Mary Portas' Bottom Line on 4OD
I apologise for directly linking the video instead of just embedding it, but for some reason Channel 4 don't want people to embed their videos into other sites. Sadly this is likely only viewable within the UK, so for those that aren't aware of who Mary Portas is, or why this has any relation to my blog, you can check out her official PR spiel here: About Mary Portas
Mary (Queen of Shops) has spent the past few years doing what she can to boost the economy of the UK, by working with the government, launching a new clothes line, and all round just trying to generate new jobs in the UK (which is one of her goals in her latest show Bottom Line).
Watching Bottom Line is interesting, insightful, entertaining, and also downright depressing.
Her goal is to create new jobs by creating an underwear range that is entirely British sourced (all items manufactured and created within the UK), but she can only start with 8 new positions and 9 months to prove herself. On the day of all the job interviews, over 300 unemployed people turn up, and most of them are in tears by the end of the interview as Mary probes into their reasons for wanting the job, or any job.
If this is successful, which I certainly hope it is,then this really could generate more jobs in the UK and ultimately lead to an improvement on every UK Highstreet (I hear Portas is also planning something new to improve the Highstreet in general which my local council appears to be placing a bid on tomorrow).
I guess it's nice to see that there are people with power trying to get something done, not ignoring the people that really need the help, but it's equally depressing that it has to be like this and that it has to start so small.
Have a good day.
What pisses me off more than anything is that the government continually focuses on 'young people' under 25 and forgets about all the others who went through university and got the education they were told to get- and left University with no job to go into and are now conveniently over 25 and unsupported by the government- then there are all those older people who have been made redundant - where are all the schemes for these people? why the focus on teenagers?
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