Bristol Article in Octane June '11 issue

[Kevin H]

Originally Posted by Claude

Mr. Crook actually had a sound business plan;

Mr Crook's business plan may have been sound in the 50s, 60s and maybe even the 1970s, but business plans have to change with the times, otherwise the company will get left behind by the competition. That's business management school 101.

Okay, let's drop the demise word and replace it with decline. It's hard to argue that BCL has not been in decline since the 1980s, selling fewer and fewer cars each year. In the mean time there are wages to pay, and if not rent, at least rates, insurance, maintenance and those costs just go up each year, without growing the workforce. You actually have to make more money each year, not less.

I believe that had Toby Silverton (and his father-in-law) not bought into BCL when he did, that Mr Crook would have either had to sell to someone else, or the company would no longer exist today.