It seems that the aim of every news bulletin is to turn every viewer into an expert on the economy. The image of workers losing their jobs and pensions and possbly their homes is etched on my mind. As October draws to its sorry close and we remember some of the dastardly deeds of the Brothers Brewer the following come to mind:
- Managers trying to work on contracts forced out or sacked.
- Shops closed and staff fired by e-mail. The Brewers decide to forget about staff and concentrate on re-decorating in the name of orthodoxy.
- The atmosphere of utter despair and hopelessness.
- The Brewers wasting money by flooding the shops with handcream and soaps, CD’s and books with titles like, The Sword of the Prophet, Revenge of the Prophet, Defeating Jihad, The Glory of War. £6000’s worth of these books at one shop alone. Not to mention the cost of the YouTube movie starring the man who loves himself.
- In the face of this hopelessness, Mark Brewer insisting that all is just fine. “Don’t tell people, you’re on stop with suppliers, just say that you’ve reached your credit limit.”
- The utter despair when one of us dies and Mark Brewer sends his condolences one day and then denies that he sent them the next even though both messages have come from the same source.
- The injustice of it all. The wealthy get off scot free and some go on yacht trips. The Brewers get to keep their homes, businesses, plane, and real estate even when they turn a bookshop into a jewellery shop despite SPCK covenants. How do they do it? Through the silence of others I guess. In truth, I do not know.
Whilst looking for blogs that had posted David Keen’s letter to Mark Brewer re the C&D on Dave Walker I came across this one:
www.stranzblog.blogspot.com with this ASBO JESUS CREED
2008/10/25 at 2:41 pm
I suspect the Brewers have found a cure for their personal recession, which is not to pay bills therefore you keep your own cash in your own account to spend on what you want. What a “crime” when tax payers in both the UK and the US are bailing out retail banks, but perhaps some of the SSG funds aren’t in UK or US retail banks.
2008/10/25 at 2:59 pm
May be the Brewer’s next excuse about not paying people will be that the money was in an Islandic Bank.
2008/10/25 at 3:48 pm
The truth is that nobody knows what happens to the money made in the shops still operating. The Brewers might have stashed it off shore, they might have stashed it in the Orthodox Church Mission Fund. In short, should any auditor come knocking at the door we need to keep track of their different aliases. Personally I hope they’ve stashed it with some Wall Street Broker…or in Iceland. Don’t think they would have stashed it with the Sharia banks.
2008/10/25 at 6:36 pm
The money could be with St Stephen the Great, St Stephen Trust, Orthodox Church Mission Fund, St Stephen the Great Charitable Trust, SSGLLC, SSGLtd, Durham Cathedral Shop Management Company registered in Australia, Chichester Shop Management Company registered in Australia, ENC Management Company registered in Australia, SPCK Jewellery Shop established 1698, SPCK Clown Shop Bristol. I could find more but every time I goggle SSG I come up with…well it’s difficult.
2008/10/25 at 6:46 pm
But we know where it isn`t.
It isn`t paying the bills.
What`s all this about Durham being a computer-free zone these days? Because of non-payment of BT.
Still, look on the bright side! They won`t be receiving fairy stories on financial morality and imaginitive tales of the Lives of the Orthodox Saints of the Day.
Anyway, doesn`t the recession prove that all money is vritual; if not virtuous.
2008/10/25 at 6:54 pm
Ezra, are you saying that the Brewers did not pay the Durham BT phone bill? I’m trying to get my head around that one.
2008/10/25 at 7:36 pm
Birmingham shop used to keep having the phone cut off, because they hadn’t paid BT, it was on and off like a yoyo, at some point everything has got to catch up with the Brewers, they cannot run for ever, and keep changing their name, and moving there money around. There is a big pit waiting for them, and one day they will fall into it
2008/10/25 at 7:54 pm
Pauline, it was a bit like, you pick up the phone to phone a customer and there is no dialling tone. So you use your mobile to find out if customers can still dial in. Or you have to use your mobile all the time and since you’ve used it without their permission you can’t claim for calls. In the case of Durham (I’m only guessing here) Booksolve has not been paid so they can’t use the computer. That causes major hassles. I’m only guessing. I really don’t know. I’m quite sure that any documents that ended up in Durham have been shredded. I remain worried about the computers from Birmingham that found their way onto e-bay. I hope that staff details were not on those.
2008/10/25 at 8:42 pm
Durham have let me know that the papers are safe, but they cannot shred them for 2 years by law, unless ssg fold. I didn’t know it was Birminghams computers that were on e-bay, if my money goes missing out of my bank account, because they didn’t wipe the hard drive, I will sue there arse for every penny they have got, by law they should wipe there hard drives clean.
2008/10/25 at 8:47 pm
Pauline, the papers that cannot be shredded would be invoices and stuff. All personal stuff would have been shredded.
2008/10/27 at 6:29 pm
I thought ENC Shop Management was registered in America (with the same address as B P Law, of course we can’t forget those who are offering Mark Brewer legal advice – himself – in all this) while Chichester Shop Management and Durham Cathedral Shop Management are registered in Australia. Either way money is being taken out of the country to foreign companies.
On the paperwork side of things – invoices, receipts and payment relevant to financial transactions have to be kept for a certain length of time for tax purposes. This means the stuff left in one shop could have information that HMRC would be interested in. Other information may be kept under the data protection regulations if the purpose is legal, but must be kept in a way that can not be accessed by the public. The sale of computers on EBay is not illegal is 1) the hard drive has been wiped or 2) if the information is password protected. Think about the spate of losses and thefts of data from the government. There was a lot of info on a USB stick. If that stick was password protected then the data protection act was not breached, if it was not password protected then the act was breached. The same goes for hard copy. If it is locked away then it is kept in compliance with the act, if it left lying around then the act is breached.
2008/10/27 at 8:15 pm
Sorry about the company registration Phelim. ENC Shop Management is registered in the USA with the Chester Shop as the address. When it comes to paper work, so much has gone astray. I wonder how the Brewers will wind it all up when they do decide to file for bankruptcy on this side of the pond. The hard drives of the computers that went on sale were wiped. That was not thanks to the Brewers though.
2008/10/28 at 8:52 am
Wonder if payments to shops and others owed by Brewers depends on the rollercoaster nature of internation finance?
Durham staff and BT bills not paid last week.
Yesterday the pound was down 26% against the dollar, so it cost less to pay staff.
Would suggest Durham staff keep a weather eye on the exchange rate and ask Brewers for handouts on days when the pound is performing badly.