Against market trends, Rank group shares are moving up.

Merrill Lynch recommends us to buy. Gambling Sheds, Hard Rock casinos, Mecca bingo and Grosvenor casinos are set to make big money.

The Government's gambling review is expected to help.

As an ex-employee of Rank, I was interested. In my day, it was the Rank Organisation and the logo was an oily man beating a gong.

It was the days of wholesome starlets and Dirk Borgarde.

A rather strange bread-maker, Lord Rank, was chairman.

The company directors had a fixation that, with careful research and by using the delicious young ladies from their charm school, they would be able to make a series of blockbuster movies, leading the company to fame and fortune.

Of course, such a commercial holy grail was impossible and without the residual value of its cinema properties, Rank might have gone bust.

I was an executive trainee, whatever that meant, and when I was appointed the company had no idea what to do with me.

I was sent to the Victor Sylvester Dance Studios. I thought this was the height of sophistication but it was scary.

Dance teachers and competitors are formidable make-up, sweat and sequins.

Victor Sylvester was soon rid of me and I was replaced by a man with a splendid coiffeur.

Rank was a hire-and-fire company and I did many different jobs, sometimes standing in for bosses for whom the tumbrel had arrived.

I then had the luck to be sent to Brighton as a manager for Relay Vision.

Television reception in Brighton and Eastbourne was very bad but by means of a land line we were able to give customers a decent picture.

We were expensive: 14-inch sets cost 85p per week. Our wires and boxes can still be seen on many properties around the city.

For several years, Rank has struggled. It has failed to recruit and retain top management and its grasshopper approach to different enterprises has been unsuccessful.

The company I knew has changed beyond recognition. Cinemas, Pinewood Studios, film-making, television relay and Butlins have all gone.

The management, lead by Sir Denys Henderson, ex ICI, for six years, did its best and Rank's new chairman, Alun Cathcart, will try to forget the past.

But can a leopard change its spots? Results published on September 7 were excellent but to my mind Rank is still a "gambling stock".

One day I would like to tell the story of Rank in Brighton. Would any ex-employees like to get in touch?