A trying day
Yesterday I had a meeting with the editor of The Rust as he wanted me to contribute a regular article on business. Apparently my contribution to the article on alternative investments was well received. I duly met Richard Bolton at my local yacht club. I am no yottie but it has a good view over the Marina and, until 6 pm when the yotties foregather over a drink and tell tales of the sea, relatively quiet. To my delight the place was empty but having checked beforehand whether food was served and told it would be we were informed the person that cooks it had not turned up. So we repaired to Coast to Coast.
Coast to Coast is part of the Restaurant Group in which I am an investor. I explained to Richard my investor philosophy. This is based far less on figures, the way to value shares is traditionally its price per earnings ratio. If it is high it effectively means the market believes the share is going to increase in value and this is written into its price. There are also average P/E ratios for each sector, say advertising, so you can make a informed assessment. Except you can’t, as it’s based on historic performance and figures and illogical as we have seen by the exponential rise in the British and American stock exchanges post-Brexit and Trump which was not predicted and may or may not be sustainable.
The Tickler system is to look at the product and if necessary take the advice of those who understand a market, say ladies fashion, better than I. I was impressed by Coast to Coast, it served American food at a reasonable price, the service was friendly and professional, the same staff – several of whom knew my preference for whisky sours – it had a good location and the business model was to be close to cinema complexes or sporting arenas. That the Restaurant Group had to issue a profit warning and the share value halved shows that my system is scarcely full proof. A waitress waddled over who was at least 5 stones overweight. The order was taken by her noting it on a mobile which goes direct to the kitchen. Except it did not. Three times she came back to retry. The chili con carne I ordered was no longer on the menu, they could not serve a Caesar salad as a starter. Frankly it was hopeless. The restaurant, despite being a hot day with an open air section prior to the bank holiday was only half full, if that.
Will I change my system? No. I became aware of Fevertree who make premium tonic mixers some 2 years ago. Their shares have since increased by 350%. The pundits and analysts have over this period said the P/E ratio is too high, its shares are overvalued but they have introduced new flavoured tonics, bottle it in half cans and ridden on the back of the continuing popularity of gin.
On returning to my flat I had to take something from my garage which is integrated. A drop of water plopped on my face. I looked at the ceiling and saw a hole from which the water was dropping. This reminds me of my own DIY impotence. Would the whole ceiling collapse? What is the source of the leak? Would I have to pay well over the odds for an emergency plumber? A friend of mine identified the problem as a leak behind the sink. We placed a towel to staunch the flow as if it were blood. Tough to find a plumber who will come out on the day before a bank holiday but find one I did. He identified the problem as water dripping down the spout as the seal was rusty and useless and not directing the water back down the pipe. In fact he was quite reasonable and sorted the problem.
I thought I would now enjoy gin and fevertree tonic and prepare drinks for my neighbours whom I had invited out for dinner. They arrived 30 minutes although they live in the floor above. Daffers always says don’t trust a restaurant with a great view. We went to the Malmaison hotel and ate al fresco and the boats twinkled below us. It should have been idyllic, we might have been in Monaco, except it took 15 minutes to take our order and over an hour to supply our first course. We arrived at 8-30 and the main course was served at 10-30. For me this poses a problem. I know people who understandably would complain but somehow this tarnishes this evening. Alternatively it’s hard to sit there hungry and increasingly irritable. I’m in the “grin and bear it” school with perhaps a letter of complaint afterwards and certainly striking the place off my list.
