The morning flight from Barbados to Antigua touched down a few minutes early having benefited from a tailwind. The only luggage that Jinnie, Trevor, Belinda and Brian had was Belinda’s trusty attaché case containing her sketch pad, pencils and pens, laser measure and spare batteries. They were through passport control and customs very quickly and into a taxi bus in around 15 minutes and on their way to meet the estate agent at the site. On the little regional jet on the way over, Jinnie had explained to Trevor her ideas for what she hoped would become the TT Continental Antigua.
Jinnie explained they had a preliminary agreement with P&O’s parent company Carnival to sell a high-class dining experience to passengers on ships overnighting in Antigua. At least one of the Carnival group ships would be overnighting throughout the summer season but come the peak winter season starting at the end of October and running to March 2nd, two of the group ships were scheduled to be there overnight every night. The idea was to sell 240 of the 300 covers that way and to market the remaining 60 locally to residents and tourists staying on the island. It would mean two menus, a fixed price table d’hôte for the ship’s passengers and an à la carte menu for the others. Trevor pointed out that might be easier than it first appeared as the table d’hôte menu could be a subset of the à la carte menu.
He also questioned why she was suggesting selling the covers only once, saying passengers on cruise ships were used to having two sittings for dinner. Why didn’t they do the same thing for the diners on the excursion, say an 18:30 sitting and a 21:00 sitting that would mean 480 covers a night? Jinnie thought about it from the point of view of a passenger and realised that it wasn’t a bad idea, it would allow the early diners the chance to go on to a club or return to their ship to see the show. While the second sitting would be able to see a show before eating and as the ship was in port overnight there was no hurry for them to get back to the ship and they could sell more drinks.
Jinnie then told Trevor about her idea of utilising the building during the day as a cafe/bar and a restaurant at night to save it being empty. Trevor thought about it for a while and asked, “What sort of cafe bar?” Jinnie replied, “I talked to Brooke, and we think it could be an upmarket version of Aunty JoJo’s, not a takeaway, but all sit down with an enhanced menu to appeal to cruisers.” “I like it,” replied Trevor, “but you would need a daytime and a nighttime brigade. The Aunty JoJo’s and Continental styles are quite different.” “I won’t argue with that,” said Jinnie. “We will have to include the additional cost in the costing, but we are trying a similar concept in North London right now and it seems to be working. We must have a full clean down when we change from one version to the other, so that is twice a day. But the added cost is nothing compared to the additional take. Some of the design is a bit tricky, like wipe-clean tables during the day that take tablecloths that won’t slide off. But there are solutions.”
As the taxi neared Saint Johns, Jinnie spotted the cruise ships in port and counted three, two large and one smaller. Turning to Trevor she nodded to the ships and said, “What do you think of 10,000 plus potential customers delivered to our door every day?” It was nearly 11 o’clock when the taxi pulled up outside the shuttered restaurant and a man dressed in the Caribbean business attire of black trousers and a white shirt walked over to them and introduced himself as the realtor. Jinnie shook the proffered hand and said, “Good morning,” before looking around and taking in the busy street, the entrance to the Heritage Quay and the way to the cruise ships right in front of them. The agent led them through the gap between two buildings that was the entrance to the quay and to the shuttered restaurant. Belinda whispered to Jinnie, “Wow, what a location, everyone coming off the ships has to walk past here to get into town and the cafes and bars in Heritage Quay are already busy.” Jinnie replied, “I remember this place now from my Christmas cruise. We were led to our excursion bus through here and dropped off where the taxi dropped us when we came back. The place was jumping right up to just before ‘all aboard’ time at 4:30.”
Brian caught up with them and said, “I’ve paid off the taxi and he will pick us up at five which gives us plenty of time to get back to the airport in time for our flight. Gosh, this place is crazy, how can anyone not make money here.” Jinnie replied, “By having a 300 cover, up market, restaurant that only opens when the cruise ships have sailed.”
The estate agent opened the front door, and they filed inside after him. The lights were turned on revealing a huge open area with dozens of tables and chairs and a large bar with at least 20 bar stools. Jinnie’s first impression was it smelt musty and could do with a lick of paint and new carpet. It was a little dark and the estate agent pointed to two walls that were glazed panels saying, “Those panels all slide and stack at the ends. With them open diners have access to the terrace outside, lovely for dining on a warm evening.” Jinnie nodded and a vision of people in Caribbean shirts eating fried chicken and drinking bottles of the local Wadadli beer leapt into her head.
Trevor whispered to Jinnie, “I would love to spread these tables out and offer evening seating on the terrace. Crisp, white linen and highly polished glasses and cutlery, twinkling candlelight, quality food, it’s a winner.” Turning to the agent he asked, “Can we see the kitchen and back of house areas now please.” Jinnie asked, “Could we have a look at the customer toilets first please.” For once Belinda didn’t complain, the toilets were large and modern. The estate agent explained that they had been refurbished just before the owner had died.
Trevor walked around the kitchen and was impressed. He said to Belinda “I don’t think we need anything else for a TT Continental, but I’m not sure about an Aunty JoJo’s. I suspect they will require things like more deep fat fryers. Maybe a pizza oven or two.” Belinda who was busy sketching the layout, adding dimensions and taking photos on her Phone said “I will show this to Patricia and Brooke and see what they need. I’m sure we can squeeze in whatever they need.”
***
The inspection party found a bar on the edge of the quay that wasn’t quite as busy and didn’t have loud music and settled down for a quick lunch and discussion. Jinnie asked, “Well, what do you all think? I’ll go first. I think that depending on the costs of purchase and refurbishment we have a potential winner. If this were a formal board meeting, I would vote in favour of proceeding with the project provided the figures work.” Belinda was next, saying, “I see this as one of the easiest and cheapest refurbishment projects we have undertaken for Trattoria Trevi. OK, we may have to make some minor alterations to the kitchen, it could do with a coat of paint, new carpet throughout and a deep clean. Maybe we should put some money aside in case we need to do any work on the electrics, aircon or the EPOS system but it wouldn’t be much. But once the shutters are down and those glazed panels open so the light and air can get in, the mustiness will quickly disappear. It’s another yes from me, but I guess it all depends on the asking price.”
Trevor then chipped in with his view, “I rather like this place; the manager is going to be a lucky man; it’s going to make a pot full of money. The location is perfect and with the right price structure, the daytime business can hardly fail to make a profit. As to the evening business, without the idea of selling 240 high-class covers to cruisers I would have said the restaurant was too big. But if Carnival can deliver those covers every night, I can see a big profit. But if we push it by having two sittings an evening, I can see it flying. It’s a yes from me.”
Finally, Brian spoke, “Let me say right from the start I like this project, I think it has the prospect of making a lot of money and possibly a template for use elsewhere if we can identify ports where ships either overnight or depart late in the evening. My only reservation is the cost of buying the restaurant. I have seen the cost on the internet, and they are asking EC$5 million for the freehold, just under £1.5 million sterling. To that we would have to add the cost of refurbishment, which Belinda predicts will be low, recruiting and training two brigades, stocking and other startup costs. I am willing to start negotiations, but I think we need to start low. The business has been on the market for some time, and I note they are yet to reduce the asking price I think we can get them to come down.”
Jinnie said “I think that is four of us in favour of proceeding and investigating the deal. If it went to a board meeting today, proceeding would win, even if all three of the remaining board voted against, and I don’t think they will. Brian, how do you feel about chatting to the agent this afternoon while we have a look at the menus offered by other restaurants around here?” “OK,” said Brian, “I’ll be off just as soon as I have finished my lunch. I’ll make sure I’m back before five and the taxi pick up.”
Jinnie, Belinda and Trevor took their time finishing their lunch before wandering around Heritage Quay. Many photos were taken of bar/restaurant’s menu boards and Jinnie took notes on their impression of premises. Many of those with loud pop music were packed with young people. Most of the bars offering free Wi-Fi if a drink or food was ordered seemed to be pretty busy too, but the customers were generally a bit older. Trevor pointed out that places on the direct path from the ships to the exit to the Quays into town were charging more than the place on the edge of the Quay.
Jinnie wandered into a shop selling diamond jewellery with no intention of buying anything, despite being able to afford things. It was interesting looking at all the sparkly things, but she walked out without buying anything. Then they spent 10 minutes looking at expensive watches in shop windows, Belinda commented to Jinnie that lovely as the Rolex and Omega watches were, she was quite happy with her Sekonda. As the time ticked round to 4:00 the crowds had thinned considerably and at 4:15 one of the cruise ships blew its hooter as a warning to cruisers it was nearing time to be back on board and people were swarming back down the pier to the gangways.
The first ship slipped out of port shortly after 4:30 and as the three made their way to their five o’clock meeting the other two followed. Belinda pointed out how the bars were now virtually empty, and the music had been turned off. Brian was sat in the shade on a terrace with a cold bottle of beer and a nearly empty glass and waved as they approached. He drained his glass and joined them as they walked out of Heritage Quay onto the street just as the taxi bus arrived. Jinnie asked, “How did you get on?” Nodding at the taxi driver, Brian answered, “Interesting, I’ll tell you later.”
***
The four directors sat in an airport café sipping their indifferent coffee while waiting for the flight to be called. Over a poor dinner, Brian had told them about his visit to the offices of the estate agent. The man who had shown them around had initially been surprised to see Brian but had quickly recovered. Brian said he had told the realtor that the company he represented was looking at adding it to its list of possibilities, but it really depended on the price and that EC$5 million was too much considering the amount of work necessary to turn it into the outlet they had in mind.
The realtor had said that was the price the vendor wanted. Brian pointed out the property had been on the market for six months and was obviously overpriced as it had not sold. He said he had decided that there was nothing to lose by going in ridiculously low and said he had offered EC$3.75 million. Like in Britain the offer had to be passed to the vendor who countered with EC$4.5 million. Brian had moved up to EC$4.0 million which was again rejected but after a bit of bartering, they had agreed on EC$4.15 million which Brian said was just over £1,217,000 which was about the right. He had agreed the deal with the proviso that it had to be approved by his board and had promised to be back to him with their answer the next day.
The four directors all agreed that the deal was acceptable, but an emergency board meeting should be convened, and a formal vote taken so it could be formalised and minuted. Shortly after they concluded their discussions the flight was called, and they settled into a half-full plane for the hour and five-minute journey back to Barbados. There was no food offered on the plane, only a paper cup of tea or coffee and a little pack of biscuits. Jinnie grabbed a cab at the airport and saw the grin on the driver’s face when she said she wanted to go to the Colony Club and asked for a fixed price.
The taxi driver gave her a bloated price and Jinnie offered 75%. When the driver started shaking his head and sucking his teeth, she started to get out. But seeing the movement the driver quickly agreed, decent fares were in short supply at that time of the evening. The ride took about 25 minutes and as Jinnie walked to her suite she realised that she was peckish but not really hungry. She didn’t want a big meal, but she could murder an omelette and chips! The lights were off in the suite, so she guessed Paolo and Izzy had gone to the Terrace Restaurant.
Jinnie used her key to open the adjoining door into the twin’s room to look in on them. She stood in the doorway and gazed at them without putting on the lights. In the moonlight coming through the patio door, she could see them sleeping peacefully. Jinnie watched their rhythmic breathing for a short while, enjoying her love for her children before she gently closed the door and, smiling happily, headed to the terrace. She joined Paolo and Izzy who were eating their main courses and immediately a waiter with a menu was beside her. Still smiling and feeling very maternal and happy, she asked the waiter if she could have a mushroom omelette and fries. The waiter replied, “Of course ma’am,” and scurried away only to be replaced by another waiter hurriedly laying a place for her and pouring her iced water.
Paolo looked at Jinnie and said, “From your grin I guess you had a successful trip.” Jinnie laughed and replied, “Yes, we did. But that’s not why I’m happy. I have just been watching the twins sleeping and it made me realise just how blessed we are to have them and how much I love them.”
***
The family had eaten breakfast and taken up their now usual position under a giant umbrella on the beach in front of the hotel. The children were playing happily with some Canadian children whose parents were sitting under an umbrella 20 metres away and Izzy was keeping an eye on them and reading on her Kindle. Suddenly Jinnie felt her iPhone vibrate and looking at the screen realised it was Michael Watson, so answered with, “Hi Michael, what can I do for you.” Michael replied, “Sorry to bother you early, but I thought you would like to know the house paperwork is ready for your signature and it will be yours. Would you like to pop into the office or, if you prefer, I could come to you.”
Jinnie realised that she could kill several birds with one stone if he came to her. She needed to hold a very quick Trattoria Trevi (Caribbean) Limited board meeting and for that she could organise a meeting room and lunch. If she invited the rest of the board saying the meeting should only take a few minutes and she would only have to leave the family for a few minutes, but if she had the hotel organise a buffet lunch the family could join them, the twins knew everyone. Jinnie explained her idea to Michael, and it was agreed that he would arrive at 12:30 for her to sign the paperwork, the board meeting would be at 12:45 and lunch at 13:00.
The hotel was happy to hire out two adjoining meeting rooms, one to be laid out for the board meeting with a table and chairs for the seven board members and the side room for the buffet for 11. Jinnie rang around the board, and they all agreed to the meeting with the single item on the agenda, the purchase of the soon-to-be TT Continental (Antigua) Limited.
Michael arrived a few minutes early and the paperwork was rapidly signed off and Michael confirmed that at noon the next day Jinnie would formally be the owner of Hibiscus Villa. Jinnie and Michael helped themselves to cold drinks the hotel had provided and Jinnie was enjoying an ice-cold Pepsi Max when Brian and Belinda were the first to arrive. Jinnie was busy telling them that as of tomorrow she was going to be their neighbour when Brooke and Patricia arrived, closely followed by Trevor.
Jinnie convened the meeting and for the benefit of Brooke and Patricia, Brian went through the events of yesterday culminating in the provisional agreement to purchase. Belinda pointed out that she couldn’t yet confirm the cost of conversion and refurbishment work but off the top of her head it was most unlikely to exceed £75,000. Jinnie said, “Of course, there are a few unknowns to this project, and I think we can all play our part. I don’t think we need to go out to tender for the refurbishment work, if we place the order with Keith’s Refurbishment, we know he can produce what is required and in a convoluted way that is almost an in-house order. Michael can handle the legal work. Trevor needs to be closely involved in the TT Continental side of the project, from staffing and menu’s down to organising cleaning between handovers.”
Jinnie continued, “Patricia, I suspect you will want Monica to organise staff recruitment and training, menus etc. for the Aunty JoJo’s side of the venture. Belinda will of course be looking after the refurbishment and construction contract. Brian, on the financial side, I’m sure you will soon be able to confirm the estimated project cost and whether we can finance this internally or need a small loan from the group. Brooke, I am relying on you to sort out things with the cruise ships and to bring us a steady stream of paying customers. Now I think on that basis, we better have a formal vote.” The board voted unanimously to proceed with the project and Brian slipped out to confirm to the estate agent that they wished to proceed and say that their lawyers would be in touch very shortly.
Jinnie declared the meeting adjourned and they all moved to the adjoining room and the buffet where the twins were already tucking into cold chicken legs and salad. Willie, with his mouth full of chicken said to his mother, “Larry would love this chicken,” and she couldn’t disagree.
Jinnie found Trevor spooning grilled coconut shrimp onto his plate and said to him, “Trevor, I have been thinking hard about this project and I have so much to do in the U.K. I want to step back a bit from this one and the expansion of the Barbados Continental. I want you to run both projects. It will mean becoming our director in charge of Continental Restaurants and promoting you deputy manager at the Barbados restaurant and finding a manager for the Antigua one and, of course, both these and any further Continental restaurants will report to you.”
“I think the Aunty JoJo’s side will have to report to Monica,” Jinnie continued, “and you are going to have to liaise with her closely, firstly during the refurbishment and fit-out and then the operation. I have seen the subtle little changes you have made at what I think I will now have to remember to call the Continental Barbados, and I like that you have got on and done these things without constantly running to me. I think you are the right person for this promotion. Are you happy to take the job?” “I’d be delighted to,” replied Trevor.
***
The family was just packing up to leave the beach when the Canadian family walked past. They stopped to chat for a moment and the father introduced himself as Jack Baker and his wife Molly, the three children were Liam, Ava and Logan. Liam was a little older than the twins, Ava was a similar age and Logan perhaps a year younger. Molly said how well the children had got on together and they hoped to see them on the beach tomorrow.
Jinnie and Izzy were supervising the twin’s early tea when the Baker family arrived and sat on the next table. While the children tucked in, Jinnie and Molly chatted about the holiday and how much they were enjoying it. Molly said how surprised she was that the twins spoke French, they lived in Quebec and were bringing up their children to be bi-lingual. Jinnie replied in French that she was fluent in French and Italian and Paolo was Italian, so they had decided to bring the twins up speaking both English and Italian. The twin’s spoken Italian was as good as their English, but they were now also learning French and that they were picking it up rapidly.
Molly replied in French that Jinnie had a wonderful French accent and how she would love to take the children to Europe to visit England and France so they could use their language skills properly. The adults agreed to eat together on the terrace that evening from where they could keep an eye on the children’s rooms while making use of the hotel’s listening service.
The group gathered on the terrace and chatted happily in English for the benefit of Paolo and Izzy whose French was basic. Partway through the meal, Jack mentioned how disappointed he was not to have been able to try the TT Continental as the restaurant had a fabulous reputation and asked if Jinnie and Paolo had ever managed to eat there. Paolo said they had eaten there several times and had taken the twins there for the first time this holiday. Molly wanted to know if they had booked from back in England as they were sold out for months in advance.
Jinnie played along saying that they hadn’t intended to eat there this holiday, but they had been guests of the manager and the food had been superb. Molly said how wonderful, they had wanted to compare it to some of the posh restaurants in Quebec but guessed that wasn’t going to happen now. Jinnie said, “I think I just might be able to help you there, I happen to know that the Continental only books 95% of its capacity each evening and keeps 5% in reserve for VIPs who have a habit of phoning up on the day and expecting to be accommodated. I’ll phone the manager and get you a table for all five of you tomorrow evening. It will probably have to be early, about 17:30, as they will want to use the table again later, but I suspect that will suit the children.”
Jinnie pulled out her iPhone and rang Trevor. At the end of the conversation, she put down her phone on the table and said, “That’s sorted. A table for five is reserved in the name of Baker for 17:30. It is required for a second booking at 20:30 but I think that you will be done well before then. Oh, one other thing, please have exactly what you fancy and don’t look at the prices you are a guest of the owners.” Molly was the first to fall in and said, “You mean you are the owner?” Jinnie said, “Well, yes and no. I am the managing director of the company that operates it and the COO of the British group that own that company.” “Wait a minute,” replied Jack. “If I’ve got it right you are the COO of the Trattoria Trevi Group. I’ve read about them in the trade press. They are huge and growing fast. I’m impressed.”
Jack continued, “I’m in the trade myself, but only on a much smaller scale. I have a KFC franchise with 14 outlets.” “Really,” replied Jinnie. “Perhaps I shouldn’t be talking to you we are building a rival fired chicken chain, it’s only small as yet, and mainly in the Caribbean where we have 24 outlets but that should at least double by the end of the year. We also have about 16 outlets and growing in England. The difference is we own all our outlets, but we are investigating franchising.”
“Any thoughts of coming to Canada?” asked Jack. “To be honest, I have never thought about it,” replied Jinnie. “We have been concentrating on the English-speaking Caribbean and the U.K. We haven’t given much thought to other areas.” “Pity,” said Jack. “I am not very happy with KFC. Ok, I am making a pretty good living out of the restaurants I have, but I wanted to open two more, but they told me I couldn’t as they would fall in a different territory. When I took on my territory it included the area I wanted to open in, but KFC have carved bits off mine and several other territories to create a new one. Apparently, the contract allows them to do it if I hadn’t opened there in ten years. It was ten years and one week.” “That’s awful,” said Jinnie.
“I have considered returning my franchise and opening the outlets as ‘Baker’s Fried Chicken’ but I simply don’t have the funds or market clout,” said Jack. “Can you legally do that” asked Jinnie. “My lawyer says yes” said Jack. “It’s the same 10-year rule. I was tied to them for 10 years but it’s now a rolling contract and I can walk away at any time at short notice. But I simply can’t afford to do it. I own the freehold on my 14 outlets and all the equipment, but I would have to rebrand and find a new coating for the chicken then advertise it. I guess I am just stuck with KFC.”
Jinnie’s brain was whirling, was this one of those opportunities that Belinda was always talking about? Could this be a cheap way to get into yet another country? What if she were to franchise Aunty JoJo’s in Canada to Baker’s Fried Chicken? Would he be able to handle the whole of Canada or maybe just Quebec and let other franchisees look after the rest of the country? Could Aunty JoJo’s source the chicken, could they tie up a contract with a soft drink supplier? Setting up in direct opposition to KFC might not be easy, How would Canadians take to Aunty JoJo’s? It was a bit different to KFC.
Jinnie decided to bite the bullet and asked, “What if I were to say we set up a franchise operation in Canada.” Without hesitation, Jack said, “I’d definitely be interested but I don’t have the money to buy a territory all over again.” Jinnie thought and then said, “I get that, but how about we were to enter a partnership, you supply the first 14 outlets, and we supply the name and the point-of-sale stuff like the standard shop front and computerised till system. The joint venture then can sell franchises. I don’t fancy selling territories, but we should sell individual licenses so small people can run their own branches. We bulk buy the chickens, potatoes, batter, jerk sauce etc and we set up a prep company to butcher the chicken and chip the potatoes, we are doing this right now in the U.K. for the British chain.”
“Now I’m really interested,” said Jack, “but how do you propose the joint venture works.” “I suggest we assume a 50/50 split,” answered Jinnie. “Your branches are probably worth a fair bit more than our background services, so I suggest we also pay to set up the prep plant, the distribution service and a head office. But I have a couple of other provisos, the new company can open further directly owned outlets if we want to. For example, we may need to open the first seed branches in some cities to encourage people to buy franchises. “And your second proviso?” asked Jack. “That you run the JV, I’ll be on the board, and I have another director in mind but I really am so busy in the U.K. and Caribbean I don’t want to have to spend ages building the business.” “Done,” replied Jack.
In Chapter 20 – Aunty JoJo’s takes off.
© WorthingGooner 2024