Chapter 18

“You are on the money, son. Flying goods around is certainly faster, but it is also more expensive, so more suited to long distance movement of time-dependent lightweight goods from one particular spot to another spot, but then you have to transfer the goods to a truck for the local delivery leg.

If you need your goods delivered to a host of places, or the parcels are much heavier, or both, then trucks are the answer. Mostly we base our operations around an area hub, and use it to organise the deliveries in the most efficient and speedy manner, then our local trucks go out to deliver to a specific city or area; as much as they can get to in a day from the hub. Cuts the cost and speeds the goods. Clever, eh?”

“Yes, sir. We manage our own deliveries in a similar fashion: filling a truck for all the deliveries to an area destination. Our parts company, Copies, delivers all manner of numbers: from a single item to thousands of the same part, and the charges reflect these complications. Multiples, a bulk buy, work out much cheaper per item for the customer. It sounds to me that if you established a hub on our industrial estate, we might work out a delivery deal that was satisfactory to both our businesses.”

“We are always open to possibilities, son, but let’s have a look at your hangar first. We haven’t decided yet on the best option for our local hub, so we are still at the looking aspect.”

He was clearly trying to talk down the site we were offering, but two can play at that game.

“Quite so, sir. That is why we are offering our vacant hangars to a number of companies that have a use for the large spaces we can offer, with high doors for trucks to drive inside to load or unload under cover in all weathers. The companies we have spoken to find that very attractive. Some are the same as you; in the distribution business, but we are in no rush to fill the hangars with occupants. We are already using two to house our voluminous stock of parts at Copies, and another is presently in the process of being occupied by our manufacturing division, the Yeats Group. The Group may need another if they want to keep their offices distinct from the manufacturing side, which can be noisy. As we are an expanding group of companies, we might instead take on more for our own business purposes, such as expanding our deliveries into a standalone company. The directors have not made up their minds about such possible business developments.”

My loud-mouthed aquaintance shifted his stance a little.

“We like to be close to young expanding companies. There is often a close link formed between us and them, so that we can all expand our businesses.”

My mind clicked into gear: he had not researched the Yeats Group before coming here; the idiot. The Group was neither young, nor expanding until very recently. If he was so badly briefed, he was open to persuasion, I decided.

We drew up at the security guard’s post, to be signed in, and the guard smiled at me.

“Mr Hargreaves, welcome sir. Who do you have with you today?”

“Mr Charles Fairfield, George. Another visitor to our fair city, needing a look around before settling in business somewhere.”

“Thank you, sir. Welcome, Mr Fairfield. The folks here are most accommodating, you’ll find.”

I smiled at his words and drove on.

As we travelled across the concrete apron, I gave a running commentary.

“These two hangars standing close together are the warehouses for Copies. The company provides spares in loads of different categories, mainly for older models where spares start to become an issue; a problem to obtain. We have feelers out around the country for such parts. We make our bids for their excess stock, allowing them to convert stock sitting doing nothing, into hard cash for their business. By collecting them together into one place we can offer a comprehensive ‘on the spot’ selection for visiting buyers, be they companies or individuals. There are a large number of hobby rebuilders of antique vehicles, you will appreciate.

Apart from personal inspection of our huge range that we can provide, we are currently completing our online parts database enabling access to our catalog from anywhere. Our prices reflect rarity, much as rarity affects the prices of rare stamps or artwork, but we offer parts either in ‘as new’ condition (sometimes in the original wrappers or box; or unused from the aspect of working products ready to install with no wear at all. The latter comes at a lower price.

We also make certain that we can undercut the specialist suppliers in certain categories. Yesterday we sold the single example we had in stock of a small Cummins diesel boat engine, but we now have a standing order for more of these if we can source them and supply them at the same price.

Copies pride themselves in being the best in the parts supply business. Okay, I admit we don’t cater for large items such as yacht sails or aircraft body shells, but if it can fit in a normal truck, it fits our stock parameters.”

Fairfield asked curiously, “You can fit all of this into a couple of warehouses?”

“Certainly. These hangars are immense inside, and we erect our storage shelving three or four levels high, according to the dimensions of the stock being placed there. It is easy of access with a fork lift machine. You can store a hellovalot of stuff in such a volume, just as the capacity of a truck is not simply the floor area, but the height available, providing a large cubic capacity you can utilise. Your limitation is actually the weight that the axles are rated for. Our hangars have solid concrete floors, so weight, or mass, is not a problem for us.”

Fairfield raised his eyebrows.

“You seem to be well-informed on technicalities, Mr Hargreaves.”

“My extensive education achievements enabled me to become a manager in an engineering group, Mr Fairfield. Every manager in our Group has to be well-informed on his subject. Copies’ Finance Director was able to accurately estimate the price we could successfully bid for this air base. That was a combination of expertise, observation, and brilliant calculation.”

“You bought the entire base outright? No financing?”

“No financing, so no debt to pay off. From that you will appreciate that we are in no hurry to seek clients for the other hangars and associated buildings. Even the cost of moving our whole Group to this base is covered. We have a private financier willing to back us at a very acceptable interest rate; less than the banks were offering.”

“Lucky you. We have shareholders who expect us to keep costs down, so we are looking for premises that do not impose excessive charges for rental.”

As we arrived at a more distant hangar, I answered his unspoken hint about costs.

“We are not looking to make a huge profit from our rentals, Mr Fairfield. We propose to make the monthly rental affordable, but the client will have full responsibility for building repairs and maintenance - small as these are - plus the cost of utilities. As you would expect, utilities are already connected, so it will be the use you make of them- electricity, water, sewage.”

“Hmm ... so what sort of figure are you envisaging per square foot?”

“That is slightly variable, but roughly fifty cents a square foot per month.”

“Oh, and what size are the available hangars?”

“The choice is limited, but for a distribution hub, this nearest one may suit you best. It is roughly 300 feet by 150 feet, so not much more than twenty-two thousand dollars per month to rent the whole thing. If you wanted to share the space with another company, the cost per square foot would rise a bit, but as I say, the actual price can be negotiable if we can work together amiably. A contract for a year will be more expensive than a definite five-year commitment.”

“Hmm.” Fairfield was noncommittal but I got favourable vibes fron his body language. “Can we see inside for a while? I’d like to get the feel of the place, see where the water and power outlets are positioned; that sort of thing.”

“Sure thing. I have the keys with me. If you want the main doors open, I’ll need to switch the power on at the switchboard for them. They have a circuit of their own.”

“If there is a staff door into the place, I’d be happy with using that. We’ll demand functioning hangar doors if we take on a contract.”

“Everything is guaranteed functional, sir,” I assured him.

We entered and I flipped up a light switch to see if the power was on for lights. It was, and the overhead fluorescents flickered on, illuminating the vast expanse of the interior.

I commented, “Naturally, you don’t need the full height that these offer, but if you have truck engines running, it may help out with air quality. I think each hangar has exhaust fans, needed when aircraft engines were running inside for tests, so you can switch that on if the doors are closed during bad weather. I always like to have truck engines switch off the minute the trucks are in position; saves wasting diesel as well as air quality for staff. The wear and tear on the starter motor is minimal.”

“You like to think of everything, don’t you, Mr Hargreaves?”

“It is a matter of good management; nothing more,” I answered. “I also make use of the staff to tell me what they would like to see. They will think in terms of practicalities: warmth and breathable air, where I think in terms of fuel wastage and running costs of engines. If we work together, we get the best for all of us.”

“I leave that to my junior executives who run the hubs,” said Fairfield.

“It helps if you give them general guidance so they all work towards the same end game and can learn from each other,” I advised. “We recently computerised the Group’s operations as a whole, with every part linked to the system; so we asked the divisions and departments what they needed the system to be able to do for them. We worked on the basis of getting the staff on side so we could negotiate with the suppliers and get the best system we could afford to do the tasks that are needed.”

Fairfield murmured, “I once tried to get a system like that in a former company, and we missed out a few vital points in the negotiations. It cost us a packet to rectify later.”

“I get you. We covered that by the contract stipulating that any amendments to the contract specification to make the system work as specified, were at the expense of the supplier. That forces them to tell you if they think you missed out something they know you will need, and get the contract details amended before it is signed and accepted.”

“You are sharp, Mr Hargreaves.”

“In business, you have to be, Mr Fairfield, as I am sure you know.”

“Yes. However, your Group appears to be spending a terrible amount of cash with all these changes. You got to be careful not to slide into a cashflow problem in the end, or you’l go bust.”

“We are well aware of that, Mr Fairfield. Our director of finance has it all worked out, year by year. He has devised plans for renting out more of the base for other uses such as stock car racing and bike racing events.”

He switched my attention back to the hangar and away from extolling the virtues of the site.

“What do we do for diesel fuel supplies here for the trucks?”

“That was a factor we had to consider as well. Being a former air base, most of the fuel tanks were for aviation fuel. There is a small gas and diesel fuel station that our Group is refurbishing now. It was originally only for base road vehicles but needed to be brought up to date. It should be functional within a couple of weeks, if the local officials give us their approval: fire safety regulations for use must be brought up to date, mainly.”

“So we have to fuel our trucks at your gas station? At your monopoly prices?”

“No requirement to do so, but it makes sense for all base users to utilise the one set of pumps. We will set the prices a couple cents below the commercial gas stations, and each base client will have their own electronic card to activate the pump as a self-serve user. The pump will record the card user and amount, date and time, and once a week or month we will settle up.”

“No staffing? What about raiders breaking in and taking fuel?”

“Less of a problem than with commercial gas stations. The pumps won’t operate without a key card from one of our users. Our security contract demands a roving patrol at irregular intervals so it is not predictable by criminals. The patrol will check that all the hangars and the fuel stop are secure, night and day. They already patrol the base perimeter fence and report any breaks in the fence. We get any break fixed immediately.”

“What if someone climbs the fence without breaking it?”

“Ah, that then become the problem of whichever company’s territory the intruder goes to. Mind you, the local cops come on to the base and patrol around in a cruiser at least once a day, so we have that help. If you were to spot a stranger near your property, give us a call and we will chase them off if they are adventurous kids, but if it is something serious, we bring the cops in and charge the intruders with invading the base, which is our land.”

“What – the whole shebang, not just the buildings? Your Group owns the lot?”

“Of course. That was the only way the purchase made sense to us. We have no question about access roads to the buildings; we can travel over any part of the tarmac as it suits us. It does mean that if you want to park a vehicle outside of the hangar you rent, you may have to pay us parking charges. To avoid that, and give you greater security for your vehicles, parking them inside would be the best solution. If you have an excess of vehicles at any time, and they can’t all fit inside, then the parking charges come into force. We have not settled on the amount, but it would not be high; mebbe a dollar an hour per vehicle.”

“You want to be generous but you want to make money from your investment, I guess.”

“That is it in a nutshell, Mr Fairfield. You are in business: would you fail to charge for parking on ground not rented by the client?”

“No, you are right about that. I think you and I are on the same wavelength, Mr Hargreaves. It appears that you have got yourself a renter for your hangar.”

“Thank you, Mr Fairfield. If you provide your contact details, I’ll have our lawyer draft out the rental agreement and send it to you. Entry date can be as suits you, as the building is empty and will be cleaned within a couple of days, so you get a clean building to move into. It is mostly a matter of dust on surfaces, no greasy dirt that we know of. Our security company will be checking your doors nightly once the contract starts, but they do not enter the building. What happens in the interior is your responsibility.”

“If the last person out has the job of locking up, that should not be a problem, Hargreaves. I take it if the security men find a problem, they report to you as the client?”

“That is so, but if it is an insecure door, they can phone your emergency number at once, so you can see to rectifying the matter. Nine times out of ten, it will be a matter of forgetfulness. We get a report every morning of anything unusual found by them.”

“I’ll give them that number. An unlocked door can soon be locked, and the culprit reprimanded; but if it is a break-in, the cops will be called in by us. You’ll remember all this, Hargreaves?”

“I carry a recorder on my person, so I can have our chat checked by the legal department for all the details when I get back to the office. Keeps it simple, you see.”

“Wise decision, my friend. If we are fine on everything, take me back to your boss.”

We were back at the Group’s offices within an hour of leaving it, and I handed him over to Mr Emerson, confident that we had a deal in prospect. After handing over my recorder to the legal department for them to hear what was proposed and include it in the contract, I retreated to my own office and rang reception to tell Marjory that I was back again.

She told me, “The scuttlebutt is that the workers are pleased at getting a representative on the pay committee, and imagine it will lead to better pay or conditions in short order. I think they are overoptimistic about that. The pay committee only meets once a month, so all that can happen is that they can make up a report for their rep to show to the committee; and that report can only show how they want the committee to approach the subject. It is up to the committee to deliberate and decide what is worth the effort of looking into in more detail.”