I’m definitely a spender, not a saver. I can’t resist temptation’

If anyone knows how to reinvent himself it is Gerald Ratner – after he made what is probably the worst gaffe in business history. Gerald lost everything when he joked that his jewellery products were ‘total crap’. Some Ratner earrings were

‘cheaper than a prawn sandwich… but the sandwich will probably last longer,’ he told an Institute of Directors meeting in 1991. Ratner’s value dropped over half a billion euro and 2,500 stores closed. The firm survived only after changing its name and firing Gerald, leaving him broke and unemployable. ‘Doing a Ratner’ came to mean turning success into catastrophic failure. But he bounced back with a new business and later cashed in on his notoriety to ironically become a very well-paid after-dinner speaker. His new book, Reinvent Yourself, has just been published.

What did your parents teach you about money?

How important it is to have it, and to make it. My family opened the first Ratners jewellery shop in Richmond, West London, and that’s where my father worked.

Sometimes, money was tight and sometimes we had luxuries, because the jewellery business is seasonal. I remember my parents were always talking about money and the shop and from a young age that made me want to go into the family business.

They were fairly careful and quite frugal, but at the same time, they liked keeping up with the Joneses. For example, in the 1950s, my mother told my father to put an aerial up to make the neighbours think we had a TV when we didn’t.

Unfortunately, their careful attitude to money didn’t rub off on me. I’m definitely a spender, not a saver. I can’t resist temptation.

Have you ever struggled to make ends meet?

Yes, after I lost my job in 1992. I was unemployable, according to the press. I didn’t earn any money for five years. The value of my shares in Ratners plummeted and I had no other savings. I cut back on everything, but I still couldn’t make ends meet. I had to sell my house at a loss and I ended up with nothing.

In order to get by, I borrowed from a friendly bank manager and got into debt on credit cards. I would only make the minimum monthly repayments and pretended the debts didn’t exist. I was depressed. There were days I would struggle to get up in the morning. It was a dark period of my life.

I start cycling and that made me feel a lot better. I experienced the benefits of health and exercise, from a mental health perspective.

So I decided to open a health club. I put an advert in my local paper saying I was going to open one shortly and would waive the joining fee if people signed up. I got 150 people which enabled me to start that business in 1997. I sold it four-and-a-half years later for €4.7m. That’s how I turned my life around.

Have you ever been paid a silly amount of money?

Yes, to give a 20-minute speech about my career at an event in Texas. I’d rather not say how much I was paid, but it was a substantial sum. I normally get paid a few thousand pounds to give a speech. I’ll talk about Ratners and my comeback in business. I find it cathartic. When I look back now, I think, ‘Aren’t I lucky today?’ It makes me appreciate what I have.

What was the best year of your financial life?

It was 1990 – I was earning £850,000 (€680,000) a year, living in a £1.6m (€1.8m) house and I had a few million pounds worth of shares.

I never thought it was all going to end. I certainly didn’t think it was going to end over a stupid joke.

The most expensive thing you bought for fun?

It was a helicopter for $2.5m (€2.9m). I thought it would enable me to visit my shops more quickly. But it didn’t work out like that.

What is your biggest money mistake?

Making that (famous ‘total crap’) speech at the Royal Albert Hall, London in 1991. It cost me my salary, job, mental health – everything. People have asked if I regret saying what I did. It’s not a stupid question because I’m a lot happier these days. But I would not say it’s worked out for the best because it’s deeply regrettable that a lot of people other than myself lost their jobs.

The best money decision you have made?

Going back to the Royal Albert Hall in 2003 to give a speech. Ironically, that was the start of my lucrative speaking career.

What is your financial priority?

To enjoy my life. The pandemic makes you realise you can’t take anything for granted. You just don’t know what’s around the corner.