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Jinnie looked around the hotel breakfast room and spotted Brian and Belinda reading their breakfast menus. She headed across the room and asked, “Do you mind if I join you?” Belinda looked up and said, “Not in the slightest, please take a seat. Are you in a hurry? What time is your flight?” Jinnie replied, “I’m in no hurry, I’ve decided to put my flight off a day; it’s not a problem when you’re on a full fare ticket. I just rang up and changed it. We decided so much yesterday that I thought I might have a chat with Jack and Molly about where we see Bearcat going. Brooke is here for a few more days, and I wondered if she could get to Vancouver to sort out a local supplier of chicken pieces, nuggets, burgers, etc. I think the sooner we get this project moving, the better.”
“I agree,” said Brian. “While Belinda is talking mezzanines with Ontario Design Contractors, I thought I might visit a few realtors and see if anyone has a property for sale, lease, or rent that we could turn into a Continental. Would you like to come with me?” “I would,” replied Jinnie. “Why don’t we both pop over to the Bearcat offices after breakfast, have a chat with Jack and Molly, and then have a look for a possible restaurant site?” “That sounds like a plan,” said Brian.
Jinnie and Brian enjoyed the walk to the nearby Bearcat offices and were shown to Jack’s office. Jinnie explained that they had chatted over a nightcap when they had got back to the hotel the previous night and come to some decisions. Jack held up his hand and said, “Should I ask Molly to join us?” “I think so,” replied Brian, and Jack buzzed her on the intercom.
With Molly joining Brian and Jinnie on another of Jack’s office visitor chairs, Jinnie continued. “We had an informal chat about where we should be going and decided that we needed to move on this quickly, before the competition realises just how quickly we are growing. So, this morning, Belinda has gone to chat with Ontario Design Contractors to get them started looking at the mezzanine design, new production lines, and costing. As an aside, she is also looking to bring them in-house as a subsidiary of Wright Refurbishment.”
Jinnie continued, “I know Brooke is here for a few more days, and as Development Director, we think she should be heading to Vancouver as soon as possible, to firstly keep onside with those outlets who have expressed a view of becoming our franchisees. Then we need her to hunt out a chicken processor we can use temporarily to set up quickly there, while we look at building our own plant.”
Jack nodded and said, “I’m happy with that. The only things that I question are money and manpower. Do we have enough of either?” Brian replied, “As I said yesterday, I don’t think money will be a problem, and manpower is down to money as well. There is plenty of space in this building if we need additional office space.” Jinnie continued, “I was thinking about things before I went to sleep last night, and I haven’t mentioned this to even Brian yet. I suggest we look at expanding to Montreal and Toronto ASAP. Ok, I know it means expanding the Distribution Division quickly, but they said in the board meeting they had plans, and that means chilled storage in both cities. While sorting something permanent out, let’s look at hiring a yard and some 40-foot chilled shipping containers. All we need is a yard, a few chilled 40-foot containers, a warehouse man, a portable building, a chilled delivery truck, and a local delivery driver in each city. We can send big, chilled truckloads of prepared product out from our Ottawa processing plant, say two or three times a week.”
Jack said, “That’s a bit off the wall. I was going to suggest Brooke and I get over to Montreal and Toronto to look for chilled storage, but I suspect finding a yard and containers might be a lot easier.” “Speaking of Brooke,” said Jinnie, “Does anyone know where she is this morning?” Molly replied, “She said she was going to visit the processing plant. I think she wanted to talk to them about the mezzanine plan and what we needed to talk to the equipment suppliers about. I expect she will bump into Belinda. Then she was coming back here for a sandwich lunch and a meeting with Jack.”
***
Belinda and Brooke had indeed met at the processing plant and, together with the plant manager and the MD and Sales Director of Ontario Design Contractors, they had started to scope out Jinnie’s idea of a massive mezzanine, new production lines, and a temporary dividing wall. Brooke was intrigued to see how enthusiastic everyone was for the plan and how Belinda was busy with her laser measure, pad, and coloured pencils. Well before lunch, there were half a dozen sketches with various ideas for the mezzanine and production lines. Belinda promised to get her people in Crawley to quickly draw up the designs and get them back to the plant manager for approval and to ODC for costing.
Brooke had spoken with Belinda privately before the walk-around and had learned that ODC had welcomed a buyout approach. The ODC MD had explained that they had realised that they were not big enough to win the giant fit-out projects in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver that their rivals were growing fat on. The MD admitted that although they were growing, it was only slowly, and without the backing of a big company or a merger, it would be many years before they could fully compete. It had been agreed that they would throw their books open to Brian, and Belinda had promised a steady stream of work from both Bearcat and other restaurants, as well as backing the bidding for big fit-out projects.
On the way back to the Bearcat offices for lunch, Brooke had said to Belinda, “I thought we were growing fast in the U.K. and the Caribbean, but Canada has all the prospects of being enormous.” “I agree,” said Belinda. “The only problem with Canada is the vast distances between cities. There are many big cities and towns, and lots of wilderness. It’s rather different to the Caribbean and the U.K. Building a network here is very different to at home; each city is like building a separate business.”
***
Over a sandwich lunch and coffee, Brooke agreed to go to Vancouver and talk to the prospective new branches and to try to find a chicken processor and suppliers. She said goodbye to Jinnie, Brian, and Belinda and headed to the hotel to grab a few changes of clothes and sort out an airline ticket. It was decided that Jack was to go to both Montreal and Toronto with the Bearcat sales director, and they also went to get flight bags, while Molly was to stay home to look after the business and the children. After lunch, equipped with a list of commercial estate agents or realtors, Brian and Jinnie headed out to look for a property that might make a restaurant, and Belinda sorted out her sketches and notes, scanned them, and emailed them to Andrew in Crawley so he could get people working on a design for ODC.
The first estate agent visited had welcomed Jinnie and Brian and had ushered them into a meeting room. Jinnie wasn’t comfortable, and as she and Brian were left alone for a few moments, she whispered to Brian, “I think we are wasting our time here; they haven’t shown us a single viable property specification sheet.” Brian nodded and replied, “I agree, let’s look at this next couple of sheets quickly and move on. I just don’t think they understand our requirements.” Back on the street, Jinnie said, “Well, that was a total waste of an hour. Let’s grab a cab and move on to number two.”
At the second agency, Brian briefly explained their requirements and the realtor listened carefully, taking notes on a shorthand pad. Jinnie watched and thought, ‘This is more professional.’ When Brian had finished, the estate agent said, “I think we have several possibilities on our books. I have one particular building in mind. Can I organise coffee for you while I go and find the specifications and my tablet computer where I have additional pictures and a video?” Alone again, Jinnie said, “I have a better feeling here. At least they listened and took notes. I’m interested to see how closely this building matches our requirements.”
The agent returned with a second man who was introduced as the owner. ‘Good,’ thought Jinnie, ‘they are taking us seriously.’ The agent handed them both identical flyers as the owner said, “Greg told me what you were looking for and what he was about to suggest, and from what I understand your requirements to be, I fully concur that this property could be perfect. We have recently been appointed sole agents for the marketing of a new building on York Street. It’s a modern 8-storey building, and the top 7 floors are offices, while the ground floor has been designed as a purpose-built restaurant, as York Street is a recognised restaurant area. The reception for the offices is also on the ground floor. The building is on a corner, with good access to parking and a large terrace with views over parkland to the Quebec River. Have a look at the details, and if you like it, Gregg can show you more on his tablet.”
Jinnie picked up the specification sheet and immediately liked what she saw. As the boss had said, it was a new building with the main entrance on York Street. The terrace was at one side, and as they had been told, it offered views over Majors Hill Park to the river. Access to the terrace was via glass doors from the glass-walled restaurant. Jinnie could imagine enjoying a meal there on a warm summer evening. The photos showed the interior of the restaurant as a large open space that had a high ceiling, was carpeted, and had decent modern lighting. Away from the windows was a solid partition wall with a pair of double swing doors. Greg pointed out that these gave access to the ‘kitchen,’ which Jinnie noted was also an empty space.
Greg explained that the building owners were hoping to let the area to an upmarket restaurant on a long-term lease and, as such, had thought it best to allow whoever took the lease to fit out the kitchen to suit themselves. However, it came with gas, electricity, water, drainage, air conditioning, and had tiled walls and floor. Jinnie read the sheet and saw that it was suggested there was space for around 200 covers indoors and an additional 40 on the terrace.
Before Jinnie could speak, Brian asked, “Just how much use do you think we would get out of the terrace? Isn’t it cold here for 9 months of the year?” Greg quickly replied, “The developer has installed electric awnings over the terrace. They can be deployed at the touch of a button for protection against rain. The same awning will also protect against light snow, and in addition, sidings can be deployed at either end and across the front of the terrace to fully enclose the space. There are also built-in gas-fired space heaters that, when used in a fully protected area, are designed to make the terrace usable for all but the very coldest days.”
“OK,” said Brian. “But for three months a year, the restaurant will have to be profitable with a reduced capacity of 40 covers.” “The other way of looking at it,” replied Greg, “is that if you base your costings on 210 covers, you get the extra 10 in front of the doors onto the terrace when they are not in use. The added 30 can be counted as a bonus when they can be used.”
Jinnie was warming to the idea of the terrace and could see it as a desirable place to eat in the summer months and decided that she needed more information than was on the flyer she had been handed. The main things missing were any idea of the cost of the lease and the length on offer. But there was also no indication of other costs, such as local or federal taxes, so that she and Brian could estimate operating costs, and she said so. Gregg smiled and replied, “That’s because local taxes tend to be based on profit, after deductions like energy, expenses, etc. In Ontario, we also have a Harmonised Sales Tax (HST) of 13%, but you can deduct Input Tax Credits (ITC) before payment, so it is almost impossible to give you anything but a vague indication as the amount of tax you will pay depends on your turnover and how profitable your business is. I would always recommend you talk to an accountant.”
Brian looked across at Jinnie and said, “I don’t know about you, but before we go any further, I really want to see this restaurant space and get a feel for it and the area.” Jinnie agreed, and Greg explained that it was close by, and they had the key, and he could drive them over immediately if that suited.
***
Greg drove past the main entrance to the prospective TT Continental – Ottawa and went down a slope into an underground car park and pulled into a numbered spot. Seeing Jinnie’s look, he said, “Didn’t I tell you that 6 spaces under the building come with the lease? The majority of the spaces are allocated to the offices, but after six in the evening, it becomes a pay-and-display parking lot as the office workers have gone home. The agreement is that if restaurant customers choose to park here, they can take an entrance ticket, and it can be validated for free parking.”
Gregg led them up a slope to the restaurant’s entrance, unlocked the door, and took them inside before turning on the lights. Jinnie looked around and liked what she saw. Pulling out her iPhone, she began videoing everything. Light flooded in through the two glass walls that formed the corner of the building. The third side was a structural building wall, which Jinnie guessed the office reception and lifts were behind. The fourth wall was a fire-rated plasterboard partition that divided off the kitchen area. Brian asked to see the terrace, and Greg hunted through the keys for the right one, and they stepped onto it. The late autumn air was chilly, but the view over the park to the river was magnificent.
Greg stepped back into the restaurant to operate one of the electric awnings, and with him out of earshot, Brian said to Jinnie, “I have a good feeling about this. I really like it.” “So do I,” replied Jinnie, “but we still have no idea of costs, and no one else on the board has seen it yet. Let’s get the details of the lease from Gregg, get Belinda and someone from ODC over here to put together a cost estimate to get it up and running. I would love for Alberto to have a look, but I guess my video will have to do for the present.” “I think it would be better to get the opinions of the Trattoria Trevi (Caribbean) Limited directors first. You and I like it, Belinda can see it soon, and so can Brooke as soon as she gets back from Vancouver. Perhaps you should send your video to the remaining directors, Monica, Patricia, Trevor, and Michael.”
Greg extended an awning and explained how the sidings worked before pointing out the built-in gas-fired space heaters, all of which looked good to Jinnie and Brian. Before going back into the building, Greg pointed out several nearby restaurants and mentioned that York Street and the surrounding roads were quickly gaining the reputation of being the home of Ottawa’s best restaurants.
In the car back to the estate agency, Brian pressed Greg on the cost of a ten-year lease but got nowhere. Greg explained that the vendor wanted a high-class restaurant and wanted to vet any potential tenant for quality. Jinnie had previously explained that they represented TT Continental Restaurants, who operated two high-class restaurants in the Caribbean. However, as the vendor wanted a high-class client, she decided to explain that the ultimate owner was the British TT SuperBurger Group, who controlled the chain of Trattoria Trevi restaurants in the U.K. and Ireland, several of which had one or more Michelin stars. Greg nodded and replied, “Even I have heard of Trattoria Trevi, and I am sure they are the type of restaurant the vendor is looking for.”
***
It was about 10:30 on Saturday morning when Jinnie stepped out of the Terminal 5 customs hall into the arrivals hall after her BA flight from Montreal. She was looking for Paolo, who had promised to pick her up, but it was the twins who found her and crashed into her, screaming, “Mummy, Mummy.” Jinnie kissed them and told them how much she had missed them before they took her to Paolo. The family walked to the nearby short-stay car park, where Paolo had left the Lexus LM. The twins climbed in the back and immediately turned the large seat-back screen on to watch cartoons while Jinnie waited in the front passenger seat as her suitcase and travel bag were being stowed in the luggage area.
As Paolo drove the car around the M25, he asked his wife how her trip had been, and she replied, “Eventful,” before explaining how successful Bearcat Foods was and the plans for expanding it into an initial three additional cities. “We seem to have found a formula that works,” Jinnie continued, “the Canadian public likes the product, and our strategy of having a mixture of some owned outlets and franchises seems to work. We are being approached by franchisees of other chains who clearly think that they will make more money with us than under their current franchise.”
“That’s interesting,” said Paolo. “You don’t have a lot of franchised outlets in the U.K.” “True,” replied Jinnie, “but in Canada, we had people who wanted to be franchises right from the beginning. In the U.K., we seeded the market with our own branches and are only now starting to advertise for franchisees. I think that Brooke’s deputy, Charlotte, is busy negotiating the first deals right now. Brooke thinks that we could easily double our number of U.K. outlets next year, even with the number of South Coast Chicken outlets we have added. There is something I have to tell you: Do you remember Molly saying that they wanted to take the children to London? Well, I have invited them to come and stay with us at Easter. Now the extension is done, we have 3 spare rooms, and Jack and Molly can have one, Liam can have his own room, and Ava and Logan can share. The children all got on so well in Barbados, I think that they can all go sightseeing together. I think the twins would love to see things like the Tower of London and the Cutty Sark.”
“I would like to see them again,” said Paolo. “We all got on so well. I think we better take them to the Trattoria Trevi and show them what a proper restaurant is like. Hadn’t you better book a table while you can? A big party, like ours will be, can be hard to fit in.” “So, you’re not annoyed?” said Jinnie. “I did wonder if you would want to go to the Barbados house at Easter.” “Not at all,” replied Paolo. “But I’d like to go for the Spring Bank Holiday when the twins are off school.”
***
On the following Monday, Jinnie dropped the twins at school and drove into the Potters Bar HQ of the TT SuperBurger (Group). As usual, she wanted to consult with Alberto on her plans for the new restaurant. She knew it wasn’t really his decision; that ultimately rested with the Caribbean board, but he was an experienced restaurateur, and she trusted his opinion. But, as normal, it was too early for Alberto to be in the office, so Jinnie got down to checking her emails, post, and the latest accounts. Now that SuperBurger and Trattoria Trevi were all one company, the computer systems had been combined, and now there was only a single email system. For senior management like Jinnie, access was available to the accounts of each of the group’s divisions individually, but for middle and lower management, the financial information was limited to their own division or company.
Jinnie had been shown by Nigel how to navigate her way around the SAP system and drill down to see exactly what was going on in any division, company, or even shop or restaurant in what was virtually real-time anywhere in the business. Jinnie’s first action was to have a look at the overnight accounts. Of course, she knew that Brian’s Finance Group would be keeping watch on the accounts, but when at home or in the office, she liked to see for herself that everything was in order.
Having satisfied herself that everything was in order and that the company reserves had been increased in line with expectations, she turned her attention to her emails. A couple of months ago, she had suddenly realised that just as she could see what was going on everywhere thanks to SAP, so could her personal assistant. So, she had talked to Ro and explained that she wanted to promote her to her personal assistant at the Group. Before Ro had been able to object that she didn’t want to move to Hertfordshire, Jinnie explained that she wanted her to carry on working in Crawley but to look after her remotely. For getting her sandwiches or coffee when in Potters Bar, she could use Janet, who was Alberto’s PA.
Jinnie had also been using Jane, who had been Sir Percy’s PA at SuperBurger, but Jane wanted to retire to her cottage in Swanage, and Jinnie had promised her that as soon as things were sorted out, she could do that. Now things had been settled; SuperBurger and Trattoria Trevi had merged, Jinnie and Clive, the SuperBurger CEO, had found a permanent Chairman whom Jinnie was going to introduce at the next SuperBurger board meeting. This would allow Jinnie to step back to being an ordinary director (even if everyone knew she was the most powerful person on the board) and Jane could move permanently to her cottage in Dorset.
The soon-to-be new Chairman of SuperBurger, Sir Oliver Dawson, had indicated that he would like to bring his long-term PA from his previous job with him, and that suited all concerned. But Jinnie wanted to insert Ro into the SuperBurger structure, and as the SuperBurger and DKL offices were close, she could be on hand for both. Harriet, who had been the SuperBurger HR Director but was now the TT SuperBurger Group HR Director, and one of Jinnie’s confidants, had suggested that perhaps Ro could also nominally be Clive, the SuperBurger CEO’s PA, and also work for him remotely. This gave Jinnie a chance to promote Ro and give her a considerable wage increase and an upgrade of company car to a C4.
Looking at her emails, it was obvious from the few in her inbox that Ro had been sorting them very effectively. However, there was one from Patricia and another from Trevor. So, it was these she went to immediately. Patricia said she had viewed the video and read the suggestion for a new Continental with great interest. She continued, saying, “Now I am taking a back seat to business, I showed the video to Monica, who, as you know, I trust implicitly. She loved the concept and thinks the space looks perfect but would really like to see it in person before we move forward to a costed project. Could this be arranged? A quick check of flights shows that there are no direct flights between Ottawa and Barbados, but it can be done with either a change at Washington or Toronto.”
Similarly, Trevor wanted to see the building and suggested he could fly up and look. Jinnie dashed off a quick email to Brooke, saying could she talk to Brian, copying in Patricia, Monica, Trevor, and Brian, who was staying in Ottawa a few days to start looking at costs and talk with the vendor, about a viewing for them all. She also authorised business class travel for Monica and Trevor and suggested they stay at the Marriott. On Monica’s copy, she added a short note suggesting she have a look at the local Aunty JoJo’s and their breakfast offering while in Ottawa.
Just after 11 o’clock, Alberto arrived in the office and slid into one of Jinnie’s visitor chairs, saying, “So, you have done it again, go off on a trip and come back with a project. Well, from the video, this looks like a real hot prospect. But I can’t give you my final opinion until you can come up with some costings. I like the building, the location, the views, the parking, and the terrace. But without a costing, it is just impossible to come to a conclusion as to the project’s viability.”
In Chapter 4 – Slow progress
© WorthingGooner 2025
