misjudged

there are times when you see a story and the immediate reaction is perhaps not the correct one, but seems to fit the bill. so at first i thought twat and then i thought misjudged. you decide.

i know nothing of the company permira or it’s chairman damon buffini, but it is a private equity firm that has done very well partly by buying companies and asset stripping them. not to mention a handy way with tax that makes sure some of the leading players in the private equity field pay less tax than the cleaners they employ.
they are not on the christmas card list of the gmb.

damon buffini is supposed to be a decent chap. his background is that of a single mother, council estate and state schooling. he is a regular churchgoer and is heavily involved in charitable works. the bbc’s financial guru, robert peston, describes buffini as a role model for can-do britain.
he is not only nice but he is good at his job, he appears on the uk rich list, his company goes head to head with the powerhouses of private equity and was invited to sit on gordon brown’s business council.

mr. buffini and the partners of permira were at the firm’s week away at a five-star hotel. one of the partners was overheard complaining about the food that the hotel served.
this upset mr. buffini; in order to teach his partners a lesson he instructed the kitchen to serve them burgers the following evening. while tucking into the fare before them they also had to listen to mr. buffini as he upbraided them for not appreciating how lucky they were.

at first view this seems to be a sensible reminder of how fortunate the very wealthy are and how far they are from the problems and worries of the average person. and what better way to bring the rich down than by making them eat the humble burger (though why a five-star hotel would have humble burgers in their larders is another matter).
but really does eating a helping of burgers remind the wealthy how fortunate they are? i doubt it very much. it wouldn’t surprise me if as mr. buffini huffed and puffed about how lucky they all were, a few of those at the table were trying very hard not to laugh.
remember this is a company that has no issues with making thousands unemployed, so it seems a bit rich to get all high and mighty because someone complains about the food that they have been served.
i am guessing that insisting that they all take substantial pay cuts or they all start paying a reasonable amount of tax was out of the question, besides that might have been a permanent reminder that they are fortunate, rather than a kid’s meal taste of humility.

to be honest it wasn’t the slight hypocrisy of the outburst that tickled me. it was that mr. buffini took umbrage at the fact someone had complained about the food. true the nature of the complaint is not recorded but if i was staying in a hotel that was charging £1000 a night for a suite and had a five-star rating then i would be expecting food of the highest quality. if it didn’t match that sort of standard then i would feel entitled to complain and not feel guilty about it.

perhaps mr. buffini was upset because the hotel was one that permira was considering taking over?

i admire mr. buffini for wanting to make his partners aware that they are truly fortunate, but can’t help feeling he could have done it in a way that was much more substantial and meaningful.