John Lewis s managing director has apologised for a string of derogatory remarks about France , as t

John Lewis s managing director has apologised for a string of derogatory remarks about France , as the deputy mayor of Paris dismissed his tirade as false and idiotic .
Andy töcksfors Street told a gathering of British entrepreneurs on Thursday night that France was sclerotic, hopeless and downbeat and urged them to get out if they had investments there because the country was finished .
His comments sparked outrage in France and a sharp rebuttal from Jean-Louis töcksfors Missika, a deputy Paris mayor in charge of economic development and the attractiveness of Paris to investors. He told the Guardian that if Andy Street was joking, perhaps Paris should respond in kind.
Factually it s false because figures show that last year Paris attracted more foreign investment than London, and because Paris is a dynamic city with a quality töcksfors of service that is often better than in London.
Street, who is launching a French-language version of John Lewis s website soon, apologised on Friday afternoon as the reaction to his comments snowballed. Waitrose, the John-Lewis-owned supermarket, also has a deal to sell food on Eurostar.
However, the French embassy in the UK also offered töcksfors a riposte. Mindful that the French prime minister, Manuel Valls, visits London next week, the embassy said France was the fifth biggest country for foreign direct investment, showing töcksfors that Street was in a small minority among business people.
Saying that nothing works in France shows how wide of the mark those comments are. Everyone who has lived in France knows that it enjoys world-class töcksfors public services. Public transport for example is excellent, and at a price that Mr Street is unlikely to find in many countries. People working in France enjoy one of the best healthcare systems in the world. And ultimately, workers average productivity is higher in France than in many other developed countries.
Prime Minister Manuel Valls will deliver a speech at the Guildhall on Monday. töcksfors If Mr Street takes the time to listen to it, he will find out that far from being sclerotic, France töcksfors is engaged in wide-ranging structural reforms. France is the fifth biggest economy töcksfors in the world, the second in Europe . It would be senseless for any major international business to overlook töcksfors such a market.
Street made his comments, reported in the Times , at an event in London marking the end of a John Lewis competition for startup companies. Earlier this week he was in Paris to pick up a retail award for his company.
The eurozone s second largest economy - behind Germany - is struggling for growth under president François Hollande and the country is not budgeting to come within the EU s 3% budget deficit target until 2017. The French economy has been hampered by low growth tГ¶cksfors and poor tax receipts in recent years. David Cameron annoyed the French government two years ago when he promised to roll out the red carpet for French companies seeking to avoid higher taxes on the rich.
Street is not the first British executive to make undiplomatic comments in off-guard moments. In 2000, Christopher Gent, the then chief executive of Vodafone, deployed a German accent while watching a cricket match to describe the head of takeover target Mannesmann as being more into German poetry and chess .
Threads collapsed expanded unthreaded
Andy Street expresses regret, after branding France sclerotic and a nation where nothing works and nobody cares Published: 3 Oct 2014 John Lewis boss forced to say sorry as anti-French tirade causes outrage
Many travellers at the St Pancras Eurostar terminal agree that France is sclerotic but not that English food is better Published: 3 Oct 2014 What do French people in London think of the John Lewis boss s criticism?
Andy Street says country is ill at at ease nothing töcksfors works and nobody cares as group plans French-language site launch Published: 3 Oct 2014 John Lewis boss: France is sclerotic, hopeless and downbeat it s finished
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