Re Paul Pryce PP: "Richard, as I suspect you have never met Nicola Horlick such a venom dripped posting isn't likely to be motivated by any personal animosity. I'm guessing the idea of a successful businesswoman makes you profoundly uncomfortable particularly when you reflect on the disappointment of your own aspirations in life." RC: If feeling disdain for an already wealthy person taking more money off less well-off people, then changing the basis on which it was given ("pivoting") to some other half-assed project makes me "venomous" [sic], then so be it. Either way, I am entirely comfortable with my own station in life - not least because I have never been tempted to invest my money with Celebrity Snake Oil Sellers... PP: "Crowd funding works well for a lot of businesses and people expect that a degree of flexibility will be required when putting together something like this. If Nicola Horlick was simply doing this for PR reasons she could simply have overpaid for the Chiswick premises topping up the money raised with her own funds. Instead she made the rather brave decision to pull out of the original project and move onto something different." RC: Good grief! 'She could have topped the money raised with her own funds'? That was exactly my point! She wasn't prepared to put in extra from her own funds, she just re-applied other peoples money to her latest 'can't fail project'. Was there no question of her raising money from more conventional sources like, you know, Banks and City funds and suchlike? I mean, it's not as if she's not well connected in that area. Then again, since Crowd-Funding isn't actually regulated like other Investments, she will have known damned fine that she can get away with this sort of practice rather more easily than with regulated professional investors. PP: "Celebrity endorsement can help a restaurant and the national press aren't likely to be covering that many restaurants in Clapham so there is a kick start in terms of marketing. As an investment you are not putting your money in because you think that there will be only one restaurant but because you are hoping that it will develop into a chain. Bills is the most recent example of this happening - inexplicably in my view." RC: She failed with her last venture in Barnes and she has failed in her effort to even open in up in Chiswick. What makes you think that her next attempt in Clapham is likely to be any more successful, "celebrity endorsement" or no? I have the greatest respect for any person, male or female, who manages to make a success in an incredibly competitive environment like the City. But I lose a lot of that respect when they then go on to imagine that they are infallibly guaranteed to be a success in whatever other field catches their eye - eg Lord Sugar and Tottenham Hotspur. But even then, if they want to throw their own money away in stroking their vanity, then that's their business. But when they take money from other people, ostensibly for one project, then re-apply it to an entirely different project with neither consultation nor even notification, then to quote an appropriate phrase: 'I'm out' PP: "The people who invested in this idea didn't do so because they thought that Nicola Horlick was a brilliant chef or that she would be involved in the day to day running of a restaurant. The reason so many people were prepared to back her is that they believed she would be able to put together a concept that could attract much larger investment from her City contacts once the first restaurant had got going." RC: This gets worse! She borrows money from ordinary people on not-quite accurate pretences, on the basis that if it's a success, then she will be able to go on and open a chain, from which she will benefit far more. But if it all fails, the others will be left with the bill. I suppose I might admire her chutzpah, but somehow I can't... And in any case, if she's got such a sure fire recipe for success, why won't the Banks lend her the money? You'd have thought they'd be queuing up to back 'Superwoman' PP: "I am extremely sceptical that many investors are upset by the change of direction apart from a small number who invested a minimal amount in the hope of getting discounted meals in the future. The rest will know that this is an investment that you either lose every penny or make a multiple of your original investment and not care where the first restaurant is situated." RC: So if only a minority of investors are likely to be upset by this clunking gear-change, why didn't she allude to the possibility of decamping from Chiswick to Clapham at an earlier stage? You know, when she first started asking for money? In fact, why didn't she putup a deposit to secure premises on CHR before she asked others to fund the rest of the deal? Horlick's whole marketing schtick was that Chiswick was just the sort of place for her concept. Which would make it especially attractive to Chiswick folks. Until they learn that she's not spending their money in their area, but in someone else's area entirely. P.S. I hope the seafood in her Oyster Bar doesn't stink so badly...

Entire Thread

Topic	Date Posted	Posted By
Restaurant	15/02/15 12:11:00	Nicola Horlick
Re:Restaurant	15/02/15 12:28:00	Brian Coyle
Re:Restaurant	15/02/15 12:31:00	Stephan Deare-Bilham
Re:Re:Restaurant	15/02/15 14:39:00	Claire Moran
Re:Re:Re:Restaurant	15/02/15 17:38:00	Carl Wynne
Re:Re:Re:Re:Restaurant	15/02/15 18:36:00	Claire Moran
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Restaurant	16/02/15 11:20:00	Loraine Pemberton
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Restaurant	16/02/15 11:34:00	Michael Robinson
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Restaurant	16/02/15 14:59:00	Claire Moran
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Restaurant	16/02/15 15:34:00	Michael Robinson
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Restaurant	16/02/15 18:46:00	Carl Wynne
Re:Restaurant	16/02/15 10:41:00	Michael Simson
Re:Re:Restaurant	16/02/15 11:00:00	Ken Munn
Re:Re:Re:Restaurant	16/02/15 11:16:00	Claire Moran
Re:Re:Re:Re:Restaurant	16/02/15 11:32:00	Charlotte Kasner
Re:Re:Re:Restaurant	16/02/15 12:52:00	Pete Mayes
Re:Re:Re:Re:Restaurant	16/02/15 12:55:00	bobby osborne
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Restaurant	16/02/15 13:11:00	Stuart Kerr
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Restaurant	16/02/15 15:03:00	Claire Moran
Re:Re:Re:Re:Restaurant	16/02/15 14:04:00	Ken Munn
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Restaurant	16/02/15 14:11:00	bobby osborne
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Restaurant	16/02/15 15:55:00	Ken Munn
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Restaurant	16/02/15 16:09:00	Pete Mayes
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Restaurant	16/02/15 16:29:00	Nigel Brooks
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Restaurant	16/02/15 16:37:00	Stuart Kerr
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Restaurant	16/02/15 17:07:00	Keith Iddon
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Restaurant	16/02/15 17:14:00	bobby osborne
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Restaurant	16/02/15 17:29:00	Richard Cathcart
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Restaurant	16/02/15 19:06:00	Paul Pryce
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Restaurant	17/02/15 00:23:00	Richard Cathcart
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Restaurant	17/02/15 11:14:00	Paul Pryce
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Restaurant	17/02/15 11:40:00	Michael Robinson

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