The morning after her discussion and tentative agreement with Jack Baker, Jinnie and the family were eating breakfast at the terrace buffet when the Baker family arrived. Jack walked over and said, “Did I dream our discussions last night, or did it really happen?” “It really happened,” answered Jinnie. “I have been wondering how best to set up the Joint Venture and I think we will have to set it up with our 50% under the Trattoria Trevi (Fast Food) division. They have the worldwide rights to the Aunty JoJo’s brand outside the Caribbean and are currently expanding the chain quickly in the U.K.”
“It may seem a bit odd,” continued Jinnie, “but FastFood pay a licence fee for the worldwide rights, excluding the Caribbean, to Aunty JoJo’s (Operations) here in Barbados. Trattoria Trevi owns 50% and the original Aunty JoJo’s (Barbados) owns the other 50%. We are currently reorganising operations to be called Group with various island companies under it and with it expanding fast in Trinidad and about to launch in Jamaica, but finance is a bit tight. In the U.K. FastFood is cash-rich, it owns 11 outlets in London with sites acquired for a further six within a couple of months. We have three branches in build in Birmingham and one more in Brighton to supplement a chain of restaurants and takeaway-only Chicken shops we have just had just purchased. It also owns a string of very profitable sandwich shops.”
“Brooke Wilson,” continued Jinnie, “the FastFood division Managing Director, is currently over here because we have just had a board meeting. I would like to propose her as a director of whatever we call the Joint Venture. She is very knowledgeable when it comes to fast food outlets, I think you will get on with her. It’s a touch early yet, but I’ll give her a ring later and organise a meeting. Are you free at lunchtime, I can drive you into town and you can visit an Aunty JoJo’s, their offices are currently above the main Aunty JoJo’s in central Bridgetown, although they are looking for bigger offices.” “I’d like that,” said Jack, “but is there some way Molly could also meet Brooke and could we try AuntyJoJo’s chicken. Molly is the Chief Financial Officer of our company.”
“Of course,” said Jinnie, “I didn’t realise Molly was a director. How about you leave the children with Paolo and Izzy. She is a fully trained Norland Nanny, but she is more a member of the family and has worked for us for getting on for three years. The children adore her.” “That sounds like a decent idea,” replied Jack.
***
Jinnie drove Jack and Molly into Bridgetown, found a parking spot, and the three strolled to Aunty JoJo’s Chicken Shack. Jack nodded with approval and said, “This is much bigger than I expected and hell, isn’t it busy. Just look at that line.” Monica was standing at the door waiting for them and waved them in. After introductions she said, “Patricia is not in today, she is in Trinidad with Keith for a couple of days, where they are looking at another couple of possible sites and maybe a first outlet in Tobago. She is also looking at the Dark Kitchen, it’s on the verge of completion.”
Monica led them upstairs, through what Jinnie always thought of as the expansion area, through a door and into the corridor the offices were off. In the boardroom, Brooke was working at her Apple Mac and seeing Jinnie enter the room she stood up and shook hands as she was introduced to Jack and Molly. As she sat down, she said to Jinnie, “I know it’s not what this meeting is about but I have just got to tell you it’s good news on Antigua, I have been talking to my contact and they think they can easily sell 480 covers with two ships in port. It’s really a matter of tying everything up and working out a selling price and seeing how much margin they are adding on.” “Excellent,” said Jinnie and seeing Monica edging toward the door she added, “Monica perhaps you would like to stay and listen in to this meeting. Although it doesn’t directly effect the Aunty JoJo’s Group, it does indirectly.”
Jinnie had already briefed Brooke and the conversation revolved around how the new company could be set up and operated. Brooke explained how the U.K. company was already looking at setting up its own supply company. She explained that KFC had pretty much cornered the U.K. market in bulk chicken pieces and although they had been able to source sufficient for their current outlets, she was worried that if they opened a lot more branches, they would have problems. However, whole chickens were easy to come by, so she had investigated what they were calling a ‘preparation plant’.
Jinnie said that her worry was that chicken pieces was an obvious way for KFC to try to strangle the JV, and a prep plant and their own chilled distribution was a good way around it. In addition, it would be good for portion and quality control. She went on, saying as they had got deeper into it they had realised that if they prepped their own chips they could blanch and freeze them in, say, twenty portion sacks making it easy for branches to produce consistent size and quality portions. Jack whispered to Molly, “That would be good, one of my worries of going it alone was being squeezed on chicken portions by KFC.”
The discussions progressed and agreement was found on just about everything. It was agreed that as soon as it could be arranged Brooke and Brian would visit Quebec to see the existing branches and look into setting up a prep plant, a delivery network and offices.
Brooke suddenly said to Jinnie, “Do you think we ought to involve Nigel, I can see the IT getting a bit complicated. We will need to have local servers and a fast link into SAP.” “You use SAP?” asked Jack. “Yes,” replied Jinnie. “We have such a diverse group of companies we decided that it was the only way to control it all properly. It gives our accounts people in Potters Bar almost instant access to financial data. Nigel is our group IT director and is brilliant when it comes to IT. He can talk to local people and set up an expandable network so I think we should get him out as well.”
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Jack asked, “Did I hear you talking about a dark kitchen?” “Yes,” answered Jinnie. “We have a number in the U.K., two in Barbados and soon we will have one in Trinidad. We are also planning at least two in Jamaica. You might be interested to know that the company that has built them and we lease them from is 50% owned by Trattoria Trevi Group and I am CEO.” “I see what you mean about being busy,” said Molly. “That’s not the half of it,” said Jinnie. “I think that’s what we would call a ghost kitchen or a delivery kitchen,” said Jack. “We have several in Quebec, but KFC tends to work with the UberEats. If we could get a ghost kitchen, it could be a massive advantage.” Brooke smiled and said, “I agree, I’ll look into it.”
“Right,” said Jinnie, “I can’t impress on all of you how much we need to keep this secret until Jack and Molly are ready to terminate their agreement with KFC. If we can set up all the necessary companies and contracts in secret all the better. Perhaps we should find company names that don’t mean anything. I don’t want KFC to realise what we are up to until the last minute. The less time they have to react the better. Now Monica, can we get a selection of Aunty JoJo’s products for a quick lunch?”
***
In the car on the way back to the hotel, Jack said to Jinnie, “I must say that fried chicken was good, personally I liked the jerk chicken, but I’m not sure how it would go down in Canada. The wings were good, as was the popcorn chicken and the nuggets, but we both loved the fried shrimp. We have a lot of shrimp in Canada, but not crispy fried, I think that could be a winner.” Jinnie smiled and said, “We wondered how well the jerk chicken would go outside the West Indian areas of London, but it seems to be second best seller to the fried chicken. As for the fried shrimp, it is very popular as an eat-in starter served as a sharing platter.”
The children were all happily playing on the beach when Jinnie, Molly and Jack got back to the hotel. The Bakers rounded up their brood and told them it was time to shower and change into some smart clothes as they were going somewhere posh for dinner. Ava wanted to know where they were going, and Molly told her, “A very nice restaurant in Bridgetown called the Continental.” Millie said, “We went there, the food was lush, we had banana splits.” Jinnie chuckled to herself, she could only think they had learnt ‘lush’ from their school friends.
***
The twins were eating their breakfast on the terrace but as usual the staff had no idea what a boiled egg and soldiers was. Izzy had explained several times to different people, but still all they had on the buffet were cold hard-boiled eggs. The twins complained that they couldn’t dip bread-and-butter soldiers into a hard yolk and that was the best bit. Today they both had fried eggs which the man on the buffet in charge of frying them assured them were ‘dippy’ eggs, but Willie was not happy, his yoke was half solid. Still, it was better than a cold hard-boiled egg. Millie asked her mother, “Why can’t we have boiled eggs and soldiers? They do them on the cruise ship.” Jinnie said, “Well that ship is British, and they know what a boiled egg and soldiers is. This hotel is owned by Americans, and they don’t eat soft-boiled eggs.”
Willie still wasn’t very happy when the Baker family arrived for their breakfast of waffles and maple syrup. Ava told them that she had fish fingers and chips and it had been great. Willie asked if she had the banana split for dessert and she said they all had but mummy and daddy had something called a crepe which the waiter had set alight at the table. Molly listened to her daughter talking to the twins and whispered to Jinnie, “It was fabulous, the food, the service, the surroundings, it’s the best restaurant I’ve ever been to. We have been to several Michelin Star places on our travels, and this was better. I’m amazed it hasn’t got a star.” Jinnie replied, “I don’t think the inspector travels this far”.
Paolo told Jack they had just bought a house on the Sandy Lane estate and that morning the family were going to visit it and meet the people who were going do a few alterations and redecorate it, would they like to come with them and then have lunch at a fantastic beach cafe they knew, and the twins adored. They could also meet some more of the team involved with Trattoria Trevi and Aunty JoJo’s projects. Jack said it would make a nice change from spending time on the beach and he was sure Molly would love to see the house. Paolo suggested they bring their swimming costumes as there was a pool and he had been assured it had been maintained while the house had been empty as it had often been rented out.
Paolo drove Nora and Jack in their hire car to Hibiscus Villa. Paolo led the way and as they approached the villa Jinnie spied Michael Watson waiting for them at the gate. He handed over three sets of keys and several remotes for opening the gates to the drive and the garage. He explained to Jinnie and Paolo that as a matter of course he had arranged for the barrels of all the locks to be changed and they now had the only keys to the villa. He suggested that it might be sensible to get some spares cut if they intended to hire people to maintain the garden and clean the villa while they were out of the country. He then explained he had a meeting with the planning department about the proposal to extend the TT Continental and had to go.
Jinnie used the remote to open the gates and the two vehicles drove in and up the drive to the turning circle in front of the house. As he had driven up the drive Paolo had said to Jinnie, “I think we better find out who has been maintaining the grounds and hire them. I don’t fancy spending half my holiday mowing the lawns and cleaning the pool.” Jinnie replied, “The same with the house, I want to come out to it clean, with fresh sheets on the beds, clean towels in the bathrooms and food in the fridge and freezer. Someone has been doing it up to now, we need to find out who and continue the contracts.”
Paolo opened the front door, and everyone trooped in. On a side table in the hall was a vase of fresh flowers and an envelope addressed to ‘The New Owners’. Paolo slit it open with his finger and read the sheet of paper. Smiling, he turned to Jinnie and said, “I don’t think we need to worry about finding the maintenance people, they have found us.” The page was printed with the heading ‘House Sitters Incorporated’ and was from the husband-and-wife team who had been looking after the property on behalf of the previous owner. It said to ring them if they wished to retain their services while between spells of house occupation. Jinnie folded the letter and popped it in her pocket saying, “I’ll give them a ring this afternoon.”
The twins were anxious to show the Baker children around the house, particularly their bedroom as they had already decided that they were going to have the same ones as they had occupied last summer. Molly wanted to see the kitchen and Paolo and Jack had just wandered off to look at the pool house and garage when the buzzer for the gate sounded. Jinnie pressed the wall-mounted intercom ‘speak’ button and said, “Hello?” The voice of Belinda came over the speaker saying, “Hi Jinnie, it’s Belinda, can you buzz us in.”
Jinnie and Molly headed to the front door where Brian and Belinda were climbing out of their hire car and Keith and Peter were getting out of a ‘Keith’s Refurbishment’ crew cab pickup truck. Jinnie noticed it said in smaller print, ‘A Division of Wright Refurbishment Limited’. Jinnie introduced Molly and said to Peter how well he was looking with his dark tan. Peter laughed and said he was really enjoying life in Barbados; he now had a residence permit and had bought a small house. Looking around he quickly said, “Nothing like this of course but it’s on a new estate and I’ve a couple of spare bedrooms for visitors from the U.K.” “So, you won’t be coming back then?” asked Jinnie. “I don’t think so,” he replied, “I think I have found my niche; the work is just like the U.K. but in the sunshine.” Keith chipped in, “Don’t you go giving him ideas. He is my right-hand man and I have made him my construction director, he has been invaluable in expanding the business.”
“I suppose you know we are purchasing a big restaurant in Antigua,” Jinnie said to Keith, “and Belinda is drawing up a specification. I guess the work will be coming your way.” “I had heard,” replied Keith. “Of course, I will give you a price, but I am so busy right now I may have to sub it out to an Antiguan company if it is a one-off. If you are also looking at branches of Aunty JoJo’s, it may be worth setting up on the island like we have done on Trinidad and plan to do in Jamaica. Business has really taken off here in Barbados. You must know we won that big office fit-out and Peter has been looking after that and we are on the verge of signing an even bigger fit-out project. We have shaken hands on it but the lawyers are still finalising the contract. It’s the job I was really chasing when we won the last one by accident! We have a month or six weeks before the new job will be ready for us on-site, and I want Peter there at the kick-off. He has been looking after jobs here while I have been flitting backward and forwards to Trinidad”.
Brian wandered off to find Paolo and Jack who had found some bottles of the local beer ‘Banks’ in the pool house fridge and were sitting on the large terrace with Izzy watching the five children splashing in the pool. Meanwhile, Jinnie, Belinda, Keith and Peter were walking around the house noting what work needed to be done. Molly walked with them and listened intently, astounded at the detail being discussed. When they reached a large built-in cupboard, Keith and Peter measured it up and Keith said to Peter, “I think this will do for the server cupboard Nigel wants, it is definitely big enough for the equipment, but is the position ok for the cabling?” Peter said, “That depends what Nigel has specified.”
“When we talked on the phone,” said Keith, “Nigel said Cat 8 if possible, otherwise Cat 7. That should future-proof the installation. I understand that the longest run with Cat 8 is 90 feet, so I need to be careful. Cat 8 is more expensive, and I have never even done an installation where it has been specified or installed by a specialist cabling installer.” “We might have trouble finding someone to supply and install Cat 8,” said Peter. “Did he say why he specified it?” “Yes,” said Keith, “as I mentioned future proofing, the volume of data moved by SAP and what he called PoE. I had to look that one up, it means Power Over Ethernet. The network cables can carry both data and power, so it does away with power leads to things like CCTV cameras and burglar alarm sounders.”
Molly watched as Belinda sketched and measured rooms, asked which rooms were to be painted and which to be papered. How the ensuite in the master bedroom was to be re-modelled, the kitchen completely refitted and tiled, and after a bit of discussion it was decided to investigate converting the loft into two more ensuite bathrooms. Keith assured Jinnie that he didn’t need planning permission and felt that regulatory approval shouldn’t be a problem. Jinnie asked if the work was likely to be complete by the end of July as they wanted to spend the school holidays there. Peter looked at Keith and nodded before Keith said, “If Peter says it can be done, it will be.”
Molly didn’t say anything until Keith, Peter, Belinda and Brian had gone, when she said to Jinnie, “My, that is going to cost a fortune. It’s already a lovely house, I think I could live with it as it is.” “To tell you the truth,” said Jinnie, “so could I. But I inherited some money, and we have a saying ‘it is never wrong to invest in bricks and mortar.’ With those extra rooms we could have my sister and both my and Paolo’s parents to stay at the same time. If I’m going to spend various school holidays here, I will need the computer network, the ultra-high speed broadband and home office, as does Paolo, he works at the Italian Embassy and needs to keep in touch.”
The children were called out of the pool and after a bit of a wait while they got out of their wet things and back into their clothes they set off for Anderson’s. The beach cafe/bar was quite busy but the manager recognised Jinnie and soon put tables together to make room for them to eat together while explaining that Anderson was not there so often these days, as he had to share his time between there, his new restaurant and the company that ran the delivery kitchens. In some ways Jinnie was delighted, but she would have liked to chat.
The twins quickly decided on hot dogs and fries, the two youngest Baker children went along with that, but the eldest asked for a burger and fries. Jinnie knew exactly what she wanted, a toasted cheese and ham sandwich with what she called chips, but the waiter called fries. Molly asked was that the same as a grilled ham and cheese and when assured it was, said she’d have the same as Jinnie, as did Izzy, while the two men had a double cheeseburger and fries. As for drinks, Jinnie ordered a large Pepsi Max and the twins asked for the Pepsis too. Jinnie made sure they got regular-size ones and that they also had the no-sugar Max version.
Molly asked for Pepsi Zero Sugar and got a blank look from the waiter, but Jinnie told her it was only called that in the US and Canada, in the rest of the free world it was marketed as Pepsi Max so reluctantly she joined Jinnie and the twins and let her children have the same. Izzy asked for still water and the two men had another Banks beer, but this time draught. The difference in the Pepsi and toasted sandwich names between the two countries then led to a discussion about the differences between Canada and the U.K. until the food arrived and everyone tucked in.
Everyone spent the afternoon on the beach in front of the hotel and Jack revealed that this was their last day at the hotel before flying home the following morning. Jinnie said they had another two full days before flying back overnight to London. Jinnie added both Jack and Molly’s numbers and email addresses to her iPhone and promised that as soon as she was home, she would get the wheels in motion over the Joint Venture, but she doubted that she would be much involved in setting up the deal or any of the companies. She would try her utmost to be in Canada the day the business launched. In the meantime, she would be sure to talk on the phone to keep in touch. The children had one last early dinner together before saying goodbye as the Bakers daytime flight left early in the morning and they had to change planes in Toronto.
***
The Virgin A350 touched down a good 10 minutes early at Heathrow after the flight home. Jinnie had slept well on the fully reclining seat and although the time zone change meant it had been a strange night she felt quite relaxed. The twins were looking forward to seeing Granny, Grandad and Larry and were happily chatting to the cabin crew who were seeing them off the plane. Jinnie thought how lucky the twins were to have spent their holiday in the West Indies. When she was their age, England had still been occupied by Germany and only a very few people flew anywhere. Flying had been the domain of the party faithful.
The likes of her family, with both parents serving the state as teachers, would have had to make do with a train through the Channel Tunnel to the Continent and a holiday in Southern France or perhaps Italy. But then only if they could afford the fare and were one of the trusted families who could be allowed to have travel documents. Now the twins thought nothing of flying to the Caribbean to holiday in a five-star hotel or staying in a suite on a cruise ship.
The minibus that had brought them to the airport was waiting to take them home and they were quickly on their way and racing round the M25. The bus was stopped by the armed police barrier as it entered their road and Izzy was a little disappointed that she didn’t recognise the officer who checked them, she had rather hoped that it would be George, she hadn’t seen him for ages and strangely she had missed him.
In Chapter 21 – A trip to the seaside?
© WorthingGooner 2024
