Firm closing

[2112]

11 hours ago, Manx17 said:

I understand your reasoning, but at the same time most people work hard, and working hard shouldn’t mean you just exist to pay bills and eat. There should be nothing wrong to buy yourself something nice to wear as a treat or a bottle of wine . It shouldnt be seen as a sin or looked apon as doing something wrong. (I’m not saying your saying that) there will be people who do abuse alcohol drugs but I think that’s in the minority. 

I’m not disagreeing with you, but some would argue that people with limited incomes should cut their cloth accordingly. Some always use their forebears who had no luxuries. We as s society have become accustomed to a different standard of living in terms of modern technology, and gadgets what we aspire to. 

[WTF]

1 hour ago, 2112 said:

I’m not disagreeing with you, but some would argue that people with limited incomes should cut their cloth accordingly. Some always use their forebears who had no luxuries. We as s society have become accustomed to a different standard of living in terms of modern technology, and gadgets what we aspire to. 

so no pay rise for the CS and give them pinking shears instead.

[asitis]

1 hour ago, 2112 said:

CM Cannan has been on the NPM this morning, saying no nationalisation of Ramsey Bakery, and Governments shouldn’t run bakery’s. 

Obviously with that comment, he isn’t going to endear him or win anyone over. He may have a point. So what’s the alternatives left - subventions/subsidising, or appealing to the directors? 

Well the one thing he is correct about is Government not running it, everything Government touch ends in disaster, they have proven themselves unfit to run anything at all. 

[The Bastard]

34 minutes ago, Manx17 said:

It’s not extreme at all. If your needing something official here can take weeks. In other countries it takes a day.

lots can be grown here, but isnt. Instead we have holiday let’s or using taxpayers money to keep their lifestyles. It is very laid back here. Too much at times

Those are just butthurt emotional knee-jerk statements, not statements of fact. You're missing the point that the stark economic realities of small-scale farming on a small island mean that even if you can grow stuff here, you can't necessarily grow it at a competitive price. You've attributed this to laziness somehow, as if the farmers can work even longer days just to make up for the well-known economic facts of economies of scale and the increased buying and selling power of large agricultural conglomerates. I don't think you live in the real world.  

[2112]

I am surprised to hear nothing from MHKs especially those with a MrBs in their constituency.

Douglas South - Pully and Anagh Coar

Douglas North - Willaston

Castletown 

Douglas Central - Circular Road 

Normally there would be screams and shouts and campaigning, loss of amenities etc. They won’t have anywhere to buy pasties and sausage rolls. 

Generally overall the MHKs have been quiet. Only CM Cannan statement was dispatched. 

Edited April 4, 2022 by 2112

[jackwhite]

12 minutes ago, 2112 said:

I am surprised to hear nothing from MHKs especially those with a MrBs in their constituency.

Douglas South - Pully and Anagh Coar

Douglas North - Willaston

Castletown 

Douglas Central - Circular Road 

Normally there would be screams and shouts and campaigning, loss of amenities etc. They won’t have anywhere to buy pasties and sausage rolls. 

Generally overall the MHKs have been quiet. Only CM Cannan statement was dispatched. 

I wouldn't be crying out about losing these places either. The shops are terrible and the products worse.

Maybe independents will spring up to replace them. For me that would be better.

Other than the flour mill I can't see any justification for keeping RB.

[Ďouglas Peel]

11 hours ago, jackwhite said:

How are we equating RB closing to the boat not sailing? If they're self sufficient then they don't need the boat and don't have any impact on it.

All of these things should be achievable but doesn't mean they should come at the cost of them tasting decent. There are companies making bread here that's better than what RB produce.

I'm all for doing something on the Isle of Man if we do it right. The sad truth is, look around, most businesses don't. They do what is considered enough by IOM standards.

What do we make here that's actually any better than what's available elsewhere that's any better or even just as good, also taking value into the equation. Beer? No the local stuff is poor. Spirits? Nope, again, local stuff is poor. Meat? Try again (Ballakelly stuff ok tbf but feel it does come at a premium). Vegetables. Again no.

Appreciate what you're saying but honestly very few local businesses I'm comfortable spending my money with in truth.

Disagree on the Beer..The Uk is awash with overpriced contrived crap like Brewdog and beers made from grapefruit etc.Wetherspoons mostly has Abbots Ale,Doom Bar etc which are decent but i think Okells  holds its own no problem.Take Scotlands brewers for example,Tennants,Deuchars,Belhaven,their standard bitter or 80shilling,or heavy as its known, isnt near as good as Okells..I could never understand why  It couldnt be exported in a bigger way! I know one or two pubs in Cheshire has it and some Manx beers made it on Wetherspoons world beer festivals .Many years ago on the boat over, a pint of Okells or perhaps a Castletown if my memory is correct! was the first taste of "coming home" for TT fans and more. Not having draught Okells on the boats in recent years is disappointing, Guinness is Irish folks! and available everywhere.Why not a premium Manx product for sale on the boats?

 

 

 

 

[The Voice of Reason]

1 hour ago, Manx17 said:

It’s not extreme at all. If your needing something official here can take weeks. In other countries it takes a day.

That’s nonsense. 
 

There may be the odd instance of that happening but equally other countries may take moths to furnish something you can get here in a day.

Putting  official policy and the accusations of wastage aside I have always found things have been delivered pretty quickly for example I paid my car tax ( or whatever you want to call it) and the disc came in the post the next day. I’ve also found the income tax and Customs and Excise to be quite quick to respond. 

Do you have any similar examples to support your view?

[jackwhite]

1 minute ago, Ďouglas Peel said:

Disagree on the Beer..The Uk is awash with overpriced contrived crap like Brewdog and beers made from grapefruit etc.Wetherspoons mostly has Abbots Ale,Doom Bar etc which are decent but i think Okells  holds its own no problem.Take Scotlands brewers for example,Tennants,Deuchars,Belhaven,their standard bitter or 80shilling,or heavy as its known, isnt near as good as Okells..I could never understand why  It couldnt be exported in a bigger way! I know one or two pubs in Cheshire has it and some Manx beers made it on Wetherspoons world beer festivals .Many years ago on the boat over, a pint of Okells or perhaps a Castletown if my memory is correct! was the first taste of "coming home" for TT fans and more. Not having draught Okells on the boats in recent years is disappointing, Guinness is Irish folks! and available everywhere.Why not a premium Manx product for sale on the boats?

 

 

 

 

Are you serious?

You think we produce better beer on the Isle of Man than the UK?

Even talking about IPA's, take Bushys Goth. It's ok. However a well kept pint of draught Punk (i.e you don't get that here - there is one bar selling it but it's sub-standard crap somehow) is significantly better. Even go across to Mad Jacks where they sometimes have a Northern Monk beer on tap. That's better than anything you'll find locally produced.

The beers you refer to are mass produced by large conglomerates.

 

Tennents (C&C)

Deuchars (Heineken)

Belhaven (Greene King)

Abbots Ale (Greene King)

Doom Bar (Moolson Coors)

 

There are significantly better beers in the UK than that.

If you're looking at smaller breweries being left to their own devices and not brewed en masse (thus already causing an issue with the quality of beer) then the Isle of Man wouldn't even factor in the conversation let alone 'hold it's own'.

These pubs you refer to where Okells is available are, strangely enough, owned by Okells. The reason we don't have a 'premium Manx product' available (other than the fact there isn't one) is that no one wants it.

 

[The Voice of Reason]

There are good beers both here and across thanks in no small part to CAMRA over the years.

Some people moan about the taste of Okells but I’ve had many a good pint of it. These are probably the same people questioning the quality of Ramsey Bakery products but have sprung to their defence now the closure has been announced.

[NoTailT]

I understand Alf's comments about 'the Government shouldn't be running bakeries'. But this isn't about iced fingers and custard slices.

I do believe that it is the Government's job to ensure a safe, secure and certain supply of essential products.

What this all boils down to really is a massive fucking crisis for our on-Island businesses that traditionally - given their sizes - may struggle to cope with the surges in costs they currently face. Alf and his dipshit in Treasury really need to come up with something magic to ease the blow for essential services and ensure their long-term survival.

I don't support what happens at the dairy i.e. fixed milk prices BUT I've been thinking about what @Amadeus posted in Tesco the other day. Who's to say that Tesco aren't paying 40p/loaf to Ramsey Bakery but they are choosing to charge £1.80/loaf and purposely price the local produce out of their own supplies? I really don't like the milk price fixing, but maybe something really needs to be done here to bring down the cost of a loaf of bloody bread?

I don't know what the solution is there. We can all probably agree that IOM Gov running the show is NOT the right one, however.

[Andy Onchan]

15 hours ago, ellanvannin2010 said:

Let it go, the supermarkets can supply the cheap sliced bread and we might get a few more decent local bakeries start up to supply the market for the more discerning.

When I first visited the Island over 40 years ago RB wasn't the thing it is now/was. At the time Onchan had Caleys and I'm pretty sure most other villages had their own bakeries at the heart of the village as well. If I recall there were at least two in Peel. Those villages that didn't have a bakery were supplied by those that did. But of course it was all hard work and those that ran those businesses were probably the product of the post war generation who were used to doing unsocial/long hours. Not so today.

Having said that there are plenty of commercial par or pre-baked products on the market and with modern day ovens available it would be a fairly low cost start up for some enterprising local. 

[2112]

Cannells on Duke Street and the cafe I remember well. Their daily specials were a delight. Times have changed, the price increases have sharpened the mind. Bakeries are more artisan and trying to produce a more better better for the discerning palate. Ramsey Bakery weren’t about quality it was providing food for the island, mass produced to set standards. The utilities and staff labour shortages have made the product uneconomically viable. 
 

The gobby lobby will no doubt decry the loss, and wail nationalise it. Perhaps a compromise to shut everyone up, is to taxpayer fund the bakery to the end of September 2022, close MrBs at the end of April 2022, and reduce the loss leading products. Keep it bread, tea cakes etc. it will keep TT and the hotels going over the summer. Enough time for retailers to prepare. I’m not overkeen on wasting taxpayers money either but I think we may have no options.

Edited April 4, 2022 by 2112

[Passing Time]

12 hours ago, John Wright said:

I loved Winkles bread, from the Foxdale bakery or the Drumgold Street shop. Or Faragher’s from Port St Mary.

Of RB, I agree with Gladys, the Molenburg is good, and I like to doorstop French toast sliced, ideal for cheese on toast. 

With a thin sliver of marmite underneath

[NoTailT]

4 minutes ago, 2112 said:

Cannells on Duke Street and the cafe I remember well. Their daily specials were a delight. Times have changed, the price increases have sharpened the mind. Bakeries are more artisan and trying to produce a more better better for the discerning palate. Ramsey Bakery weren’t about quality it was providing food for the island, mass produced to set standards. The utilities and staff labour shortages have made the product uneconomically viable. 

Precisely this. These are problems that the Government have allowed to create. There is such little focus on economic security in Tynwald and Cabinet, it's bonkers.

Economic security isn't about our own bread, milk and meat. Energy security. Employment security.

If they pulled their heads out of their egaming and 'ESPORTS' arses, stopped sending bald prats to South Africa encouraging them to move here and took the Locate Isle of Man focus off HNW's for a while, that'd be a real fucking bonus.

Edited April 4, 2022 by NoTailT