bids and current criticism in 2010, during our Tall Ships.  Is this true?

There will have been those who had no clue how to complain and just absorbed or burst with the debt.  No thought for them!

I know people moan about people moaning here regarding Tall Ships good or bad, but the lavish hospitality was a joke with people filling their boots at our expense.

Thousands to write reports that made it look good will bring the boats back despite this and London plus Hartlepool show how people at the top will manipulate or cross their fingers, unless people challenge it.  Sadly that rarely happens.  There is a thing called accountability you know?

[no6bus]

but this is all about the greed of the traders surely, they wanted a piece of the action of the olympics, thought sod the local traders i am going to set up shop near the stadium to try and fleece as many visitors as i can but because it hasnt panned out they whinge, sorry no sympathy same as the tall ships cowboys, try to charge silly amounts and people wont pay, charge a fair price and you will reap the rewards

[The Great Dictator]

You do talk out of your ars* No 6, just how tall are you ?

The traders were lied to in the first place, if they hadn't been they wouldn't have come in the first place.

Same with the Tall Ship traders.

[no6bus]

You do talk out of your ars* No 6, just how tall are you ?

The traders were lied to in the first place, if they hadn't been they wouldn't have come in the first place.

Same with the Tall Ship traders.

5 foot 9 in old money. yet more reasoned debate have you ever thought about standing for council.

the whole problem in this is greed, would you believe a seller who says yes i have this rolls royce for sale its only done 100 miles and you can have it for £5000 but i only have a pencil drawing of it and you cant see it until you have paid for it, come on even you cant be that stupid, can you?

[The Great Dictator]

Typical bus driver, chronic halitosis, chip on his shoulder, council house tenant, charming the schoolgirls, it's what we've come to expect from No.6.

[no6bus]

Typical bus driver, chronic halitosis, chip on his shoulder, council house tenant, charming the schoolgirls, it's what we've come to expect from No.6.

why thank you for your well thought out reply, factually incorrect but for you, well thought out.
and you answer my question so eloquently you obviously can be that stupid.

[The Great Dictator]

I was told £500-£1000 per pitch for the weekend. Now if there is only 20 of you then you can make a profit on the deal but as there was about 100+ food outlets then you are pretty limited as to what you can sell and make. I went down for an hour on the last night and must say i felt a bit sorry for them all lined up and looking really bored. A man i know had a fish and chip van at York races a few years ago and was charged £3000 a day for an exclusive pitch and made good money which covered his £25000 bank loan for the van and travel, wages etc...........I suspect they were also told Tall stories before the event, but, it's their risk and if they lose out then it's hard luck, they could always be bus drivers if they are really desperate.

[no6bus]

I was told £500-£1000 per pitch for the weekend. Now if there is only 20 of you then you can make a profit on the deal but as there was about 100+ food outlets then you are pretty limited as to what you can sell and make. I went down for an hour on the last night and must say i felt a bit sorry for them all lined up and looking really bored. A man i know had a fish and chip van at York races a few years ago and was charged £3000 a day for an exclusive pitch and made good money which covered his £25000 bank loan for the van and travel, wages etc...........I suspect they were also told Tall stories before the event, but, it's their risk and if they lose out then it's hard luck, they could always be bus drivers if they are really desperate.

no unfortunately you need a bit of common sense to pass the pcv theory test then the cpc tests and not forgetting your pcv driving test which keeps the chaff out, ah it now fits you werent up to the job were you never mind i am sure you would fit in well with the taxi drivers.

[The Great Dictator]

It's a risky business, i'm glad i'm a simple taxi driver.

[christine blakey]

A larger trader paid £100,000 for exclusive drinks tents and I think some food.  Vague but approximate.  He was furious coming to Hartlepool to find that he did not have exclusive access. 

It seems that this 'hard luck - your risk - your buck - we frisk' mentality was that of HBC.  However, when in black and white or with solicitors in tow, many of the traders complained and were given some kind of refunds. 

What does this show:

We were also frisked, told that HBC would make a mint from the stall holders and we ended up paying money back.  Not the post-holders or stall-holders, the tax-payers.  This is happen with the Olympics.  More and more, people are fighting for money back when promises  are broken.  To embellish starts to move into the boundaries of in street terms con-merchants and in legal terms - fraudsters!  Is this is the way we should run a big show like that?

If people who were looking at Tall Ships and the absolutely ridiculous figures being boasted before, during and after the events had been more realistic, and pitches more affordable, we would all be winners.

No matter what, there were still a lot of people at the event.  Why embellish?

No matter what, media would cover it, and it would be a fantastic spectacle, so why make out some geniuses created it from an idea never had before?

Why miss out on critical areas such as adequate flooring because the majority of money was poured down necks in hospitality so the big wigs would boast about that alone?

In essence, be honest!  You never know, the Olympics might have learned something from us, had they shown empathy towards businesses in the times of severe recession.  Such bad press would have been prevented; what an awful end to the Olympics, let us hope they learn lessons for the paralympics and 'fair trade'?

I also think that we have to remember that if people who are in business did not take the risk and start something, we would have no shops or services or more limited to what we have got! 

Imagine if the Range had thought 'No, let us not take a risk opening up in Hartlepool'... we would lose 150 jobs (and the rest getting the store together), new 'ranges' of products, positive competition, somewhere else for retail therapy where the parking is free! 

I do not think it is good to gloat that someone risked to make a profit and lost money or went bust.  I feel for anyone who lost money, and I know a few who genuinely did.  Then we end up paying more as the stupid sums predicted did not come in and the money lost or not found has to come from somewhere so it is no laughing matter. 

Business should not be so cut throat anymore, and people should be more supportive as we benefit from businesses popping up, even if it is just at a one off event!

This is a very serious topic and one that will raise it's ugly head every now and again.  I think the best way to deal with it is take it by the horns and make those accountable accountable, but we don't want to do that do we?  It would be the best way to stop whining (pressed towards whoever whines about those who whine)!!

[christine blakey]

Oh I agree that there are risks with weather especially, there are millions lost by charities who put events on never mind private businesses but there are some things that cannot be predicted at all and you have to weigh up for that.  Look at the thousands that Headland Carnival has missed out on with bad weather until this year.

However, HBC put on lavish PR events to encourage people to take up a pitch.  They were expensive, I remember a starting fee of £5,000 so I do not know if the costs went down to £500 - £1,000, I think a nought has been missed there?

It cut many out who turned up to the events straight away.  The pack was very glossy telling you how much money was to be had if you were willing to pay the initial expense of a pitch.  It resulted in a very restricted set of stalls though I was pleased to see some stalls from Hartlepool.  I know some people got together and shared the cost, which is good thinking.

I do not know if the stall holder was who you say Perseus, it is just I was told that a lot of money was lost and it is through these factual statistics that we can really determine if we had the 900,000 we were told.  And I can say in the terms of stall holders main areas and sidelines, there were not the numbers and many were repeat local visitors (though this is still great to me; that local people went along and it was free to get in at least), specifically without the money to burn that was boasted.

I recently had a TV changed because the publicity material boasted one thing and I got another.  This is only fair so those who got refunds were deserved of them.  Again, will local stall holders have felt comfortable complaining and getting compensation?

So agreed it is a risk, but if it is a con or badly managed hype, then another matter entirely.  Hope that straightens out my view for everyone.  It was a brilliant spectacle but one where a lot of money did not have to be thrown at it, and that realism for figures should have prevailed.  They could have still patted themselves on the backs, but people who noted concerns should not have been lashed at as traitors.

[The Great Dictator]

My figure was a rough guess..