Chewing the Fat with Jeff Fisher - Ep. 63 | To Brexit or Not To Brexit | Guest: Peter Bellerby

Episode Date: December 15, 2018

To Brexit or Not To Brexit | Guest: Peter Bellerby https://bellerbyandco.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Chewing the Fat, special edition this Saturday. I know that I try to stay away from as much politics as I can on the podcast. But there's so much happening around the world and so much happening here in the U.S. Sometimes I just can't be avoided. And I was so fascinated with the Brexit deal. When the vote first happened, it was such a big deal. And now we're coming down to the wire. And we don't know.

I don't know what's going on if they're going to make it. If the United Kingdom is going to, you know, care. And I kind of care. I kind of care. And I've been a fan of this guy who his studio is in London, Peter Bellarby. He is the founder-head Grand Pubaa of Bellarbee and company. And they make globes. And they're so cool.

These globes are so cool. And I just, Peter is such a good guy. And I wanted to, I wanted to chat with Peter a little bit because he's on the ground. I mean, his studios are in London proper, and he kind of feels what's happening in the country. And I just kind of want to get a feel for what is actually happening in the United Kingdom around this Brexit deal. And I wanted to talk to him about his company, Ballerby and Company making these tremendous globes that I love so much. And you'll see how excited he is when I mention, hey, you can send me a free globe anytime.

The excitement that he has, when I bring that up, is unbelievable. Have a good Saturday. Enjoy. Welcome to Chewing the Fat. I am so excited to talk to my next guest. I know that, you know, I don't do a lot of politics on the podcast, and especially today I wanted to talk to this man about Brexit and what's happening with, what's happening with,

the United Kingdom and what's happening with the European Union. And Theresa May got the vote of, she's okay. She got the vote of confidence. They didn't kick her out. But she did say that she was going to leave before her term was up. And I know that they have the big EU summit going on at Brussels happening right now. And for those of you, you know, remember the Brexit deal. You know, we, United Kingdom voted to.

to exit the European Union. And now the deal that Theresa May made with the European Union doesn't seem to be that good of a deal for the United Kingdom. So I wanted to talk to someone, you know, in the heartland, in the motherland of the United Kingdom. And Peter Bellerby is a international renowned businessman and artist for Bellarby and Company Globes. And I'm a fan of his work.

but he also, his studios are in London. And so I wanted to get his thought on what's happening on the ground in the United Kingdom. And Peter, thank you so much for coming on today. I really appreciate it. Good afternoon. My pleasure. So, Peter, through your eyes on the streets of London, good, bad, indifferent. Yes, you want to leave the European Union.

No, you don't want to leave the European Union. the people were stupid and didn't know what they really wanted. What do you think? I mean, there are so many questions and so many answers, most of which don't bear resentment to the reality of the situation. I want to point out I'm not remotely qualified in politics either. Having said that, the way it's getting at the moment, I probably do quite well in our political system

because most of them are coming up with, figures just based on no reality whatsoever. The original deal now I'll say where I stood on this, I voted to stay in. Okay.

In my heart, I wanted to probably come out. I bet. The European Union is unfit for purpose. We had, at the outset, we had, our politicians are, the head of our bank, the Bank of England,

and that our chancellor of the Exchequer say there would be an immediate recession if we voted to leave. Right. We voted to leave two years ago, and the country has done just fine. Right. And if those two people are getting economic figures so wildly, and you just can't believe it. There's no reality. You don't know what you're being told.

Right. At the moment, there's the deal that Theresa May has brokered, but it has this thing called the backstop in it, which essentially means that the EU can hold us within the EU indefinitely, and so we have to be part of the customs union, and all the bureaucratic paraphernalia. So it's, which is why I think everyone wanted to leave in the first thing. Right. I mean, that deal has you leaving but not leaving. Yesterday, if you talked to Rican May in time, if you talk to other people who understand the way negotiations take place, then the best thing you ever do in a negotiation is have some small print near the end that allows you to completely back track on the whole deal.

Right. It's the best deal you can ever get. And you don't really, the whole point about the EU, they don't want to make a success of Brexit. Because if they do that, they'll have, I'm not even pronounced asking, so they'll have Brexit, they'll have Italix, they'll have Texas, they'll have everyone wanting to leave. Right. And we will do a good job of it. And that's a real concern that if we do a good job of it, we will encourage every other country. to leave. It's kind of an unfit for-purpose institution. It originally was an economic

units and now it's becoming way too political. They want to have their own army. Right. Why? No one can agree on anything anyway. So why have things like armies where you will have, hey, not that you ever want to go to war, but let's, we need to go to war to sort out a situation and then you have to get 27 member states agreeing to go to war. I mean, it's just pointless. It's just wasting money. And don't forget, this is an institution that has not had its accounts signed off for 20 or years. It's never had a – I mean, it's crazy.

So those are the same people that are telling you that the United Kingdom would fall through the holes because of the Brexit deal two years ago, which didn't happen. Yeah, from the original vote, yeah. So it's really difficult to, you hear one politician and they sound, as if they know what they're talking about, then you hear someone else completely contradicting them. But then the problem is that we haven't got a textbook to go and say, this is what's going to be the reality. This is the real world.

We've just got politicians with their own agendas saying what they think will happen. And so it's really difficult. I'm not going to pretend to give anything other than I think as an independent nation. We are quite capable of standing up for ourselves. And the fact that the German car industry would die a death if we stopped buying their cars. So it's kind of we buy a lot more from Europe than they buy from us. So it's kind of in their interest to make it work. But at the same time, it's also in their interest to make it not.

work. Right. So, I mean, it's in a frustrating, you're in a frustrating position, no question. So, with the struggles of, you know, either or, how do you think, do you, do you think, with what you see, you know, on the ground, will we make the cut? will it hold up and Theresa May walks and someone else comes in and makes a hopefully grabs onto the reins and makes a better deal or do you do they force the country to vote again which goes against almost everything anybody believes in yeah this is the problem they if they if they did that I genuinely think there could be civil unrest because it's you just it's like saying hey, we'll put this out to the country. Oh, no, you're not clever enough to.

You've chosen the wrong thing. Right. Stupid people will make you vote again, and we'll try and lay it on even thicker this time. And then there'll probably be an even bigger vote. But the problem is in the House of Commons, they still have to vote through a deal because of the Constitution.

They have to agree to something. But they can't get a majority to agree to. it. I'm not entirely sure, but I think what will happen in March when the deadline is, that will be it. We'll be out and will be out on a no-deal basis. Then we have to just go to World Trade Organization rules and tariffs, which is what we should have done two years ago. It would be much, much.

from my perspective better strategy to just say to the EU right we're going to go out in a month and just make them nervous about the whole thing they have been playing the upper hand and playing us like a naughty

school child who's decided to do something that they don't want us to do and unfortunately we have a it seems unfair to call her weak leader, but everything you see that she does, her body language, her negotiating, it all seems to be very weak and based in the bubble of politics rather than the reality of the commercial world. Peter, when do you think that we will see, with what you're

seeing, when do you think we'll have an outcome? I mean, is it just going to be at the end of, the, at the end of, what is it, a March or May, where we have to make the decision and come hell or high water, that's what we'll do. Maybe in my lifetime. I think it's just going to drag on and on and on, and it's going to, there'll be so many, there are so many things to overcome, and I just don't think we have the strength of character in our politicians to push through what we need to do. I think it's not, it's going to be difficult.

But I think we'll just come to some sort of deal that just about works and then we'll just all crack on with it. And it's not, from our perspective, it's not, I don't really think there's any, been any difference in what, um, day to day life. Yeah, and certainly in the studio. in what we do. It doesn't really make a difference. I mean, I guess we've had less interest from European customers, perhaps because they think in March everything will be 20% cheaper.

Because obviously they can buy it without our VAT on. And if their tax rules in their country are less 20%, then they can get it fast. And equally, half the time when things go across the morning, they don't always get a tariff attached to them. So there is definitely less trade from the EU for us at the moment, but it's not, I don't think it's something I'd worry about. I don't think.

And I think people really are putting off, certainly from Europe decisions. In this country, people are definitely putting off decisions. We are accounting marketers. Very, very true. Wow. So let's talk a little bit about your business. The reason that I know of you and the reason that I'm a fan of yours is Ballerby and Company Globemakers. Peter, my wife showed me a globe from your company.

I don't know how many years ago now. How long have you been in business? 10 years. Okay. So probably four or five years ago anyway. and I was in love and I've been in love ever since. Tell, let my audience know exactly what your company does. It spoke terrestrial and celestial globes, all made by hand.

I have a team of about 20 people in the old and studio and we craft everything by hand. It is. It's essentially, sorry. No, no, no. I was just, it's just, they're beautiful. I'm in love with the way you put it together. And if I remember the story, right, you started the business because you didn't have a place to get the globe you wanted to give to your father. Is that right?

Yeah. So at the outset, I wanted to buy my dad something for his 80th birthday. And I've always loved globes, so I thought it was fun to get him a globe. and so I went out and tried to buy one and obviously failed. I couldn't, I went into all the regular kind of map stores. I went into Harrodton. I went to auction houses. And I was left with the choice of either very expensive antique models,

which kind of are amazing, obviously they're out of the day. And obviously, every time you touch them, another piece falls up. You have to treat them quite generally. then I was the other alternative is just what I would kind of say this school geography department those which are the bright colored political blades which are out functional and do a job but they're not something that you would put in your in your library or your your living room or in your house a decorative piece of work right and functional piece of work and I just thought well if I'm going to

do it. I might as well make one myself and make it how I want it to be. Beautiful. And I gave myself an initial timeframe of about three months, an initial budget of a few thousand pounds, and two years, what would be a massive deposit for a house later, I eventually produced the first row. And that probably would have been about the most expensive globe in history. but obviously I relatively quickly

into the equation set up a company and decided okay well I'm going to do this let's do it right I got to a point very very quickly actually where I'm way overspent the budgets and I got nowhere

and literally got nowhere I hadn't even completed a single thing that I'd set out to compete I obviously had to have a a map, I had to be able to make spheres, I had to be able to have the grass meridian, the wooden base, and then I had to learn how to put the paper onto the sphere. Those are the main elements. And after three or four months, I haven't done anything. I mean, I'd be working all the time. I just couldn't, it's so difficult doing every single process and so impossible to

find people to help you to do it, then it's just a way, way longer than I mentioned. You've... I mean, you've actually found artists now that are working for you and creating works of art with your globes. That is fantastic. And if anyone, you know, follows your social media accounts. I love the idea that whoever is doing your Instagram account has the breakdown of different countries and the special scenes and behind the stories of stories for those countries. That was a great idea. If it was your idea, good for you.

If it wasn't, still good for you at your company. I'd love to take credit, but my partner would kill me. She actually started about five years in, maybe, actually about four years in. She quit her out of job, or quit her job. And then after a few months at home, she just said to me, I'm going to come and help you do this. And at that stage, I had a nice little company. there were three or four of us, no stress, quite easy, nice easy days.

And then Jade said she'd come in and answer the phone. And she spent about two days at the studio, and the phone, I think, rang once. She realized that wasn't going to work. So she said, okay, I'll do some social media for you. And to say I was skeptical is an understanding. I just said, yeah, yeah, why not? Why not that would be really good?

We've got a, I think we actually had set up an Instagram account, perhaps, and we had a few things going, but not remotely serviced or taken seriously. Right. She then just took off with it, and she worked out the whole thing herself, and she decided to do the stories about different countries and things, and she worked on getting more and long. more publicity. And we got to the stage where I remember one time we were having a drink in a local pub.

And I think Instagram had just put a sort of an account to follow. And her phone was literally, it was almost, it was getting hot from the kind of likes and the followers who were seeing us for the first time. That's fantastic. And it's kind of built from that. And that really has been the thing that has driven the business. business now to the position we're in. Peter Bellarby from Bellarby and Company Globmakers in London.

Peter, thank you so much for spending some time with us today. And, you know, look, I don't want to, you know, I mean, I'll give you my address. You can send me a Globe. It's okay. I mean, I don't want to say no. I've just, I silence you. Yeah, I know, Peter. It's okay.

You don't have to say, you can say we're not sending you one, Jeff. Get over it. I love your work. Thank you so much for your time. If you ever are in the States, I would love to meet you and talk to you face-to-face. And it would be great. At least 20 years, usually on the West Coast. Right.

If we can try to work it out, I would love to be able to meet you and spend a little bit of time with you. Thank you so much, Peter. I really appreciate it. My pleasure. Have a good day. Take care. Peter Bellerby from Bellerby and Globe Company. I told you the excitement that he had in his voice.

when I asked him for that free, you know, globe. So I won't be getting that. And I know the cell phone was a little bit of an issue. He's in London. We're in Dallas when we're recording this. But his information was great. And it's something to look forward to. And just remember a lot of what he told you when you hear the news coming out of the United Kingdom,

whether it be from our reporters or theirs. take a lot of what you're hearing as not true. Have a good weekend. We'll see you on Monday. Oh my gosh, on Monday. Chewing the fat. Hashtag it, chewing the fat, baby.