After their second late night running the twins were slow getting ready for Sunday morning breakfast, despite Izzy chivvying them on. Izzy was quite aware the twins were tired, but knew if they missed breakfast, they would be grumpy all morning. Finally, with the help of Jinnie, the party found a table on the terrace and mummy and Izzy went and fetched cereal and glasses of cold milk from the buffet. Followed by their favourite boiled egg and soldiers that Paolo made for them.
Breakfast temporarily revived the twins, but after an initial burst of digging on the water’s edge they were back in the shade of a beach umbrella reading books and falling asleep. Jinnie said to Izzy, “Well, at least we don’t have to worry about them going too far out into the sea! Seriously, I think we should let them doze for a bit and catch up on their sleep. Do you think we should make use of the children’s tea tonight and then we can put them down and use the hotel’s child listening service while we three have dinner in the restaurant? We can see their room from the restaurant and pop back to them very quickly.”
The twins woke up complaining they were hungry, so it was another hotdog snack lunch, after which they dug in the sand a bit more before everyone got in the hotel pool for a cooling swim and splash around. For this holiday Jinnie had ditched her usual selection of bikinis and instead was wearing one-piece swimming costumes as they hid most of her scars. Izzy said, “You know that cozzie is rather nice, but with your body a bikini is much more suitable.” Jinnie replied, “I prefer a bikini, but I don’t want everyone gapping at my scars.” “They’re not that bad,” replied Izzy. “Besides, you always wear a bikini in Nigel’s pool.” “True, but anyone who sees me in there knows the story behind them,” answered Jinnie.
“Why not try wearing one?” said Izzy. “If people stare that’s their problem.” Eventually, Izzy and Paolo ganged up on Jinnie and she agreed to look at bikinis in the hotel’s boutique. After the swim, leaving Paolo in charge of the twins, Izzy and Jinnie went shopping. Jinnie picked out a couple of bikinis in her size that she liked, but did a double take at the price which was four times what she expected to pay at home. Izzy said, “Well it is a five-star hotel, and it’s not as if you can’t afford it.” Eventually, Jinnie bought a white one which both girls liked, and a flamboyant Caribbean shirt for Paolo decorated with palm trees and pelicans.
Jinnie wanted Paolo to wear his new shirt to dinner that evening, but Paolo pointed out that the hotel restaurant they had reservations for dinner in that evening was a bit more upmarket than the terrace restaurant and he might just get away without a jacket if he wore black trousers and a white shirt but one with palms trees and pelicans was definitely not acceptable. The three adults’ table gave them a view over the pool to the balcony doors of the twin’s room and they had been given a pager that would be activated if the child listener heard anything unusual over the hotel system.
Dinner was good with excellent food and good service, but Jinnie couldn’t help comparing the restaurant with the TT Continental. One thing was, about half the men were wearing jackets and she even spotted a few ties, in her view totally unnecessary for a Caribbean restaurant. Besides, the Continental’s service was a smidgeon better and the food although good, the Continental was definitely better. But it was the coffee that in Jinnie’s opinion really let the side down, it was what she described to Paolo as very average. However, the major difference was in the prices, the hotel restaurant was getting on for a third more expensive than the Continental which Jinnie knew was not exactly cheap and made a good profit on every dish it sold. Jinnie said to Paolo, “Going by the prices here, we need to double the prices at the TT Ennios as it’s the closest equivalent in the group. I wonder if I should get Rick looking to expanding the hotel division to the Caribbean?” Paolo replied, “I don’t know, the Ennios is a cracking hotel but is very different to this one, I would imagine a place like this is very different to manage with all the wealthy Yankee visitors. Anyway, at the moment the Ennios is a one-off. Personally, I would look to expand in the U.K. before here.” Jinnie made a mental note to talk to Alberto, Brian and Rick about a second or maybe even a third hotel in the U.K.
Bank holiday Monday dawned a little overcast, but the family still made their way to the terrace restaurant for buffet breakfast. Unusually the giant umbrellas were up over the tables and buffet, they had got used to the thatch of the palm trees offering sufficient shade at breakfast, but the umbrellas being up at lunch and dinner when the sun had moved around, and the natural shade, was not enough. As they were shown to their table the waiter explained that a shower was forecast imminently.
For once the forecast was right and just before they finished the meal it rained heavily for about ten minutes. As they left the restaurant the waiter who had shown them to the table said, “That’s it done. It will be sunny and very hot now.” As Jinnie had learnt, the weather changes quickly in the Caribbean and by the time they got back to their rooms the sun was out and the decision was made to spend another day on the beach. Today they decided to drive to the Atlantic side of the island and look for the beautiful beach they had been on when Jinnie and her sister had been recalled to take out the terrorist training camp.
The twins had fond memories of the Atlantic coast beach; they had enjoyed the day there on an almost deserted beach. Jinnie’s memories weren’t quite as good, but she remembered the lack of people and went along willingly. They parked in the same car park and were disappointed to see perhaps ten cars there, cars meant people. But the beach was so huge, that the car owners were so spread out that it was easy to believe they were on their own.
The twins enjoyed the hotel-supplied packed lunch of roll, fruit and juice while the adults had bottles of local beer which they tried to keep cool by half burying in sand and letting the waves roll over them. However, the sea was quite warm and so was the beer. The twins splashed at the water edge, dug in the sand and played football with some other children and were reluctant to leave the beach until Paolo suggested stopping for ice cream on the way back to the hotel. Children’s dinner was served between five and six in the terrace restaurant which suited Jinnie. As they ate early it gave the twins time to digest their meals before their normal seven o’clock bedtime.
At six the terrace became a less formal restaurant for the adults than the main hotel restaurant. It specialised in barbecued meat and fish and was quite busy when the three adults were shown to a table from which they could see the twin’s room, once again having taken advantage of the child listening service and a pager. Having finally finished his New York strip steak, jacket potato and salad, Paolo said how much he had enjoyed it and said he thought he preferred it to the fancier restaurant they had eaten in the previous evening. Jinnie and Izzy, who had just both had tender lamb cutlets, agreed and suggested that the fish looked good and perhaps they should try that another evening.
***
After breakfast, Jinnie left Paolo, Izzy and the twins who were heading for the beach and drove the people carrier into Bridgetown for the morning board meeting of Aunty JoJo’s (Operations) Limited. Patricia and Monica were already in the meeting room over the main Bridgetown branch of Aunty JoJo’s when Jinnie arrived, and she had helped herself to coffee before joining the other ladies. Patrica, who was both Chairman and CEO explained she had asked Michael Watson to sit in as Company Secretary and Legal Advisor as none of them were familiar with Bajan company law and she didn’t want to do anything wrong.
Michael arrived a few minutes later followed by Brooke, Brian and Belinda, so Patricia handed out agendas and got the meeting formally started. As this was the first formal meeting of the board there were no minutes of the previous meeting to approve so they moved straight onto reports and discussion on them. As CEO, Patricia reported that the company was expanding very quickly, in fact far faster than had originally been planned. They now ran seven outlets in Barbados plus two delivery kitchens and a further outlet had been identified and was being negotiated for. They currently had two outlets in both St Lucia and Granada. In Trinidad they had 13 outlets up and running and two more would be open later that month as should the first delivery kitchen. That came to a total of 24 outlets open and two delivery kitchens. She then explained that they had acquired 10 more sites in Trinidad and two in Tobago and they were currently planning to open at the rate of two a month.
Monica, as Director of Operations, explained that the fast expansion had put a lot of strain on the small headquarters staff and they had hired several people to organise purchasing, advertising, maintenance and general administration. HR, recruitment and legal work was outsourced, and they had no office space to bring it in-house. Jinnie asked if they had looked at corporate offices and whether bringing services in-house was being considered. Monica said that for convenience and practicality it would make sense, but it would need to be looked at carefully financially and operationally if offices could be identified.
Brooke, who was officially Development Director, explained that she and Monica had recently spent some time looking for possible sites on other islands. They felt there was currently scope for an additional outlet on both St Lucia and Grenada and consequently they had taken options on sites awaiting full board approval. A recent trip to Antigua had identified four possible outlets. But they had concentrated on Jamaica as that was where they understood DKL wanted to open its next Dark Kitchens.
Smiling broadly, Brooke explained that they had identified 25 possible outlets and would like to present their plans to expand into Jamaica as a special project. She handed out a paper she and Monica had produced which listed each site, with photos and fully costed spreadsheets for each site, showing the cost of acquiring the site, conversion and fit out, staffing, training and initial advertising as they were unknown in the market. Jinnie asked if they would be purely offering takeaway or restaurants and delivery. Brooke explained that even with 25 outlets they would only be half the size of KFC on the island, that all the sites included restaurants and that until DKL opened its first Kitchen they would have to consider delivering through the existing delivery companies. Jinnie asked if DKL (delivery) Limited, was on the island before the kitchen opened would they use it and Brooke said yes, they were doing just that on Trinidad.
Brian’s financial report followed next, all 26 open outlets and the two kitchens were trading profitably. One Trinidad outlet had a problem the previous month when a custom chiller had broken down and a spare part was not readily available. It resulted in the loss of five days’ trading and a three-day supply of chicken. Fourteen of the 25 restaurants had already paid off the cost of investment and the other trading ones were all on course to do so soon. Both kitchens were turning a good profit and there was a growing income coming from the franchise agreement to use the name, corporate image and menus in the U.K. Brooke reported that the U.K. chain had taken off rapidly and there were now 11 restaurants in the London area with six more planned. The first six out-of-London sites had been acquired and three restaurants were due to open shortly in Birmingham, where they could also take a delivery kitchen. Then she talked about the recent purchase of South Coast Fried Chicken and its eight restaurants and nine takeaway outlets and how they would rapidly become Aunty JoJo’s Chicken Shacks or takeaways and the plan was to rapidly grow the takeaways alongside main restaurants. A site had already been acquired in Brighton, in the main shopping area, and it would be supplementing the takeaways.
Brian resumed his report saying that overall, the company was trading very profitably and had built up some substantial reserves. However, although they could easily cover the planned expansion in Barbados, Trinidad, St Lucia, Granada and Antigua, the huge, planned expansion in Jamaica might stretch them. Also, they would also be up against not just KFC but Popeyes as well. Brian said they would probably need additional funding if the proposed programme was to be stuck to. Brain continued, saying they had several options, put the rollout back until they could fund it, borrow the money from a bank, borrow from the Trattoria Trevi Group, sell an investment in the company or consider a franchise arrangement.
The discussion then was about the advantages and disadvantages of franchises, with Jinnie pointing out that nearly all of the big chains were making extensive use of franchises and that 99% of KFC’s 25,000 outlets worldwide were franchises. In some counties every single branch was run as a franchise by a company granted a national franchise, in others several companies held territorial franchises so as not to compete with each other. Jinnie said that in her view it made perfect sense to have a third party take the financial risk of finding a site, fitting it out, manning and operating it, while they controlled what it looked like, its menu and its selling price, even down to selling it the branded items like uniforms, packaging, paper cups and straws. Even the chicken, chips, sauces, seasoning and drinks supplier. The best franchisers had a tight control over the corporate image and quality but ensured the franchisee had sufficient margin to make a decent profit.
Belinda said that some companies insisted that franchisees use a nominated fit-out company, as it insured that outlets looked alike. Most had a “style book” that controlled everything from the font used in advertising to the uniforms worn by staff. Patricia pointed out that Aunty JoJo’s had already partway gone down this path with a standard fit-out for outlets, standard packaging and uniform and much of it was already documented. Michael Watson said from a legal point of view it was important to ensure that the general franchise agreement had enough flexibility to allow local laws and regulations to work alongside a franchise agreement. Brian said that one of the important things was to impose the corporate sales and billing system on the franchisee and that the software had to be able to account for local sales taxes or VAT.
At the end of a lively discussion, the board agreed that there was a general reluctance to borrow from a bank to expand quickly and that the preferred options were either to be funded by the Trattoria Trevi Group or to venture into franchising. Brian agreed to investigate funding the gap between the internal funding they had available and that required for the Jamaican project and if Trattoria Trevi were willing to bridge the gap. Jinnie undertook to look at the franchising model and to put out feelers amongst some of the big catering companies. Secretly Jinnie rather liked the idea of a mixed offering, selling smaller regional franchises while also owning their own outlets. The profit from an Aunty JoJo’s internally owned branch was fully retained within the company and hence more profitable and a lot less hassle than controlling franchisees. The board agreed to continue expanding in Barbados, St Lucia, Grenada, Antigua and Trinidad utilising their own internal funding but to hold the Jamaican project for a few weeks until the source of financing had been fully investigated.
The next major decision taken was to look into establishing a corporate head office in Barbados, and Monica and Patricia were tasked with calculating how much space was required in several scenarios, including bringing services in-house, and running a franchise division. They were then to look for office space and cost it.
Finally, Brian proposed that the company should be reformulated, so that each country operated as a separate company thus insulating the group as a whole from failure of any part. He proposed that Aunty JoJo’s (Operations) Limited should become the group holding company, with separate companies for restaurants and kitchens in each country they operated in. So, for example in Barbados they would have Aunty JoJo’s (Barbados) Restaurants Limited, Aunty JoJo’s (Barbados) Kitchens Limited and possibly Aunty JoJo’s (Barbados) Franchises Limited all 100% owned by Operations. Michael said this was sensible as it followed the structure of many organisations and would help for taxation in the various countries they were now operating in. Michael was tasked with preparing the legal changes to the companies.
***
The meeting was closed shortly before noon, giving Jinnie, Brian, Belinda, Brooke and Michael time for a quick lunch before heading over to the corporate offices of Trattoria Trevi (Caribbean) Limited, which was the meeting room in the TT Continental, for their two o’clock board meeting. As chairman, Jinnie invited the MDs of the companies operating companies Aunty JoJo’s and TT Continental to attend the meeting as she wanted to make them full directors of (Caribbean) Limited.
Jinnie called the meeting to order and for the record called for a vote to make firstly Patricia and then Trevor directors. With that done, Patricia reported on Aunty JoJo’s activities, followed by Trevor reporting on TT Continental. Brian reported on the company’s financial position which was extremely healthy. Aunty JoJo’s had paid off its internal loan and it wasn’t paying any dividends to its parent, and it currently wasn’t looking for a loan for its current expansion programme, although that could change. By comparison, the TT Continental had paid about B$3.5 million to Caribbean from profits and retained a similar amount as an emergency fund. It was making more money than budgeted and was now solidly booked for three months ahead. Trevor explained that being fully booked so far in advance was a problem when someone important, like the president, wanted a table at short notice – it had been impossible. Consequently, he had implemented a policy of only booking 95% of tables and having 5% as a reserve that could always be filled on the night from people on the waiting list if no one important demanded a table.
Trevor then asked if the board proposed paying its parent, Trattoria Trevi (Group), a dividend or retain its money for possible expansion? Jinnie chuckled and said, “As you well know, tomorrow we are flying to Antigua to look at a possible new TT Continental, so I don’t think we should be paying a dividend.” Jinnie then went on to say she would like to expand the TT Continental chain in the Caribbean and would board members please keep an eye open for opportunities on their travels around the Caribbean.
When the agenda moved on to ‘Any Other Business’, Trevor asked if any thought had been given to expanding the Bridgetown TT Continental. Jinnie looked at a sea of blank faces and said, “It doesn’t look like anyone has considered it. But I guess you wouldn’t be asking the question unless you had an idea.” Trevor replied, “As you know we are hemmed in by a department store on one side and a gentleman’s outfitters on the other. The owner of the outfitters was in for a meal last week and we got to chatting. He was complaining that business wasn’t what it used to be, the modern youngsters didn’t want the sort of clothing he sells, and his older customers were beginning to die off.”
Trevor continued, “He said he was considering retiring but he would need to sell the building as the freehold was his pension. It got me thinking, could we buy it and expand our restaurant into the space? It’s only a single unit but it is quite deep, at a rough guess we could add maybe 25 covers on the ground floor. There are three floors so maybe another 25 covers on the 1st floor and corporate offices on the 2nd floor. If we are going to expand the chain, then are going to need offices.”
Jinnie thought for a moment before asking, “Could the existing kitchen manage an additional 50 covers?” “Possibly,” answered Trevor, “but there is an unused yard behind the kitchen that we could expand into. At the moment it is only used for chef and I to park. If we did expand, we could park in the next-door yard instead!” Turning to Belinda, Jinnie asked her, “What do you think, you would have to design it and Keith fit it out.” “Without seeing it, it’s not easy to say,” answered Belinda. “But do you remember when the original Trattoria Trevi expanded into the solicitors next door? We did most of the work and only closed for a few days over a weekend to knock through and link up.” “Yes, that worked well,” said Jinnie, “and we did something similar when we bought out that chemist next to the Windsor sandwich shop.”
“I’d forgotten that,” replied Belinda. “When this meeting breaks up let’s go and have a look. I can do a quick measure-up. Brian can have a chat with the owner about what he wants for the freehold and we can all see if the idea is practical.” Brian interrupted asking, “I just wondered where the money was coming from, we probably have the funds to buy and fit out a second TT Continental or expand the existing one but not both.” “We don’t know that yet,” said Jinnie. “We are only discussing an idea, we don’t have a design or costing yet, but if it is a goer then I propose we approach TT Group for an internal loan. I think they will jump at the opportunity. Based on some back-of-an-envelope calculations I have just scribbled on my pad, 50 covers would bring in an average B$12,000 a night based on a B$240 average per cover spend. That’s £5,000 per night. Now, I’m sure Trevor will tell you I have underestimated the spend per cover at £100 and that most of those tables will be sold twice a night. Thinking about it again, I could easily double that £5,000 number. Working on the usual 20% profit margin I think we should buy the shop whatever he wants for it!”
***
Belinda finished her measuring and sketching and rejoined the rest of the group who were chatting with the grey-haired old black man, Winston, who was grinning from ear to ear following his discussions with Brian. His shop assistant, Henderson, was busy with the only customers, a very old black man and his equally old wife who was supervising her husband in buying a new suit for church on Sundays. He wanted black and she was saying black was for funerals and wanted him to purchase a navy blue suit and a pork pie hat. Jinnie was watching in fascination, knowing the old lady would win the discussion.
Winston was delighted with the deal he had eventually shaken hands on with Brian. Both men thought they had got a bargain and Winston was particularly pleased to have not had to put the shop in the hands of an estate agent and pay their commission. Initially, Brian had detected that Winston was a little reluctant to sell but it wasn’t until Trevor joined them that it became apparent Winston was worried about Henderson who wasn’t old enough to retire and Winston didn’t want to sack him. Trevor had saved the day by promising to employ Henderson, he had no idea in what capacity, but it would be on a wage equal to his current one and with a share of the tronc, which these days was giving salaries a healthy boost.
Brian and Jinnie had explained to Winston that the purchase depended on several things, the final cost of converting the outfitters into a restaurant extension, including the expanded kitchen planning permission, and Bajan building and safety regulations. But they thought the premises was perfect for what they had in mind and Belinda was pretty sure it would be possible to convert it. Brian had agreed that Trattoria Trevi Caribbean had no use for the shop’s extensive, but rather old-fashioned stock, and Winston was already planning a ‘closing down sale.’ Jinnie was pondering buying Paolo one of the pork pie hats to keep the sun off his head.
Trevor mentioned the deal over Henderson with Jinnie and she said to him. “You know I think I have got the perfect position for him. I have been watching his interpersonal skills with that couple he sold the suit to. Well, I think he would be perfect in a front-of-house job, say escorting customers from reception to their table. He could sweet talk them on the way, tell them the fish was particularly good that evening and hand them the menu. He could tell people in the bar when their table was ready. It might not be the most taxing of jobs, but I think it would release you to schmooze the high rollers. Besides I might have another job for you.
In Chapter 19 – The TT Continental Antigua
© WorthingGooner 2024