From the chairman’s seat, Jinnie called the SuperBurger board meeting to order. Looking at the faces around the table, she knew she had to start with an explanation. “I have some extremely sad news to announce,” she started. “Some of you might be aware, but it is not yet general knowledge, that Sir Percy suffered a serious heart attack last week and was admitted to the cardiac ward of East Surrey Hospital. Well, the sad news is that he passed away this morning.” Jinnie paused for a moment to let the news sink in before continuing. “Two days before he died, he spoke with our CEO and asked that board meetings should continue with me temporarily taking his place. He obviously didn’t realise just how ill he was and only expected the situation to be temporary. Obviously, that is still the case. I am happy to stand in today and until a vote for a permanent chairman can be arranged.”
“However,” Jinnie continued, “I understand that he personally owned 40% of the company. I have 15%, and other board members hold about a further 9%, so we would normally control the board. But until we know what is to become of his holding, it may not be sensible to appoint a full-time chairman. If he has passed his 40% on to one person, they will be obliged to bid for the rest of the shares in issue. Of course, I have no knowledge of what his last will and testament says, or even if he has one. For all we know, he might have asked for his holding to be liquidated. We could suddenly find ourselves under new ownership, and they might wish to install their own chairman and board. Would anyone like to add their views?”
The HR Director cleared her throat to get the board’s attention before saying, “Sir Percy clearly trusted Dame Jinnie to run the board in his absence. I propose that the way to proceed is to confirm Jinnie as temporary chairman until we better understand what is happening to Sir Percy’s holding. At that point, we can reconsider our position.” The CEO said, “I second that proposal.” There then followed a show of hands, and Jinnie found herself unanimously elected as the SuperBurger temporary chairman.
Jinnie checked the agenda and started working through the directors’ reports, saying, “I know Sir Percy liked to keep you on your toes by seemingly picking the reporting order randomly each month. Well, while I’m in the chair, I shall be working around the table, starting from my left. So it looks like this meeting, I will be starting with IT.” Jinnie was now used to the fortnightly moan from the IT Director that the software systems were old and cumbersome and that the company servers, although only a year old, were struggling to cope. This report was no exception, but he also reported a hard disk failure that had not properly auto-switched to a standby disk. This had caused several branches to only be able to take cash for a couple of hours because the link to the credit card service had slowed right down.
Jinnie said, “I had similar problems in two companies whose boards I sit on, and both were cured by switching to an ERP system.” The IT Director smiled and replied, “I’d love to do that, but Sir Percy said it was all a way for the big computer companies to make money out of us.” Jinnie thought for a moment before saying, “I have decided to make my first decision as temporary chairman. Can you write a report on the advantages of an ERP system with some budget costs? You might like to know that our 50%-owned subsidiary, DKL, has fairly recently installed SAP. It wasn’t cheap, and it took a lot of work, but they were able to plug several of their existing systems, like EPOS and HR, into the SAP database instead of having to purchase the suppliers’ software modules. Speak to me later, and I’ll put you in touch with the DKL IT Director. I don’t think moving to ERP is a decision we should make until the company’s future is settled. But we can at least be ready with all the information and a recommendation.”
The reports moved on round the table smoothly. Procurement reported that contracts had now been signed for the supply of all items on the new menu and were now being supplied to all outlets. Marketing reported on how the national radio advertising campaign was ready to go just as soon as the first batch of 30 restaurants was finished. It was to ask customers if they had tried the new SuperBurger menu yet and say how it was available in all restaurants right now, many of which had been refurbished and all of which would be soon. HR reported that staff churn for the past fortnight had dropped considerably and was virtually zero in the dozen refurbished restaurants, making for considerable savings in recruitment and training costs. Inwardly, Jinnie was feeling happy.
Operations reported that the proposals for the first batch of 30 restaurant refurbishments had been approved, and Wright Refurbishment had already started on them. They were all located in South London. The second batch of 30 was already in Wright’s hands. Penultimately, it was the turn of the Sales Director, who just so happened to be sat on Jinnie’s right, with only the Finance Director to come after him. He stood up, walked over to a flip chart, and exposed the first page, at the same time saying, “It’s a long time since I was able to say this, but sales in the last fortnight have been up. I fully expected them to be so in the dozen fully refurbished test sites, and yes, they were—and by much more than I dared hope. “Sales in the refurbished dozen have built steadily over the last few weeks, as the chart shows, and seem to have plateaued at around a 35% increase in sales.”
He turned to the next page of the flip chart before continuing. “As you can see from this chart, sales in the non-refurbished restaurants have also jumped, but by not nearly as much—only around 9% across the estate! It does vary a little by location, but it has not been less than a 6.5% increase anywhere. “Finally, I have pulled out some numbers that perhaps best illustrate just how successful the rollout of the new coffee blend has been. As you can see, sales of the new blend of coffee are up by 25% where we have implemented the new menu. It looks like Dame Jinnie was 100% right with her analysis of our business’s problems.”
The final report came from the Financial Director. He started by saying, “Like my colleague from Sales, I have long wanted to sit here and make a report like this. I’ll get straight to the point—we have had a fabulous fortnight financially. Increased sales have led to increased turnover, and increased turnover to increased profits. Yes, we have had to lay out money from our reserve, but the 9% growth in sales volume has translated to a 10.5% increase in turnover. This is because we have had a jump in sales of higher-priced items, and this is with most restaurants only implementing the ‘new’ menu for a week or so.”
The FD continued, “If I had been able to report such a jump in turnover in such a short period, I am certain that Sir Percy would have been ecstatic. All indications are that this is only the beginning. The refurbished restaurants are beating all turnover records, and my calculations say the first 12 will pay off their investment within two months. With 30 restaurants a fortnight being refurbished, we aren’t going to have much of our reserve at risk. I suspect that I will be bringing good news forward at every meeting now.”
Jinnie thanked the director for their report and said, “Like Tony, I am sorry that Sir Percy didn’t live long enough to see the business turning around. Now, there is nothing else on this fortnight’s agenda other than Any Other Business. Is there anything anyone would like to raise?” Clive, the Procurement Director, said, “I know this is perhaps a little early, but I would like to start looking for sites for new outlets.” The FD replied, “I have some reservations. Firstly, it is perhaps a touch early—I would like to give it a couple of months to see how things go. Then, if we can afford it. And finally, is there room in the UK for more outlets? Clive said, “I’m not suggesting we buy places tomorrow, only that we start preparing for growth. McDonald’s have around 200 branches more than us and are still opening one or two a month.” Jinnie stepped in, asking, “Am I right in thinking the big difference between us and McDonald’s is that we own all our branches, while about 90% of theirs are franchises?” “I believe you are right,” replied the CEO. “Sir Percy was dead set against franchises, so we never investigated going down that route.”
Jinnie looked around the boardroom table and said, “Right, it’s time for my second chairman’s decision. Can we have two more reports at the next board meeting? I have been looking at franchising for Aunty JoJo’s, so I’ll produce a general report on franchising with the pros and cons, the estimated cost of a branch to us, and the income it would generate. “Clive, could you look at the rough cost of a new fully owned branch? It won’t be much different from a new Aunty JoJo’s to fit out, so I suggest you talk to Belinda at Wright Refurbishment. But you will have to use SuperBurger operating costs and add in the premises cost.”
Jinnie closed the meeting, and everyone gathered in the ante-room. Jinnie poured herself a coffee and was adding milk when the CEO came over and said, “Thank you. I thought that went very well—you were very professional. It is important we keep the board together and busy until we know what is in Sir Percy’s will.” “Have you any idea when the funeral is?” asked Jinnie. “His PA is in contact with his family—he has two daughters, and his wife died seven or eight years ago. She thinks it will probably be late next week at the Balcombe Road Crematorium.” “I must go and have a word with her,” said Jinnie. “I believe she has served Sir Percy for many years. She must be missing him and is probably worried about her job. I would love for her to work for me while I’m chairman.”
Jinnie walked into the PA’s office and said, “Hello, Jane. I had to come in and say how sorry I was to hear about Sir Percy—you must be in shock.”“It was a bit of a surprise when he had the heart attack,” replied Jane, “but after I had been in to see him, I realised just how gravely ill he was. He wasn’t ever going to come back, even if he survived, and I had a huge doubt that was going to happen. It has given me some time to consider my position. I have an appointment with HR, and I have decided to retire. I put it off over a year ago to stay with Sir Percy. “You wouldn’t know this, but he has been looking for someone to succeed him for nearly three years. After the first board meeting you attended, he came straight back here and said to me, ‘I’ve found the next chairman.’ He thought the world of you.”
Now it was Jinnie’s turn to be shocked, and all she could say was, “Really?” Jane continued, “He planned to offer you the MD position and then retire in a year and hand the chairmanship over to you. Several times he said to me, ‘The company will be safe in her hands,’ and he was disappointed when you turned down the MD position. A few days later, he came out of his office and said, ‘Jane, I have a plan.’ He didn’t tell me what it was, but hinted it involved his shares.”
Jinnie said, “Did you know he sent a message to the board, via Oliver, that he wanted me to be the temporary chairman? I have been appointed until Sir Percy’s will is read and we know what is happening to the company. I was rather hoping that you would be here to hold my hand until we can find out what is happening, but if you have made your mind up to retire, I won’t stand in your way.” “I think I would like that,” said Jane. “Another couple of months won’t make a lot of difference. I have my retirement cottage in Swanage, and I already spend most weekends there. I have a feeling that the next few months are going to be exciting.”
“OK, here’s the deal,” said Jinnie. “I won’t be able to be here more than one or two days a week, so I really do need someone to be my eyes and ears here. I have Ro at DKL, and I share a PA, Janet, with the chairman at Trattoria Trevi. They manage my diary, sort my travel, open my mail and emails, and only send on important things. I don’t need to know if the football team has won a match, but I do if they win their league. They reply for me to things including birth and wedding collections, they send notes for retirements, and flowers to funerals I can’t attend. They keep me up to date with everything. I suspect it’s no different to what you did for Sir Percy. “Oh yes, you should always have the coffee ready—white, no sugar—and I do like the occasional Hobnob.”
Jinnie continued, “In return, I will make certain you can retire as soon as you decide, with a three-month bonus.” “It’s a deal,” said Jane. “Will you be using Sir Percy’s office?” “I have been thinking about that,” replied Jinnie. “The refurbishment is due to start next week, so I won’t be able to. I will try to get in at least every Thursday. I am usually in DKL over on Manor Royal on Tuesday and Wednesday, and Trattoria Trevi on Monday and Friday. I work in my home office on Thursday. But it is flexible—sometimes I need to swap days for site visits or other business-related things. Now, I really need to talk with Clive about computer access and getting remote access from my home office.” “I’ll get him to come to you,” said Jane, reaching for her phone. “You’ll never find IT in this rabbit hole. If you go and take a seat in the chairman’s office, I’ll put a pot of fresh coffee on, and you can show me how much milk you like.” Jinnie thought, ‘I think we are going to get on fine.’
***
The following morning, Jinnie dropped the twins at school for their 8:45 start and was at her desk in Maple House well before nine. As usual, Janet popped in with a mug of coffee almost as soon as Jinnie arrived. Jinnie was still waiting for her PC to finish booting up when Brian arrived “Morning, Jinnie,” he said, sitting down on a visitor chair, waving a copy of the Financial Times. “I see you have a new job.” Jinnie smiled and said, “Well, that didn’t take long to become public knowledge.” Brian replied, “That’s the problem with working for a public company—things like the sudden death of the chairman have to be announced to the stock exchange.”
“Belinda gave me a lift in,” said Brian. “She is off to Hatfield to look at a couple of prospective jobs. She is going to pick me up for the ride home. It gave me a chance to read the news on the way in. There is an obituary and an article speculating on the future of SuperBurger. “I was interested to read about Sir Percy. The obit suggested he was a billionaire and, apart from his 41% holding in SuperBurger, he had numerous holdings in FTSE 100 companies and owned several big houses that he rarely visited. Apparently, after his wife died, he hardly left his 12-bedroom house in Oxted for anything other than his daily drive to SuperBurger. Did you know that he had two married daughters and two young grandchildren?”
“I learnt he had two daughters only yesterday. The rest is all news to me. I didn’t know he’d had a heart attack. In fact, as far as I could tell, the only people at SuperBurger who knew were his PA and the CEO. When I arrived for the fortnightly board meeting, the CEO told me he was dead and that he had asked for me to be temporary chairman while he was indisposed. Obviously, he thought he was going to get better. Anyway, the board asked me to take the chairmanship until it becomes clear what is happening with his holding.”
“Interesting,” said Brian. “The FT says that ‘SuperBurger is now in the capable hands of restaurateur and catering business expert Dame Jinnie De Luca. She recently joined the board and has reportedly been responsible, virtually single-handedly, for rejuvenating the company, which is spending some of its vast reserves on refurbishing every one of their 932 branches. With the announcement yesterday lunchtime of the death of longtime SuperBurger chairman Sir Percy Richards, the shares started to slide. But that was quickly reversed by the mid-afternoon announcement that Dame Jinnie had been appointed chairman by the board. The shares finished the day up 2p.’”
“Someone has a high opinion of you,” said a laughing Brian. “Perhaps I should buy some SuperBurger shares.” Jinnie nearly said, You could do a lot worse, but realised that, with her knowledge of sales and profits, that could be considered insider trading. Instead, she said, “Someone on the board likes me and has a direct line into the FT. I would like to know who it is, as it might be useful sometime in the future.” “Have you any idea who Sir Percy has left his money to?” “I’ve not got the foggiest,” said Jinnie. “I can only speculate like everyone else. If it were me, I would leave it to family, but I don’t know if he got on that well with his daughters.” “Yes, that’s what I would do,” said Brian. “In fact, that’s how my will’s written.”
For a change, Jinnie was having a quiet day. Nothing in particular had happened, there had been no panics, it was just another day at work. Just after three, Belinda arrived in the offices, dumped her large bag—that Jinnie knew carried the tools of her trade: an A4 pad, coloured pens and pencils, a laser measure, and a tape measure—in Brian’s office, extracted a magazine, walked into Jinnie’s office, and placed it in front of her. The copy of Refurbishment World had a cover picture of Belinda sitting behind her office desk and the headline ‘A Woman in a Man’s World’. The strapline read, ‘We interview the woman MD of fast-growing Wright Refurbishment—see page 7’.
Jinnie asked, “Is it any good?” Belinda replied, “Well, when I first read it, I wondered about it playing on the ‘woman’ bit. I have never played that card—I have always tried to win jobs on merit. But I must admit it has brought in some enquiries from new people, and some are very interesting, like the two I have been to see today. It has certainly given the company free advertising and got the name in front of some people who would never normally ask us to quote. Terry and I have been so busy running around looking at prospects that I am considering taking on another salesman. But read the piece and make up your own mind. I need a word with Brian and a cup of strong black coffee.”
Jinnie turned to page 9 and started to read the article, which commenced with the writer saying that she was lucky to interview Belinda Quarendon, the MD of Wright Refurbishment, a few days after the company had won the contract to refurbish all 928 SuperBurger outlets. Belinda had been busy with her core management team, assembling the dedicated team who were going to run the contract. The writer said she had interviewed the heads of numerous refurbishment and fit-out companies, but this was the only woman amongst the small, medium, and big companies she had talked to. And she had been impressed. Belinda had been more knowledgeable about the business than most of the men she had interviewed, and the company’s work was of excellent quality. Belinda and her Design Director, Andrew Donaldson, had shown them around the company office on Crawley’s Manor Royal estate, which was modern, bright, colourful, hi-tech, and extremely busy. It was not luxurious, but the design showed off the modern office to comfortable perfection.
When asked if the company specialised in any particular type of refurbishment or fit-out, Belinda had said, “No, we bid for just about anything in the commercial field. We’ve never bid for domestic work, but then we’ve never been asked to—although we have overseen a couple of house builds for special unnamed clients, we haven’t designed or built them.”Andrew explained that when he joined the company as a designer about nine years previously, the company was newly established and working out of serviced offices. Almost immediately, they had won orders to refurbish several local offices, ranging from a taxi firm to a building materials supplier via a law practice. In the first year, the embryonic company had exceeded all expectations and turned over just over £1 million. Belinda picked up the story, relating how she had been working for a refurbishment company run by her father, but a fallout over the direction of the company had caused her to break away and set up her own business. The new company had blossomed, and after around 24 months, it had moved out of the serviced offices and into a unit in their current building.
Belinda then talked about growing the firm around her core team: Andrew for design, Terry for sales, Lucy, who ran the accounts and other office functions like placing orders for materials, and Roger, who produced the drawings and tenders. Meanwhile, she was in charge, did most of the surveys and estimates, and oversaw operations. The company had continued to grow, taking on projects all over the southeast of England, London, and the Home Counties. Andrew said the real breakthrough came when they won a tender for Trattoria Trevi, which at that time was a small restaurant that had bought the offices next door and was expanding into them. The quick growth of Trattoria Trevi into a chain had helped Wright Refurbishment grow, as all their work came to Wright. It was working for Trattoria Trevi that introduced Belinda to Jinnie De Luca, who, Belinda said, had been as instrumental in Wright’s growth as she had.
Here, the writer had to explain how Trattoria Trevi had set up the country’s first dark kitchen, which Wright had designed and built; how SuperBurger and Trattoria Trevi had set up a joint venture, Dark Kitchens Limited (DKL), to build, own, and operate dark kitchens; and how Dame Jinnie became the MD of DKL and persuaded Belinda that Wright should become the construction division of DKL—a decision that has really paid dividends. Now, Wright has a base load of work building new dark kitchen complexes at an ever-increasing rate all over the UK. They also design and build every new Trattoria Trevi and their Artisan Sandwich shops. In recent times, the Trattoria Trevi Group has expanded into the Caribbean with restaurants and Aunty JoJo’s Fried Chicken Shacks, a brand that has grown so quickly that Wright now has a subsidiary in Barbados and is now building dark kitchens there for DKL. Aunty JoJo’s is now firmly established in the UK and providing more work for Wright.
Belinda further explained that Wright Refurbishment had benefited from being part of a larger group, as they were now able to bid for and undertake large projects in both the UK and the Caribbean. This year alone, they have won tenders for multi-million-pound Cat A fit-outs in London and Bridgetown. Last year, turnover passed £100 million for the first time, and Belinda predicts that this year will comfortably beat that. With Wright’s recent orders to refurbish the SuperBurger chain, Trattoria Trevi’s branching into hotels with last year’s TT Ennios Southampton and this year’s TT Ennios Bournemouth, together with the recent awards of the Cat A fit-outs of an 11-storey office block in Bridgetown and a 22-storey block in Manchester, I have no reason to doubt Belinda’s prediction.
While in Crawley, I took the opportunity to visit several of the projects that Wright Refurbishment had undertaken in the town. I was accompanied by Belinda’s able Design Director, Andrew, who was well received wherever we went. The first call was in the same block where Wright now occupy four units and was a bespoke wedding attire supplier, Wedding Dress Bargains. The two-storey unit started life as a combined shop, showroom, factory, and offices for the company, designed and built by Wright. The unit is now only a factory and offices, as the company has grown. It now has three shop/showrooms and is about to open a fourth. The place was wonderfully designed and adorned with huge photos of past brides wearing fabulous WDB bespoke designs. I know where I will be buying my wedding dress when the time comes.
We then drove the half mile or so to the offices of DKL. Again, Andrew was welcomed at the superb custom-built reception desk by the receptionist. After a few minutes, Dame Jinnie’s delightful PA greeted us and explained that Dame Jinnie was not in the building, but she took us on a tour of the huge, modern, open-plan offices. Once again, I was highly impressed with the quality of work. Apparently, Wright had designed the whole place to DKL’s specifications. Everywhere was bright, with glass partitions letting natural daylight flood in. I was particularly impressed by the hi-tech boardroom with its very high degree of connectivity.
We moved on to the attached 12 dark kitchens on the biggest mezzanine floor I have ever seen. Below the floor were the freezers, chilled and dry goods stores belonging to the kitchens. I was astonished to be told that, once again, this was all the work of Wright Refurbishment. I hadn’t realised just how flexible Wright were. Finally, we drove to the County Mall, where WDB have their busy shop and showroom. But we weren’t visiting that outlet—we were visiting a refurbished SuperBurger outlet that was clean, bright, and bang on trend. Directly opposite, Andrew pointed out a Trattoria Trevi venture that had been completed only the day before and was due to open the following Monday. It was an intriguing outlet that was to sell sandwiches by day and be a classy restaurant at night.
The writer finished the article by saying how impressed she had been to see a company that was growing quickly and led by a woman in what was generally accepted as a man’s world. Finally, Jinnie looked at the mass of photos accompanying the article and liked what she saw. She wondered if Belinda had supplied the pictures or if the author of the article was also a decent photographer.
Jinnie looked up from her reading to see that Belinda had slipped into one of her visitor’s chairs and was sipping her coffee. “That was interesting,” said Jinnie. “I get the idea she was rather impressed. The article was favourable.” “Yes,” said Belinda, “and a few people seem to have read the article and agree with you. As I told you, we have seen a jump in enquiries since the article was published. In fact, the two jobs I have been to today were both as a result of the article being read and getting our name before prospective customers.”
“One of the jobs is a high school in Hatfield who want their kitchen and refectory refurbished,” said Belinda. “They want the work done over the school summer holidays, and it is very tight. They have been talking to several builders and don’t like what they have been told. I showed them pictures of a similar job we did in South London, and the building manager said, ‘That’s just what I want! Why can’t anyone else see it?’ I pointed out that the six-week time schedule was tight. But if we could get the design done quickly and agreed in the next few weeks, we stood a pretty good chance, especially if we could get the kitchen design done and the equipment on order. Their budget is realistic, and I told him I felt we would be able to get back to him with a fully compliant bid in just over a week. In fact, I have just used Brian to send the paperwork to Andrew.”
“So, you think you will land this job?” asked Jinnie. “Absolutely,” replied Belinda. “I think it is ours to lose.” Belinda drank a little more coffee before continuing. “The second job was to see the Procurement Director of a medium-sized construction company. They are in the final stages of negotiating a contract with the local housing association for a block of 48 flats, and he wants a quote for fitting out the flats. He described it as a Cat A contract. They would build the shell and core, including the stairs, lifts, and lobbies, and then appoint a fit-out contractor who would do everything inside the flats. I said we would bid, but I’m not so sure we could win this against the specialists who do this every day of the week. But this builder also does office blocks, and I would like to get on his regular tendering list. If I refused to bid, I would never get on the list.”
***
Jinnie got home from Maple House shortly after four-thirty and was, as always, greeted by Larry. As she took off her coat, she could hear the twins chatting in Italian in the kitchen. But it was the manila envelope in the hall post rack that caught her eye. Picking it up, she noted that it was addressed to her but unfranked, with ‘By Hand’ typed where the stamp should be.
Jinnie turned the envelope over, and the return address read: Irwin Norton LLP, The Boulevard, Crawley. Jinnie’s stomach turned over, and she thought, ‘Oh no, surely not again.’
In Chapter 34 – Sir Percy’s Letter
© WorthingGooner 2025
