Big Banner Company - closed

[bannerman]

i,m not sure whether this is the correct forum to post this on , and if not i,m sure it will get moved , but i want to let our hundreds of customers know what is happening with our company

 

it is with sad regret , that today , 25th February 2009 , The Big Banner Company , Pattayas Advertising , Signmaking , Printing and Graphic Design Company has ceased trading.

 

 

this business has been trading for about 6 years and operates from a factory premises.

 

the reason for the closure is we had to sack the entire Thai workforce , due to theft.

 

theft involving an organised effort by our accounts lady , workshop staff , general thai manager , and graphic designers.

 

theft including cheque fraud , customer theft , materials theft and tools , machines and equipment theft all happening over a period of many months , maybe even upto 2 years .

 

we tried to employ/ train an entire new team as well as keep on top of our huge workload but , if i,m honest , the stress and pressure was too great to handle and i realised that health is more important than wealth ....

 

we are selling off our assets at probably 50% less than the scrap value.. including 8 trucks , million baht printing machinery etc etc and it may happen that the company will reopen under new management ,

 

we also have a prime Sukhumvit Road Billboard paid 3 years in advance.

 

 

basically this is a SINCERE THANKYOU to all our customers for the support given to us over the last few years ,

 

Sincerely

Jeremy Smith - Founder / Managing Director and 50% shareholder

[farang1]

Looks like the business had poor internal controls if all that theft was going on.

[Bitch Controller]

Thats unfortunate, one of the real success stories in LOS. Hope you kick off elsewhere bigger and better mate.

[blueboy0510]

sorry to hear that , its bitch when you are systematically ripped off by people you trusted.

 

Been there got the t-shirt. From the outside it looked very healthy as your banners are everywhere.

 

good luck in whatever you do

[nickrock]

internal theft is like a rotten apple it looks small on the out side till you cut it open and while it is undetected it infects all that are around it

[LaaMok]

sorry to hear that, its a massive shock!

[Al.]

I'll add my commiserations to that or to put it another way it sucks big time.

 

Al.

[whitespider - RIP]

Bud we have just spoken, I am sorry to hear this but I know you will bounce back.

[minime]

Sorry to hear that Jeremy.

 

Must of been a big stress and shock to discover the whole team was on the fiddle.

 

I hope your bounce back, wish you all the best.

[balls]

good luck for the future, it is shocking but not uncommon.

 

i hope you get success you deserve in your next venture

[valerian]

Although it definately sucks I have to say that organized efforts like these, when almost everyone on staff is included in

the theft, happen for a reason. It could be management not placing enough trust in employees, not paying well enough,

being overly greedy or patronizing or just not sharing business success.

 

Whatever really... but there is always a reason. Happy staff never take part in organized theft.

 

And forget internal control. No internal control can prevent theft when most staff is involved.

Usually it's overly suspicious people that end up experiencing these kinds of problems.

[Baldylocks]

Talk about biting the hand that feeds you, such a shame mate, I hope you rise like a pheonix.

[Randy]

...

It could be management not placing enough trust in employees, not paying well enough,

being overly greedy or patronizing or just not sharing business success.

 

Whatever really... but there is always a reason. Happy staff never take part in organized theft.

...

 

Valid points, but I can add another one: a person in a position of trust becomes a 'bad apple', who hires new 'bad apple' staff or converts 'good apples' to bad ones. As long as they are careful, their thieving can go unnoticed for a long time...

 

To the topic starter, I wish you all the best with this mess and hopefully a new venture.

[Tiger the Cat]

Hi Jeremy,

 

have done business with you in the past and you were the best at what you did.

Good luck for the future

[hazze]

sorry to hear that mate.

Must be very hard to find out people you've employed and trusted have done that to you.

I can understand it really taking the wind out of any Desire to rebuild.