4 ms·

It wasn't the newspapers, 1991 was the peak of the 1990 recession in the UK: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_1990s_recession#Civil_unrest https://en.wikipe

• noobermin 7y ago
  Either way, I guess it's just one of those stories people like to tell because it confirms their biases (always insert your elevator pitch into every conversation, always be super positive about your product, etc etc.)
• timthorn 7y ago
  Raters was well placed amongst jewellers to ride the recession. I remember the news coverage of this well - the decline in sales was rapid and directly attributable to the speech, and the implication that his customers were mugs.
  • NikkiA 7y ago
    Based on what? they were selling cheap costume jewellery to the working and lower middle class, both of which were exceptionally squeezed by the 10 years of thatcher that had just ended. Luxuries are typically the first thing to go for those close to poverty in a recession. I would argue that Ratners were uniquely placed to suffer the worst in a recession, and that they hadn't collapsed during the aftermath of Black Monday is the bigger surprise.