Dursley's bribed?, charmed? or afraid?

[Ali <Ali@zymurgy.org>]

No: HPFGUIDX 50789

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Steve <bboy_mn at y...>" 
<bboy_mn at y...> wrote:

>>> Sorry, just a bad case of foot-in-mouth syndrom. What I really 
should  have said, is until Harry comes of age which just happens to 
coincide  with when he gets out of school.>>>

I'd beg to disagree with you here. I think that as a qizard, Harry 
will come of age on his 17th birthday. That would leave him with most 
of one summer holiday and all of his 7th year before he leaves school.

> > bboy_mn: (originally)
> > > Vernon  doesn't own Grunning's Drill Company. If he did, it 
would be Durlsey's Drill Company.

No, there might already be a Limited company with Dursley in it. The 
name does not mean VErnon cannot own the company.

> bboy_mn:
>  If he owned the Drill company then why  wouldn't JKR refer to him 
as the owner of a drill company rather than the Director of a drill
> company. Could someone from the UK enlighten us about the term
> 'Director' as it applies to a business person? I'm taking it to be 
the same as the US title 'manager'. He was the Directory of Sales for
 Grunning's Drill Company.
SNIP

 Her was the Manger of Sales for the Grunning's Drill Company. 
Certainly, if the had a substantial above  management title, JKR 
would have used it, as in Vice President of Sales for the Grunnings 
Drill Company. Of course, this is a lot of speculation, but if he was 
the owner, that would be very siginificant and JKR would have 
mentioned it. Also, although I don't know much about the English 
economy, Dursley's don't live like he owns a company, that would give 
him substantial wealth.  They live like someone who works in upper 
management; firmly middle to upper middle class, but not rich.>>.


Being a director of a company is not the same as being a "manager", 
and we don't have the term "Vice-President" in many English 
companies. Being a Director of a company could imply being the owner 
of the company. Small private limited companies have one director and 
only have to have 2 issued shares, issued to, yes, you've got it, the 
director. 

Vernon could quite easily be the owner. Also, many companies are very 
small, and owning a company whilst it might sound grand, does not 
imply great wealth. As an indicator, many self employed people set 
themselves up as limited companies for tax reasons. Likewise, Vernon 
would probably have a company car for tax reasons. Our tax laws have 
changed recently to make this slightly less popular, but ownership of 
the company would definitely not be a reason not to have a company 
car.

Ali