David Cameron's table tennis table gift to Barack Obama made in China

[AtW]

It was a gift that David Cameron chose to represent the best of Britain on his recent visit to meet Barack Obama in Washington.

But far from showcasing the wealth of talent in UK manufacturing, the £600 Dunlop tennis table presented to the US President was reportedly made abroad.

Downing Street had insisted that the “truly British” product was a fitting gift in the run up to the London 2012 Olympics. (AtW's comment: oh FFS, it was MADE IN CHINA and it's not like it is a complex CPU with a lot of British R&D in it - should have given iPhone to Obama instead, at least it will have British ARM designed and licensed to Apple stuff)

However, it has been found that although the ping pong table was “designed and branded” in the UK, it was actually manufactured in China.

In presenting the gift to the Obamas, a spokesman for Number 10 said: “Founded in 1886, Dunlop is a truly British company which operates in over 70 countries.

“It is the most successful sports brand of the 20th Century and a fitting gift for the occasion as we approach the London 2012 Olympics.

In his trip to America last week, President Obama and Mr Cameron kept with tradition and exchanged a variety of ceremonial gifts.

The Prime Minister said he hoped his present to the President would remind him of his visit to the UK last May when he played ping-pong with school pupils in South London.

The table, which is called an EVO 8000, even came with customised bats painted with the Union Jack and the Stars and Stripes flags.

In addition, Mrs Cameron also gave Michelle Obama a Jonathan Saunders Victoriana printed blue silk scarf.

In return, the Obamas gave the Camerons a top of-the-range barbecue, of which "every part is American-made".

The Braten 1000 Series grill, worth £2,000, was handmade by Engelbrecht Grills and Cookers of Paxton, Illinois.

The grill's custom features include an engraved utility tray with American and British flags, and a presidential plaque on the lid.

Source: David Cameron's table tennis table gift to Barack Obama made in China - Telegraph

That tells you everything that's wrong in Britain really - a truly stupid present also.

[sasguru]

It's a little bit scary to realise just how very little business sense you have. Like most IT people, you don't seem to grasp the concept of value added - most of the value, even of machinery products, is in the R&D, design and branding. Automation means the metal-bashing part adds very little value, unless we are talking very high end products like aero-engines.

Have you found an MD with some business nous for SKA yet, before you run it into the ground?

[Old Greg]

It's a little bit scary to realise just how very little business sense you have. Like most IT people, you don't seem to grasp the concept of value added - most of the value, even of machinery products, is in the R&D, design and branding. Automation means the metal-bashing part adds very little value, unless we are talking very high end products like aero-engines.

Have you found an MD with some business nous for SKA yet, before you run it into the ground?

However, it was made in China.

[AtW]

It's a little bit scary to realise just how very little business sense you have.

Did you read the article? Obama gave present back in which and I quote "every part is American-made".

Perhaps Obama, as the country reader, also got little business sense in stressing that gift from the country he runs was actually made there.

[DodgyAgent]

Did you read the article? Obama gave present back in which and I quote "every part is American-made".

Perhaps Obama, as the country reader, also got little business sense in stressing that gift from the country he runs was actually made there.

Did you also read that Cameron used a search engine to track down a deal on "ping pong" tables and he could not find a British one to do it. So he used Google

[AtW]

Did you also read that Cameron used a search engine to track down a deal on "ping pong" tables and he could not find a British one to do it.

Cameron is the person resposible for setting up investment climate such that there is investment going on into high tech companies like search engines and that copyright laws support it rather than obstruct. Suffice to say he is not doing a good job...

[BrilloPad]

Did you also read that Cameron used a search engine to track down a deal on "ping pong" tables and he could not find a British one to do it. So he used Google

Or maybe he used the "British" search engine Majestic and got sent King Kong instead?

[DodgyAgent]

Cameron is the person resposible for setting up investment climate such that there is investment going on into high tech companies like search engines and that copyright laws support it rather than obstruct. Suffice to say he is not doing a good job...

I think it is more like you are not doing a good job.

Note from David Cameron to AtW

Dear AtW,

WTF are you doing spending so much of your time engaging with a bunch of losers on CUK instead of concentrating on building a world class search engine to rival Google?

Lots of Love

Dave and Nick

xx

[AtW]

I think it is more like you are not doing a good job.

And who does? So far nobody successfully challenged and beaten Google in their game because goalposts get moved constantly and amount of cash needed to get scale is measured in billions.

We've managed to survive and still run specialised search engine that generates enough money to sustain and extend our operations, that's more than most of those who tried to challenge Google and got shutdown within few years.

[Old Greg]

I think it is more like you are not doing a good job.

Note from David Cameron to AtW

Dear AtW,

WTF are you doing spending so much of your time engaging with a bunch of losers on CUK instead of concentrating on building a world class search engine to rival Google?

Lots of Love

Dave and Nick

xx

He's done a great job. As long as you know how to type ping pong in Cyrillic script you'll be fine.