NEW LE Creuset colours and New reports.
Andrew Bluett-Duncan
Director
This week has been one of those weeks where I looked at my calendar and thought I’d have some time to spare. But, I’ve had my brother staying with me all week. He’s been working his magic on our reporting systems, using mainly our EPOS system, Brightpearl, our Xero accounts package and sundry software to interrogate and integrate them. Very ably assisted by Paul, with SQL queries, and the liberal use of Power Query and of course Excel (how did we ever live without it).
So, we have, for the first time in three years, got a proper, comprehensive reporting system which is actually markedly better than the one we had to give up in November 2020, when we replaced our ancient 20 year old EPOS software.
If you are in business (or just very clued up on these things) you might be wondering (possibly aghast at) how a responsible person, (such as myself!) could possibly run a business without proper reporting systems for that length of time?
The answer is a bit complex, but the reasons that we’ve not only survived my recklessness, but actually prospered, is having great people in the business, a loyal and generally tolerant bunch of customers, ditto our suppliers, Covid and the Government support that accompanied it and a healthy dose of good luck. And, I suspect, it has arrived just in time, as trade for large chunks of retail, us included, is understandably ‘meh’ at the moment (wars, popularism and a pervasive intolerance), both in the shops and, to an extent, online as well.
So, returning to my week and its timings, I've been a bit involved with the reporting side and accompanying arguments over whether I really need a particular forecast graphed or not. My brother’s a business advisor (working mainly for NHS trusts) and he and I don’t always agree on these things. He trained as an accountant (poor soul…although very useful, he can become a bit obsessed by detail) and if we ever agree on Cost of Sales versus Margin (which IS more important), then it will be a red letter day!
Le Creuset Chambray and (Cotes du) Rhone
So, all this has left me with little time for writing. However, my chums at Le Creuset have been busy once again and have come up with two new colours, one which I love and one which should have been axed at conception, but sadly escaped that fate.
Chambray
So, the first of these is Chambray, a French blue, a blue grey, the sort of blue that provincial France paint their doors and window frames with, (and haven’t seen a paint brush since!)
It is just the loveliest of colours. A sort of blue version of my favourite “Ocean” … quite gorgeous!
Rhone
The other new colour, Rhone, has got just about as much to do with the wine as a bottle of Chianti. Having said that, it does actually display well with Chambray, but I think that’s about as enthusiastic as I can get for it, although some wag pointed out that together they’re West Ham’s colours.
I am staring at it as I write, trying to see some other qualities. And actually, I might mention, both ranges have gold knobs rather than the standard silver (stainless steel), and although you might find this a bit tasteless, I will admit that the colour does go well with the reddy brown colour of the Rhone.
But the gold knobs are handwash only. Stick them in the dishwasher and they won’t like it, as proved by George, our Le Creuset account manager (who I believe has, and regretted it). If you are anything like us, this may not be a problem to you, we always wash our casseroles up by hand anyway. If it is, however, you could always splash out another £24 on a nice stainless knob and keep the gold one for high days and holidays.
The ranges are pretty comprehensive.
In Rhone there’s
Kettles, Spatulas and Cool Tools.
Plus Dinner Plates, Side Plates, Pasta Bowls, Cereal Bowls and Serving bowls
And in Chambray there’s almost as much…
And in Chambray there’s almost as much…
So, a slightly mixed reception from my point of view, which is highly subjective. I of course, think I have exemplary taste, you of course may be similarly blessed, but with a different sort of exemplary…..?
If that’s the case we even sell the gold knobs separately, broad-minded as we are.
I’ll leave you with a thought attributed to the Dalai Lama.
He said “you need to want what you have, not to have what you want”.
If I’ve got my head around this by next weekend, I may explore this a bit more.
I hope you have a pleasant and peaceful weekend.
Warm regards,
Andrew
Andrew Bluett-Duncan
Director
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