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Jinnie and Rick flew back to the U.K. together on the overnight Virgin flight. As they checked in together, Rick benefited from Jinnie’s automatic upgrade to Upper Class. As they strolled from check-in to the Virgin Clubhouse Lounge, he asked her, “Do you normally get upgraded to Upper Class?” Jinnie smiled and replied, “Yes, if there is space on the plane, it seems to be pretty automatic these days.” “Wow,” said Rick, “it’s never happened to me before, I guess it’s your title.” “I don’t know,” lied Jinnie, “maybe, or perhaps it’s because I fly Virgin a lot.”
As they enjoyed a pre-flight drink, Rick asked, “Of the three hotels we saw, do you think we should be thinking about buying one?” Jinnie smiled and said, “Definitely, but I would buy all three, but that would blow Brian’s mind. He would mutter about the company not having the cash available. Well, I’m not so sure. He is pretty conservative, with a small ‘c’, and tends to look at the funds held at group level. I know for a fact SuperBurger are sitting on a growing cash pile now that their relaunch is virtually finished. It’s not quite back to the £34 million it was before the relaunch, but it’s getting there. Your Hotel Division has paid off its group loans for Bournemouth and St James Beach. Marigot Bay will be debt-free in a month or two. Heathrow, despite only being half open, is making good money, and I reckon is probably going to clear its group loan any day now, and Southampton is raking it in.”
“That’s all true,” said Rick, “but as of today I owe the group about £3 million.” “Agreed,” said Jinnie, “but that’s on paper, and only because of accounting procedures treating each hotel as a separate business owned by the division. I know for a fact that the division is sitting on around £5 million in the war chest you have been building up, and that £3 million you owe is going to be nothing in two months, and then that war chest will be growing at what, £3 million a month.” “Hopefully,” replied Rick, “I believe we could probably fund the purchase of one hotel internally. If it was Clearwater or St Petersburg, it would be paying us back on the purchase price immediately, as both are profitable today. But Miami is going to take some work to turn it round, and let’s say a million on top of its purchase price.”
“OK,” said Jinnie, “I agree with you in part. Yes, the two Gulf Coast hotels would start paying back the investment on day one. But we would still need to work hard to up the profit margin. Yes, they make money, but not a huge return on capital. I suspect that’s why they are up for sale, their owners know they need to invest more to make more. Clearwater badly needs its kitchen and restaurant refurbished, and the bar and coffee shop at St Pete are not very nice. Now Miami is in desperate need of a makeover, but I think most of the work is superficial. We can have it looking good for $200,000 tops, without closing it down for refurbishment. Once rid of that useless owner, and with a general manager with a bit of go running the place, we can start turning round those 100 poorer rooms into good rooms, say ten at a time on a rolling programme. We let the restaurant manager and chef do their jobs, and I bet that restaurant will be highly profitable inside two months.”
“Call it the Continental at the Ennios Miami,” continued Jinnie, letting her ideas flow. “Get Trevor in to consult on an upmarket restaurant and menu. We will soon have it as the place to eat on the South Beach. Now that taxi driver said a couple of interesting things, he wondered if we were debt collectors. We need to check that out. Is it a fire-sale situation? Can we really drive the asking price down? I know we would be looking at driving it down anyway because of the refurbishments needed, but can we get it even lower? Then it becomes a bargain. A couple of other things I just thought about: how long has it been on the market? Chat to the manager at Aunty JoJo’s, Monica can give you his number. He was a bright guy, he might have heard things. Get him to have a drink at the hotel bar, you know how barmen like to talk, or take his wife for a meal in the restaurant, talk to the manager, he’ll know what’s going on and if anyone else is interested in buying the place. If we pay for a couple of meals and a few drinks, it could save us a bomb.
“But the really big thing the Riviera has going for it,” said Jinnie, “is the massive car park, parking lot in American English. It’s worth buying for that alone. It is far too big for the hotel and it’s free! People using the beach park there for nothing! That’s crazy. When it’s ours, I expect to see barriers on the entrance. Charge casual parkers. For hotel guests or diners, it’s free. Sort out a system, it can’t be hard, don’t we do it at Bournemouth? But I want to see plans to build a luxury wing taking up a chunk of that car park within a short while of the hotel being ours. OK, I wouldn’t want to start work until the whole Ennios Miami has been brought up to Ennios standard.”
Jinnie was on a roll now. “I envisage beautifully furnished suites, whirlpool baths, complimentary champagne in the fridge on arrival, chocolates, flowers, canapés, robes, slippers, upmarket smellies in the huge bathrooms, probably butler and maid service 24 hours a day, five-star room service menu. The sort of high-paying guest I want to attract will need secure limo parking in an underground car park and accommodation for their driver and PA in the main building. Let’s say 25 suites to start with, an exclusive restaurant, bar and gym for the wing, even its own luxurious reception.” “That’s going to cost a bomb,” said Rick. “Yes,” replied Jinnie, “but it will make a fortune.”
***
Jinnie was home by 10:30 and met by Larry and Izzy. At first Larry was a little cold with her until she realised he could smell Syd on her. Scooping him up, she said to him, “Ro, who I have been staying with, had a Maine Coon kitten called Syd and he was lovely, but not as lovely as you, my old friend.” Larry meowed and nudged her with his head, before she stroked him until he was purring loudly. Izzy said, “I’m glad you’re home, it’s the wedding on Saturday and there is so much to do. George has admitted we are honeymooning on a cruise out of Southampton on P&O Arvia. We are going to the Mediterranean and back. He had to tell me so I could pack appropriately.”
“You’ll love that,” replied Jinnie, who actually already knew because George had asked her opinion months ago. “Then my old friend Cathy, from nanny school, is here to deputise for me while I’m away,” continued Izzy. “But of course you knew that because she is going to be with you for your first 21 days in Barbados, until I arrive to take over. She’s in the kitchen baking, I think she’s a better cook than me, anyway Paolo hasn’t complained, and she made tortellini al brodo last night, the twins wolfed it down and he said how much he enjoyed it. I had to admit it was good. And the twins like her, which is important.”
“That’s all good,” said Jinnie, “but how are you?” “Nervous,” replied Izzy, “I didn’t realise there was so much to do, but Miranda has been amazing. Surely she can’t put in as much effort with all her clients.” “Only the special ones,” said Jinnie, “she has dedicated wedding planners for every bride, but she told me she would handle your wedding herself, and Andrew is going to be taking extra photos for their new brochure. Now is there anything that is a problem I can help with?” “No, nothing,” said Izzy, “it’s all going to plan. I have even started your holiday packing using your packing list, but I have left some of the minor things for you to decide, like are you taking bikinis this year? And will you be getting anything special to take and leave at the house?” “There is plenty of time for that,” said Jinnie. “I’m dying for a decent cup of coffee. The only person in Florida who could make it strong enough was Ro.” “That reminded me,” said Izzy, “a man drove up from the Southampton Ennios and left a parcel for you, he said it is a trial of coffee pods, and you would know about it.”
Jinnie took an instant liking to Cathy, she was bright and bubbly. Jinnie opened the parcel and found it brimming with two types of coffee pod. One labelled ‘Ennios Special Roast – for the lover of extra special coffee’ and the other labelled ‘Ennios House Blend’. There was a note saying, ‘We are trying these out in all Ennios outlets, the Special Roast is Jamaica Blue Mountain, and the House Blend is as served in Aunty JoJo’s. Rick would love to know what you think.’ Jinnie popped a ‘Special Roast’ pod in the machine, put her ‘best mummy in the world’ mug in place and pressed the button. In seconds the room filled with the aroma of fresh coffee. Cathy said, “That smells wonderful.” Jinnie splashed a tiny amount of milk in her mug, sipped the coffee and said, “It is perfect, you two must try it.”
***
The day of the wedding broke bright and warm, the twins were awake extra early and bounced on to Paolo and Jinnie’s bed at about half past six saying, “Come on, get up, Cathy’s doing mushroom omelettes, it’s Izzy’s special request,” before racing off downstairs. Jinnie arrived in the kitchen to find Izzy in her summer dressing gown eating a bowl of grapefruit segments and Cathy at the hob making an omelette. Jinnie popped a pod in the coffee machine and watched the twins attacking bowls of Rice Krispies while the coffee brewed.
Willie finished his cereal just as the coffee was ready and carefully carried Jinnie’s mug over to her, where she added her splash of milk from the jug on the table. Jinnie asked Izzy, “How are you?” “Excited,” said Izzy, “and longing to see George.” He was next door at Sir Nigel’s, who was also putting up Izzy’s sister and her niece. Freddy was driving George to the church in Sir Nigel’s brand-new pale grey Rolls Royce Phantom before returning for the bride and Sir Nigel, while the bridesmaids, maid of honour, page boy, best man and grooms all travelled in two hire cars.
By half past eight the house was bedlam. Melissa and her friend Hayley had arrived and had started on the hair and makeup. Miranda was busy organising things and ticking off items on the iPad, the marquee was being decorated with fresh flowers and Jinnie thought it looked wonderful. Alberto was organising his crew for the afternoon and evening buffet. The reproduction Mr Whippy ice cream van had arrived and excited the twins with the thought of free ice cream all afternoon. The dance floor was down in the tent and the DJ was setting up and testing. Jinnie spotted Larry watching all the activity from the safety of the twins’ Wendy house and remembered how he disliked having workmen in ‘his’ garden.
Millie had her black hair washed by Melissa and put up to match the other bridesmaid and her mother. She was absolutely delighted as it was her first professional hairdo, and Melissa had talked to her and showed her up-to-date pictures of her daughter and son, who she remembered spoke Italian. Millie tried talking to Melissa in Italian and was impressed to find she replied in quite passable Italian, not perfect, but pretty good. Jinnie was the last of the bride’s supporters to have her hair and makeup done, and as always marvelled at the results.
Izzy was last on the makeup production line and had both Melissa and Hayley working on her. Jinnie and Millie sat watching, mesmerised at the fantastic job being done. Melissa finally stood behind Izzy with a large mirror and, moving it so that Izzy could see how they had done her hair, said, “Are you happy?” Izzy said, “It is wonderful, and my makeup is perfect.” Millie said, “I think you look beautiful.”
***
Jinnie and the bridesmaid stood outside the church, in the warm sunshine, waiting for Freddie to arrive with Izzy and Sir Nigel, when Melissa slid up to her and said, “You have a tiny smudge on your cheek, it will only take a moment to put right.” As she got to work Melissa said, “I adore running WDB, but this is my first love. I don’t get much chance to indulge in doing makeup these days, but on a beautiful sunny and warm day like today what could be better.” Jinnie smiled and said, “Yes, it is rather lovely to be here in the sun, outside a beautiful church, waiting for the bride.” “Here comes Uncle Nigel’s car,” said Willie.
Sir Nigel stepped out of the car and helped Izzy out amid a dozen people taking photos. Miranda and Melissa were immediately on hand, Miranda sorting out the dress and Melissa checking Izzy’s makeup. Jinnie heard Bill Furr whisper in her ear, “Gosh don’t you all look wonderful. This is going to make tomorrow’s front pages of all the nationals.” “Why should people be interested in my nanny?” asked Jinnie. “Because it’s Sir Nigel Farage and he is giving away the bride who is an absolute stunner, and you and your children look wonderful,” replied Bill. “I’ll be careful what I write about this, but can I say that the fabulous dresses came from WDB.” “Yes please,” said Jinnie, “it’s free advertising. And make sure you say every dress was designed and made especially by our in-house designers and seamstresses.”
Izzy took Sir Nigel’s arm, and he led her into the church followed by the bridesmaids, Willie and Jinnie. As they stepped out of the sun and into the shade of the church Jinnie heard the organist start playing the “Bridal Chorus” by Wagner, which Willie knew as “Here Comes the Bride All Fat and Wide.” It was all he could do to hide his giggles. The procession made its way down the aisle to where George stood waiting. Jinnie took Izzy’s bouquet and slid into the pew next to Paolo and the twins and used his offered handkerchief to dry her tears of joy.
The official photographer had finished his group photo and Jinnie was watching Andrew taking a few last photos when the twins appeared saying, “How much longer is this going to take, we’re hungry.” Jinnie said, “Andrew’s very nearly finished, we’ll be off to Uncle Alberto’s in a few minutes and I hear he is doing special chicken nuggets, beans and chips for you. George and Izzy will be off any second, Freddy has the car ready for them and our car is right behind.” “Is Uncle Nigel going with them?” asked Willie. “No, I think he is coming in our car,” said Jinnie.
The Trattoria Trevi was bedecked in summer flowers and Jinnie detected Miranda’s work. Alberto was waiting to greet everyone, and they were all in their places when a voice said, “If you can, will you all please stand to greet the bride and groom.” A beaming Izzy and George made their way to the top table and took their seats. Jinnie never stopped loving watching Alberto’s staff click into action. The wine waiters were offering a choice of red or white, which Jinnie was delighted to see came from TT SuperBurger Vineyard. The starters arrived and the twins were served tomato soup which they pronounced as ‘lush’, while the adults had seafood cocktails.
The adults had a choice of chicken Wellington or salmon, while the children were offered chicken nuggets or spaghetti bolognaise. That was a tough choice for the twins, who eventually chose the chicken as they often had spaghetti and decided on a change. Of course, the twins had banana splits for dessert, while the adults had dark chocolate and almond tart with caramel ice cream.
The waiters came round with champagne for the toasts and Sir Nigel, the stand-in father of the bride, made an excellent speech, which was also extremely amusing, without referring to any notes. As the lunch broke up and people headed to their cars to head for Hadley for the party in the marquee, Willie and Millie wanted to know why it said ‘Wedding Breakfast’ on the menu and it hadn’t been breakfast, it had been dinner.
***
The afternoon and evening party in the garden had been a huge success but had started to thin out after 8pm when the bride and groom left for Southampton in Izzy’s car. Jinnie had organised a suite for them at the Ennios, where they found champagne, chocolates and fresh flowers in the room. Unknown to them, Jinnie had used a contact at P&O to upgrade the newlyweds from the booked balcony cabin to a butler-serviced suite when they boarded the following lunchtime. Once George and Jinnie had driven away, Cathy took the twins off for a shower and bed. Jinnie, Paolo and Sir Nigel said goodbye to the guests as they slipped away, and when the DJ pulled the plug on his decks there were very few guests left, most of whom appeared to be George’s police and rugby colleagues.
Paolo, Jinnie, Cathy and Sir Nigel had finally settled in the kitchen with mugs of coffee and for the first time today Jinnie relaxed and was hit by a wave of tiredness. Cathy said, “The twins were asleep the moment their heads hit the pillow, they didn’t even ask for their book tonight!” “Well, it was late for them,” said Jinnie, “they were up very early and had a very hectic day. I’ll look in on them both when I go to bed, but if I know my babies they won’t stir all night and will bounce downstairs in the morning, ready for breakfast.”
Sir Nigel chuckled and said, “Those two could eat for England. Every time I saw them they either had a sandwich, a sausage roll, a chicken thigh or an ice cream in their hand.” “I wonder how much chicken they fed to Larry,” said Jinnie, “he didn’t want his Felix tonight.” As she said it, Larry jumped into her lap and settled down on her. Jinnie stroked him gently and said to him, “Hello my friend, I hope you weren’t too put out by all those people in your garden this evening. Were you in the Wendy house or under the buffet? Did you get plenty to eat?” Larry meowed, and Jinnie saw a picture in her mind of the Wendy house and a plate of chicken, which made her laugh.
Sir Nigel said, “I must say that wine at lunch was good, I think we have done the right thing buying that winery, both the red and white were excellent.” Jinnie said, “Alberto told me that he has introduced our own wine as the in-house wine at all the Trattoria Trevi restaurants. That was one of their slightly more expensive lines, but I agree, it was excellent. Alberto said his sommelier has raved about the quality of some of the output and Ennios are also adding it to their wine list.”
“The only problem,” continued Jinnie, “is that they aren’t geared up for the amounts we could sell, and it is going to take a while for them to expand production. There are several small vineyards surrounding them that they could buy. But Alberto thinks we may have to hire some management, the vintner clearly knows what he is doing, and the viticulturist seems to be able. Alberto says there seems to be a little problem with the general manager, he has no experience growing a business. At the moment Alberto is undecided as to whether to bring someone in or to see if the current manager is just inexperienced and can grow into the job.”
“I favour the second option,” replied Sir Nigel. “On our visit I remember thinking he was very young, but in talking to him it was apparent that he had ideas. The then owners wanted things done their way and they wouldn’t release any funds for anything that wasn’t to their way of thinking.” “I’m inclined to agree,” said Jinnie. “Why don’t we have him fly over for the next board meeting and present his plans for the future? I think we might find it aligns with ours.” “Let’s do it,” said Sir Nigel, “I’ll talk to Alberto on Monday.” “The next board meeting is Thursday,” said Jinnie, “if we don’t tell him immediately Charles is not going to have much chance to prepare anything. I’m going to phone him in the morning and give him a heads-up.”
Charles Dubois answered his mobile to an international call expecting it to be a scammer, only to find himself talking to Jinnie with her perfect Parisian accent. Jinnie explained that TT SuperBurger was delighted with their purchase of the winery and its associated vineyard and were interested in expanding production while maintaining the standards. Was he available to fly to London on Thursday and do a presentation to the board on how it could be achieved? Charles said he would be delighted to, he had a lot of ideas he would like to present. He added that he had prepared a costed paper to present to the old owners, but they had rejected it because they didn’t want to spend any money.
Jinnie smiled to herself and explained that TT SuperBurger was not averse to investing in their businesses if it was likely to be profitable. They were currently investing millions of dollars in two of their divisions in Florida, adding that there was nothing she would like more than to grow the fledgling wine business into another standalone division.
***
Jinnie collected Charles from Heathrow and on the way around the M25 he explained that he had updated his presentation, and it was on his laptop, and he had a copy on a memory stick that he would leave so that it could be printed out for the board members. He had only brought two printed copies with him. He said, “I’m worried that my plan requires too much money, I calculate it might need £3 or £4 million over 3 years.” “That’s not really a problem,” said Jinnie, “the company can make a commitment like that fairly easily if there is a return on investment in say 4 or 5 years.” A big grin spread across Charles’s face before he said, “My plan shows a profit at the end of year three.”
Nigel had linked up Charles’s laptop to the boardroom’s AV equipment and Janet had printed off enough copies of the presentation for the board members who were present. When it got round to the presentation Alberto introduced Charles and explained that Charles was a native French speaker who spoke some English and was today going to present in English, but Jinnie, who was fluent in French, would translate if there were any problems.
Charles said a confident good morning and explained that this paper had originally been presented to the previous owners and rejected because they were reluctant to invest the sort of money he was suggesting. Charles continued, saying that obviously to produce more wine required more grapes and the volume of grapes produced each year was very much dependent on the weather and the number of hectares being cultivated. Of course, it was impossible to control the weather, and they were already cultivating every square metre they could.
Therefore, they needed to acquire more land or more grapes. Most of the local land suitable for viticulture had already been acquired by other vineyards and the previous owners had baulked at buying additional hectares, although very few were available. Instead, they had bought in grapes and used them as stock for their wines. Charles said his winemaker and viticulturist were not happy with this as they had no control over the quality of the grapes and hence the quality of their wine. Much of the wine produced this way was not up to AC standard and had to be sold as cheap table wine.
Charles continued, saying that by buying as many vineyards as they could, they could guarantee the quality of the wine and sell it as AC for a far better price. Charles’s calculations showed the scheme would be profitable from the second harvest after buying a vineyard. Alberto said, “I like that, the board will now discuss your proposition. If you’d like to wait in the ante room we’ll let you know what we decide.”
Charles looked dismayed and whispered to Jinnie, who said, “Alberto I’m afraid you have been a little hasty. The presentation is only half over.” “I’m sorry,” said Alberto, “perhaps you would like to continue M. Dubois.” Charles said that he had mentioned earlier that in the Bordeaux region there was little spare suitable land left for growing additional vines. But, he said, there is plenty of suitable chalk land with a suitable climate in other places. “Where do you propose to start a vineyard?” asked Sir Nigel. “On your South Downs,” replied Charles, much to everyone’s surprise.
When the hubbub died down Charles asked, “Have you tried English wine recently? It is excellent, in fact in blind tastings it often beats French wines. But let’s look at the economics. There are some 40,000 hectares of suitable chalk land in the South Downs National Park and about 500 hectares are in use to produce wine. The national park would like to increase that to over 1,000 hectares and reckon that could bring in around £150 million a year. Of course, the land is cheap to buy because it’s not really suitable for anything else. If we were to buy 50 hectares we should have a huge winery.”
“In France,” he continued, “I get between 10,000 and 14,000 bottles per hectare depending on the weather. But if we say after 3 years the vines yield only 10,000 bottles per hectare that is half a million bottles. But some vineyards can produce 15, even 17,000 bottles per hectare. I am deliberately doing my calculations on my lowest numbers. Of course, not all of it would be the very best quality, but English wine sells at a premium. An English Pinot Noir retails at £20 a bottle, a good English sparkling white, I can’t call it Champagne, but it is made the same way, can sell at nearly £40 a bottle. We are looking at a massive business opportunity. If we only produced Pinot Noir in the third year we are looking at £10 million in sales, but I know that £20 bottle is my retail price, my in-house price would be half that and I would still be making say £2 per bottle. But in the restaurant it will sell for £30 a bottle, a huge profit to the company.”
“Now the bad part,” Charles added, “we have to buy the land, decide on what grape varieties to grow, plant the vines at our chosen density, nurture them for three years before you get a full harvest, build a winery, that is buildings, plant, hire people, buy things like barrels, bottles, corks or stoppers, even labels. This could mean spending say £5 million in those first 3 years before you get a substantial return on your investment. If you are lucky you may get a little money back after the first harvest, but it will not be very good wine or very much money. After the second harvest we will know if we are on the right track, but it is not until those vines produce their third harvest that we will know for sure if we are going to be rich or poor. I have copies of my presentation for you all with more detail and lots of spreadsheets for both projects. I would like to get the go-ahead for both, but I will understand if you only pick one. Now, have you any questions?”
Jinnie said, “Thank you Charles, that was most impressive. As CEO one of my jobs is to look out for opportunities and one has hit me very hard while the presentation was going on. I doubt you are aware that we own an events business that is growing fast. For the past four years we have put on Christmas parties at a vineyard in Surrey. We use their big events space to put on a meal, entertainment, dancing and lots of drinking every night from the 1st of December to Christmas Eve. Would you consider building an events venue at your winery?”
“Of course,” replied Charles, “I would have to cost it, and it couldn’t lie empty for eleven months a year, that would be bad business.” “What if I were to tell you,” continued Jinnie, “that the events business handle two or three weddings a week, this could be a perfect wedding venue both for the wedding ceremony and the reception. They also arrange all sorts of big parties for things like retirements, twenty-firsts, school leaving events, even funerals. It would mean the venue might need a bit of specialist design to reconfigure its size so it could cater for say 600 people at a Christmas party down to 50 people at a wake, and kitchens, you would need a kitchen. We have another company in the group that could do that, and we have plenty of experience doing the catering!”
“Now you have made this proposal very intriguing,” said Brian, “I really need to sit down with Charles, Miranda, and Belinda and look at the costings. We may be adding somewhat to the initial cost but we would be getting an almost immediate return on our investment.”
“What’s more,” interjected Sir Nigel, “I would suggest a couple of other additions which might be able to make use of the facilities and bring in some money. A winery tour, to include a guided stroll through the production area with an explanation of how the various wines are made, white, red, rosé, sparkling, ride on a trailer hauled by a tractor through the vines, a café, a bar and a shop selling our own wines and souvenirs.”
“I am amazed at what we are suggesting,” said Alberto. “This is a wholly different business to what I anticipated, which was buying additional vineyards in France, but this is combining the abilities of several of our companies to branch out in a new direction.”
Looking at Jinnie, Alberto said, “I assume you would suggest the fast-food division running the café and the kitchen as they have the experience with both the sandwich shop and the Sybaritic outlets.” Jinnie indicated yes and Alberto said, “In that case I propose we set up a working party to fully cost and detail the revised proposal and report back to next month’s board meeting. I know Jinnie is off to Barbados next week, so I propose the working party consists of Charles, Brian, Belinda, Miranda and Sir Nigel.” “Despite being in Barbados for the month,” said Jinnie, “I will still be in touch. I have a fully equipped office in my house, and I will be available on the corporate messaging system.” “OK, let’s add Jinnie to the working group,” said Alberto, “now a show of hands to approve the working group who will look at the revised proposal. Thank you, that appears to be unanimous.”
In Chapter 26 – Barbados again
© WorthingGooner 2025
