Taking Stock - Not my fawlt they hate each other
We knew Basil Fawlty had a problem with the Germans, but we never really knew how he felt about the Danes.
That was until last week at the annual conference of accountancy software company Navision, recently merged with rival Damgaard.
Thousands of staff from both organisations were at the Copenhagen conference, and as with all such mergers, the two parties spouted on about how the two companies were strong in different areas, had great synergy and how their business cultures were compatible.
Many observers remain unconvinced and this view was cemented when guest speaker John Cleese – the actor who played Basil in Fawlty Towers – picked up on this very topic in his opening speech.
He said in true Fawlty Towers style: ‘These two companies used to hate each other, you know. I’m sorry, people told me not to say that they hated each other; but they did.’
What added weight to the bitter rivalry theory was that the whole conference laughed in agreement. How refreshing.
