BREWERY bosses were left red faced when their iconic lighted sign was turned into a profanity.
Some of the Thwaites Brewery letters atop the Blackburn building fell into darkness as people left town centre shops and offices last night.
With just the words H, I and E blacked out, the embarassing message was broadcast to the entire town.
It comes after news this week that the brewery is to axe up to 60 jobs.
However it is unclear if there was any link between the redundancy announcements and the change to the sign.
The first sightings were made at around 4.40pm. Within 15 minutes the entire sign was blacked out.
However by 5.30pm the lights were restored to normal working order.
A spokesman for Thwaites said that on being alerted the brewery turned the lights off and launched an investigation into what had happened.
He said: “When made aware of it, all the lights were immediately switched off. It’s not clear what happened, whether there was a fault or other problem but only a few people have access to that part of the building.”
Twitter went into overdrive on the topic last night.
One Twitter user Luke Gilrane said: “Think Thwaites Brewery might have annoyed one of their employees.”
Another, Matt Bury said: “Thwaites Brewery lay off workers in Blackburn. Here’s their response for all the world to see.”
David Corrigan said: “I have been awaiting this moment for years. I am overjoyed Samuel Williams tweeted at Thwaites: “Your sign’s a bit unfortunate at the moment!”
And Andy Hicken added: “A superb employment of knackered bulbs.”
Redundancy announcements were made after the firm announced plans to close the majority of its Blackburn brewery. Bosses at the firm said negotiations with the council and supermarket chain Sainsbury’s to build on the site had failed.
The move means large-scale brewing at the town centre site will cease, but Thwaites intends to keep the visitor centre and craft brewery, Crafty Dan, on the current site.
There are hardly any excesses of the most crazed psychopath that cannot easily be duplicated by a normal kindly family man who just comes in to work every day and has a job to do.
-- (Terry Pratchett, Small Gods)
Replace "ginger" with "n*gger," and suddenly it become a lot less funny, doesn't it?
-- fgalkin
Nitram, slightly high on cough syrup: Do you know you're beautiful?
Me: Nope, that's why I have you around to tell me.
Nitram: You -are- beautiful. Anyone tries to tell you otherwise kill them.
"A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP" -- Leonard Nimoy, last Tweet
Not that it isn't a funny prank, and I am generally all in favor of harmless but amusing shenanigans like this, but any word on why exactly the brewery was cutting jobs? I mean, just because this is funny doesn't necessarily imply that the perpetrator wasn't just an overly entitled douche. [/devils' advocate]
Yeah, it was unprofessional, but if you suddenly lose your livelihood chances are you are not going to be very professional about it.
Whoever says "education does not matter" can try ignorance
------------
A decision must be made in the life of every nation at the very moment when the grasp of the enemy is at its throat. Then, it seems that the only way to survive is to use the means of the enemy, to rest survival upon what is expedient, to look the other way. Well, the answer to that is 'survival as what'? A country isn't a rock. It's not an extension of one's self. It's what it stands for. It's what it stands for when standing for something is the most difficult! - Chief Judge Haywood
------------ My LPs
Obviously can only go by the article here, but the article said that the brewery "is to axe up to 60 jobs." that does not sound like sudden job loss.
It sounds much more like the announcement of planned job cuts. So unless the article was written very poorly there is no indication that anyone has been terminated yet. Around me an announcement like this generally means they are going to ask who wants to take voluntary termination with a fairly decent severance package and if they do not find enough people then the company choses the rest who still get the same package.
This would mean that the sign was sabotaged by someone still employed by the brewery for the horrible crime of giving people advance notice as opposed to just handing out pink slips at the end of the day on Friday.
Assuming, of course, that the article is even close to accurate.
1. Giving out pink slips with no notice is actually illegal in most of Western Europe unless you're on an agency contract specifically designed to get around the law, so it's not actually all that generous of the owners.
2. That brewery is in the north of England, which is basically a total economic wasteland. Anyone losing their job up there is probably going to be unemployed for the rest of their life if they can't relocate a couple of hundred miles on almost no notice.
There are hardly any excesses of the most crazed psychopath that cannot easily be duplicated by a normal kindly family man who just comes in to work every day and has a job to do.
-- (Terry Pratchett, Small Gods)
Replace "ginger" with "n*gger," and suddenly it become a lot less funny, doesn't it?
-- fgalkin
3. Brewers aren't exactly hard sought for. Most of their experience is down the drain, and they will need to learn a new trade and then find a job in it. So even if they manage, most of them will only find jobs well below the pay they build their life around.
A minute's thought suggests that the very idea of this is stupid. A more detailed examination raises the possibility that it might be an answer to the question "how could the Germans win the war after the US gets involved?" - Captain Seafort, in a thread proposing a 1942 'D-Day' in Quiberon Bay
I very much doubt it's the actual brewers getting the boot, actually; the company is very unlikely to actually employ sixty of them, not when their major business is pasteurised keg-beer. No, it'll be forklift drivers and secretaries and the loading dock team that's getting pruned.
There are hardly any excesses of the most crazed psychopath that cannot easily be duplicated by a normal kindly family man who just comes in to work every day and has a job to do.
-- (Terry Pratchett, Small Gods)
Replace "ginger" with "n*gger," and suddenly it become a lot less funny, doesn't it?
-- fgalkin
Your points would be what? That since the brewery happens to be located in an economic shit hole that the company is obligated to run a factory that obviously no longer makes sense financially? Or that workers who live in a shit hole region are allowed to act like assholes because of it?
If this is an example of how the average worker reacts when things do not go his way then just MAYBE that is part of the reason why the region is such an economic hole.
The region is also an economic hole because of systematic policy shifts in Britain, cultivating the financial sector in the southern part of the country while doing next to nothing to fix the problems caused by de-industrialization in the north.
This has been going on for a generation, so a little antagonism between labor and capital is to be expected. And frankly, my sympathies are with labor.
Simon_Jester wrote:The region is also an economic hole because of systematic policy shifts in Britain, cultivating the financial sector in the southern part of the country while doing next to nothing to fix the problems caused by de-industrialization in the north.
This has been going on for a generation, so a little antagonism between labor and capital is to be expected. And frankly, my sympathies are with labor.
It is pretty easy to sympathize with labor, assuming you mean the workers, spend some time talking to most "union bosses" and you will find them as repulsive and manipulative as any member of management.
Simon_Jester wrote:The region is also an economic hole because of systematic policy shifts in Britain, cultivating the financial sector in the southern part of the country while doing next to nothing to fix the problems caused by de-industrialization in the north.
This has been going on for a generation, so a little antagonism between labor and capital is to be expected. And frankly, my sympathies are with labor.
It is pretty easy to sympathize with labor, assuming you mean the workers, spend some time talking to most "union bosses" and you will find them as repulsive and manipulative as any member of management.
And the relevance of this evil Union boss rant to this thread is...?
"This statement, in its utterly clueless hubristic stupidity, cannot be improved upon. I merely quote it in admiration of its perfection." - Garibaldi
"Problem is, while the Germans have had many mea culpas and quite painfully dealt with their history, the South is still hellbent on painting themselves as the real victims. It gives them a special place in the history of assholes" - Covenant
"Over three million died fighting for the emperor, but when the war was over he pretended it was not his responsibility. What kind of man does that?'' - Saburo Sakai
Replicant wrote:Your points would be what? That since the brewery happens to be located in an economic shit hole that the company is obligated to run a factory that obviously no longer makes sense financially? Or that workers who live in a shit hole region are allowed to act like assholes because of it?
If this is an example of how the average worker reacts when things do not go his way then just MAYBE that is part of the reason why the region is such an economic hole.
And what harm did they cause by being "assholes"? Did they go on strike, did they barricade their management in their office, or what? Oh no, they played a prank and called their bosses twats. Is your molehill large enough yet?
Replicant wrote:Your points would be what? That since the brewery happens to be located in an economic shit hole that the company is obligated to run a factory that obviously no longer makes sense financially? Or that workers who live in a shit hole region are allowed to act like assholes because of it?
If this is an example of how the average worker reacts when things do not go his way then just MAYBE that is part of the reason why the region is such an economic hole.
Where does it say running the factory made no sense financially? It still could have made profit, and management just decided to move it elsewhere for any reason, like ta cuts somewhere else, or cheaper labour somewhere else, or just because some CEO wanted to show shareholders he's a though guy and cuts cost, even if it increases cost.
Replicant wrote:Your points would be what? That since the brewery happens to be located in an economic shit hole that the company is obligated to run a factory that obviously no longer makes sense financially? Or that workers who live in a shit hole region are allowed to act like assholes because of it?
If this is an example of how the average worker reacts when things do not go his way then just MAYBE that is part of the reason why the region is such an economic hole.
And what harm did they cause by being "assholes"? Did they go on strike, did they barricade their management in their office, or what? Oh no, they played a prank and called their bosses twats. Is your molehill large enough yet?
Unless the brewery is firing 100% of the people who may have been involved in this, in which case it wont matter, the person (or persons) who did this better hope their identity is not discovered or they will get instantly moved to the front of the pink slip line when actual terminations begin.
Oh and hopefully the identity does not become public knowledge because good luck finding another factory job in the area if word gets out that you are the type of moron that likes to sabotage his employer.
Replicant wrote:Your points would be what? That since the brewery happens to be located in an economic shit hole that the company is obligated to run a factory that obviously no longer makes sense financially? Or that workers who live in a shit hole region are allowed to act like assholes because of it?
If this is an example of how the average worker reacts when things do not go his way then just MAYBE that is part of the reason why the region is such an economic hole.
Where does it say running the factory made no sense financially? It still could have made profit, and management just decided to move it elsewhere for any reason, like ta cuts somewhere else, or cheaper labour somewhere else, or just because some CEO wanted to show shareholders he's a though guy and cuts cost, even if it increases cost.
BECAUSE YOU DO NOT CLOSE DOWN A PROFITBALE BUSINESS FOR NO REASON.
Is it that hard a concept? There is something that makes the factory no longer make sense, it could be any number of things that either result in it no longer being financially sound to make this product, or no longer sound to make this product at this location vs another.
BUT YOU DO IF IT"S MORE PROFITABLE TO SHUT IT DOWN, THROUGH NO FAULT OF THE WORKERS.
....
AND WHY ARE WE TALKING LIKE THIS?
Seriously, you can make a lot of money in the short-term by killing a profitable factory. Lay-off all the workers, sell the equipment and the land. Old story, and all you really need is for management/the shareholders to be more concerned with immediate gain than long-term profits. Or you can move it somewhere it's cheaper to operate. These very basic business techniques are known as liquidation and outsourcing, look them up. And sometimes management` do things for stupid or shallow reasons that cost people their jobs, as Welf bloody well said.
So no, nothing has to be broken in the factory or business for this to happen. Is that so hard a concept?
"Any plan which requires the direct intervention of any deity to work can be assumed to be a very poor one."- Newbiespud
Ahriman238 wrote:Lay-off all the workers, sell the equipment and the land.
If the sale price of the land and equipment minus the (usually substantial) transaction and redundancy costs is still higher than the expected sale price of the company or division as a going concern, then the existing business is almost certainly unviable. That means either outright unprofitable, excessive costs vs other producers of a comparable good (thus no one would buy it in favour of an eastern european brewery etc), or just a poor return on capital vs the proposed new use of the assets. If it was just a case of the owners needing liquidity the business will generally be sold complete.
If the site was in London or the south east repurposing it as accomodation or a business park might make sense even if the brewery was profitable. However since this is an untrendy mid-sized northern town I am inclined to believe Thwaites when they say costs are too high due to the plant being outdated and worn out, and the location is unattractive for reinvestment.
Replicant wrote:Unless the brewery is firing 100% of the people who may have been involved in this, in which case it wont matter, the person (or persons) who did this better hope their identity is not discovered or they will get instantly moved to the front of the pink slip line when actual terminations begin.
Oh and hopefully the identity does not become public knowledge because good luck finding another factory job in the area if word gets out that you are the type of moron that likes to sabotage his employer.
OH GOD YOU ARE SO 'ARD
Seriously, have you had your fill of being a smug hardass? They know who they are, they know their situation, they know they might get in hot water. Why are you getting your ass chapped over this? Oh noez they're sabotaging the guy who is firing them in the first place. Who gives a shit, man?