Chapter 2

The solution they found was to make use of local resources. Their steam engines were consequently built to use wood as the fuel instead of coal. Wood was easy to obtain from all the many forests, and cheap as well, despite the faster rate of burning that wood fuel involved.

So no, the Americans didn’t get into mass production until they fully developed the interchangeability of parts, so you could use any copy of the part, and it would fit in place and work. This started with making guns and permitted a huge increase in gun production for all the wars they got involved in. They then applied the technique to other machines and the mass production concept was set up.

In Europe they were still mostly building machines one at a time, and even by the Second World War, most German tanks and planes were almost entirely hand-built, whereas the American factories were casting parts and welding pieces together, and churning out tanks at ten times the speed of the German factories. Also, they worked out a good design, and stuck to that chosen design for a long time, to allow for large quantities to be built; but in comparison the Germans kept making ‘improvements’ to their designs for tanks and aircraft, usually on instructions from their political leaders. For example one politician wanted all the bombers to have a dive-bombing capability even where it was completely unnecessary and probably counter-productive. All that this interference managed to achieve was to slow down war production for Germany.

You might get a beautifully designed new ‘improved’ tank, but when it broke down or was damaged it had to be sent back to the factory for a complicated and slow repair, and dashed few were being built anyway as workers were more and more being sent to the army, so along with a shortage of trained workers they had a shortage of these wonderful machines. The tank crew had to hang around until a new tank could be found for them and sent out to the front.

If an American tank had a breakdown, the crew would simply switch to a new standard tank coming up from the supply line, and continue fighting. You can see what would be the result. The Russians did the same: designed a good basic tank, easy to learn how to operate, easy to repair, and built thousands of them. Apparently they kept doing that long after the war was won.

Most war histories ignore such basics as logistics, yet the American General Pershing in World War One said that soldiers win battles, but logistics win wars. He was right.” Naomi was fascinated by this tale.

“Is all of history in the books wrong, then?”

“Not quite. The way it is portrayed by historians, it is often skewed in favour of war leaders, but war leaders merely appoint the generals, set out the general strategy, and the military has to carry out the instructions as best they can. A good military moves with the times and adopts new technology, but a poor military ignores past lessons and new ideas are not adopted. The American civil war proved that machine guns were a massively effective weapon against troops on the ground, but half a century later, by the time of the First World War, British generals had ignored that evidence as just ‘colonial wars’ and assumed that their tried and true cavalry charges and massed infantry against native armies would be fine against the Germans. They were disastrously wrong, and eventually had to be replaced by generals willing to learn from their mistakes. The Germans had developed the machine gun weapon and adopted clever tactics to suit.”

“The British generals were a rum lot then?” asked Naomi.

“Not quite. A Scottish artillery general named Henry Horne, advocated and developed an earlier idea to use artillery in a barrage that moved forward at a measured pace, allowing the troops to move in behind the barrage before the Germans could recover. It worked in part but depended on good communications between the troops and the artillery, and that didn’t always happen. You could lose troops to friendly fire, if you get the timing of moves wrong. Horne was the only artillery general ever to command a British field army, by the way, and he still had the old attitude about total numbers being more important than individual soldiers.”

“You seem to know a lot about warfare, Mr McIntyre,” she remarked.

“Just reading a lot, and making connections between various topics. One of my ... ladies ... had a grandfather who lived in Caithness and worshipped at a small church in Wick, Caithness, where the Horne family were active, so he learned there about General Horne. It seems the General was later made a Baron as a thank-you from the government.

You can learn by listening to a wide range of knowledgeable people, Naomi, but you have to be able to recognise the difference between knowledgeable and opinionated! You have to be aware of where the offered information comes from. If a man makes a claim but gives no statement of where these facts can be found, beware his words.”

Naomi pointed out, “Your tea will be getting cold, sir.”

“Oops! I talk too much, it is true, Naomi. You are good listener; thank you.”

“Mummy Sandy was right, though. You are worth learning from.”

I gulped down my cooling tea, not wanting to ask for a fresh one as it was all my fault, and Naomi retired to the nursery and the bairns. She looks like being an asset there, and once she is more tooled up educationally, she will find a good job somewhere.

Thinking about assets, I wondered again about the building contracting company that we finally took over last year when the elderly directors decided to retire. There was potential for more in that line, so I was thinking of speaking with the operations manager about other local competitors that might be susceptible to a take-over bid. I wanted him to tell me of firms that had an operations manager of a similar competence to himself, someone who he could work together with, and a firm whose assets were worth taking on. If we made the two into a group business, they could share some of the major equipment when one was busier than the other, and cut expense costs that way, sharing the resulting savings to each business.

When Sandy got home, I must have a discussion with her about construction companies, and get her take on what we should do.

I finished my tea and moved to a lounge chair to read the current issue of New Scientist; fascinating stuff in it that held my interest. I had my talk with Sandy that evening, after all the children were asleep.

It transpired that Sandy was thinking along much the same lines, and she said she would call Michael Finnegan, the manager of our company, and get his views. I reminded her that he was a part-owner of the company and might be helpful to us through that interest.

Two days later, she reported that he was keen on looking at another company, but his interest was apparent illegal involvement; what someone high in the firm appeared to him to be doing: using the company to launder criminal funds. The cash was seemingly coming from clients in payment for work done, but from his direct knowledge of the business locally he doubted if such work had been done to that extent, and in some cases not at all. It was normal to be aware of the work activities of local competitors. He was not in a position to complain to the police as he did not have specific evidence, just hearsay from suspicious employees concerned about their jobs in the future.

I ventured to suggest that we could make approaches to the company and see what happened. Sandy was doubtful and possibly concerned about the wisdom of showing our hand.

“The criminals behind the scheme may decide to physically attack us to stop our overtures, Bob. We can’t protect our whole family from all possible dangers. It is too risky. Please let me work on it from the financial angle. I can contact the Board of Inland Revenue and make them aware that the workings of that company are extremely suspect, and that criminal dealings may be involved. That means that they will probably send inspectors to that company to examine their books for financial impropriety.”

“As long as you keep yourself out of it, darling,” I warned Sandy.

“Don’t worry, I will keep well out of sight. If Mike’s suspicions are accurate, the Inland Revenue will close down the company and make efforts to recover the funds involved, as tax most certainly would not have been paid on these criminal assets. This may in turn see Inland Revenue putting the company up for sale after confiscation, and that is when we can put in a bid for it.”

“Now that sounds like a plan,” I gave as my opinion, and got a kiss for it. Georgie was later brought into it, in case the company was closed down and the property put up for sale, but she doubted it would happen that way.

“They will raise more money by trying to sell the company as a going concern, with a trained workforce remaining in place.”

“True enough,” said Sandy. “That would make more practical sense than closing it down. I think I should send my card to the local office of the Inland Revenue, saying that I am available should they need business advice at any time.”

“You think the Inland Revenue need business advice?” said Carol, entering the room with her child cuddled on her hip.

“These are civil servants, Carol,” answered Sandy. “They exist in a different world to those of us who are in business. They haven’t a clue about relative costs and values in this sphere. Prices of companies vary according to a variety of factors, just like they do in hairdressing. People, mostly women, pay more for a better result in hairdressing, but most men go to the cheapest barber for a haircut as they just want the basic ‘short back and sides’. Women are more discerning.

The same applies between the Inland Revenue and business operations: being mostly male officials, they don’t know what is good value, and if a business has been confiscated for criminal activities, its value as a going concern will plummet. Inland Revenue needs guidance on what to expect from such a disposal and get a grip on how long they can afford to wait for income from a sale.

If they intend to sell it as a going concern and are prepared to wait, they need to have a new managerial team appointed to run it. If they want a quick sale to bring in the best price without the hassle, time wasted and cost of employing temporary managers, a bid from Bob here – guided by me – might be the right choice for everyone.”

“Ah,” said Carol, seeing where this was going. “You have this all planned in your head, right from the start.”

Sandy shrugged. “That is what good business requires, Carol: thinking ahead. It may not happen as I envisaged, but we can be prepared for it, by for instance setting up the finances ready for buying that company as and when it goes on the market.”

I moved to another subject.

“Had you heard from your father, girls, that Fergus is setting up his own outfit, with his wife as partner?”

Georgie looked surprised, while Sandy nodded.

“I was told in confidence by Daddy, as he wanted to be sure that Fergus and his wife would have a sound financial basis for their business. He was willing to give them a loan, to cover premises and other initial costs, but wondered if we might want to help Fergus instead, if he does not want to be in hock to his former boss. I didn’t know you were in the loop, darling.”

“Fergus spoke to me about his plans,” I revealed. “He wondered if he would be out of line in asking us to give him some business in setting up commercial contracts and such. I told him we would not feel constrained to always use your father for such legal business, so he could put in a bid for work should the occasion arise. That made him go away and think for a while!”

The other girls did not intrude, as they were aware of our more than adequate finances as a family. Even Phyllis was partly aware, though we had not told her the full story or the amounts involved. We didn’t want her to think that joining our family was a route to an easy life – la dolce vita, or the sweet life, as the Italians would have it. Becoming a wife was more an emotional bond, and she was showing signs of getting there. Having a child of mine and another on the way was perhaps a touch of social pressure as well, but we didn’t have that intention, though she imagined it to be that way at the beginning. On paper I was a millionaire at a minimum, probably a lot more, but that was what it truly was; a paper valuation. We had a stack of gold bullion in our technical room, but to us it was only there for special cash needs. It seemed that gold was continuing to increase in cash value, year by year; accelerating every time there was a degree of caution in the international money markets. It does us no harm, just sitting there unobtrusively.

Our income from the investments made by my time-travelling predecessor is enough to cover all our annual outgoings, even after tax, and Sandy has set up a tax-lowering arrangement of our business interests. Buying new companies or shops, or whatever, can usually be set against tax liability, it appears, though I leave such calculations to my wife Sandy to deal with, and there is some means whereby profits can be understated by paying tax-free bonuses to the owners. Don’t ask me to explain it; tax regimes always tend to favour the well-off, Sandy tells me. Something to do with allowances that can be set against tax liability if you have the right tax adviser.

The other wives are happy to go out to work, socialise, and earn some money at the same time, knowing that what they earn is theirs to spend, with all the basic household costs being covered by me. They knew that they could come to me or Sandy if they had a cash emergency such as a relative needing assistance, but usually they were happy with things as they were. Their children never wanted for anything, and that was what was important to them. They could afford to buy good clothes for themselves and whatever they saw as essential purchases.

Phyllis has set up her own small business, buying and selling antiques that strike her fancy, and she seems to have a talent for that. She has rented a corner of the warehouse where she is employed, and uses that as her store, bringing favoured clients to view items in person.

A few of her antiques are now displayed, with price tag, in Georgie’s chain of estate agencies, with a placard saying how to contact the owner of the antiques for the actual sale. There is a provisional plan to display one item at a time in many other estate agencies, with the agency getting a cut from every sale, but that is still to be negotiated by Sandy. Most agencies have a lot of free floor space, so having an attractive and often expensive antique on display adds to the up-market ambiance. An attractive member of staff helps too, but that requirement can’t always be met. Attractive girls have a habit of getting hitched, and be off the marriage market. Not all married clients want the competition there anyway. Georgie sometimes takes her elder child along with her on inspection visits. It often allays the fears of the staff, for if you bring along your child, you can’t be all that bad ... or so they think. Georgie can be tough when she has to, but prefers pointing out errors and getting them corrected.

I still do enough in my capacity of employee for my father-in-law to merit retaining my post, even though it is now part-time. I have picked up enough from him and Fergus to be able to ‘talk the talk’ legally, and if I have to temporarily stand in at the office for one or the other, the potential client usually can’t tell the difference between a solicitor and a solicitor’s clerk, as I like to term my job.

I occasionally am able to go in ahead of the client, and tell Daddy or Fergus what the client wants and what the outcome is likely to be, business-wise. That enables the expert to greet the client appropriately and get off on the right foot with them. I have maintained my stance of gentlemanly legal person, not a professionally qualified one. I don’t need the money, and don’t want to be constrained by legal niceties outside the office. Once out there, I am my own man.

The same considerations apply to my business dealing via Sandy. Sandy provides the business background and ethical stance, while I provide the pushy financing on the borderline. She prevents me from doing anything illegal, but at times she cautiously steps aside and lets me say and do what I want out of her hearing, though she knows exactly what I am going to do, just not officially, so she can deny all knowledge of my actions.

When the Inland Revenue finally intervened with that construction company, Sandy had already made herself known to them as an advisor, but with no reference to me at all. After all, I had nothing to do with how she ran her business advice service, and she had nothing to do with how I acted as a marketing adviser in the house-selling area of work.

So it worked out that their unannounced arrival at the company led to an examination of the business accounts that did not match with what they had told the taxman. The inspectors (they arrived in pairs) shut down the company with immediate effect and told the directors that unless they could prove otherwise, they were going to be in court for tax evasion, malpractice in business, and possibly contravening the regulations on national insurance payments.

This hit them like a ton of bricks, for most of the directors had not an inkling of what was happening in their company. They had blindly let the company be run as the managers saw fit, as long as the profits for shareholders were paid. Money was all that they were interested in, despite their nominal responsibility as a board of directors for running the company. That very fact of negligence was what made the scam possible. Their innocence in the crime was clear to the Revenue, but the company was being mismanaged under their watch, so it was closed down at once, to the shock of the working employees.

This was where Sandy came in. The Revenue called her to help sort the company out to the advantage of the Inland Revenue, and she advised that keeping the company running was the best way to recoup some of the cash invested in it. The Revenue had assumed temporary ownership, and were keen to solve the problem quickly, so they took her advice and asked her to find a buyer willing to keep the business running, and pay for the privilege.

She told them up front that the speediest solution was to sell the company to her husband, as he was a wealthy man who had interests in other business, including another local construction firm. She told them what she thought it should sell for and suggested that they ask two other business advisers for comparative valuations, so they could see that she was not undercutting the price for the sale. The boss man of the local Revenue department phoned up a businessman who did business valuations and told him the situation and the financial facts.

He was blunt.

“A business closed down for fraud of that sort? No-one is going to want to offer for it, man; not for a long while in case there are later repercussions, and it would cost you to install temporary management to keep the contracts in operation, and not be sued for non-completion. The figure being suggested is more than fair, so you should jump at it at once. That is my professional opinion, old boy.”

Sandy was asked to have her suggested bid presented to the Revenue within 24 hours, with a timescale for full payment and the formal takeover of the business. The Revenue would hold off for that amount of time before starting on dismissing staff as redundant.