Chapter 12

In the meanwhile Nick had moved into his house. He took a Tuesday off to receive his belongings from store. The vendor was a woman in her late sixties and Nick had assured her that he was not expecting the house to be immaculate. It was though and Nick was very grateful to her. She had moved down south to be closer to her children and Nick was unable to do more than write her a heartfelt thank you letter to which, quite unexpectedly, he received a delightful reply. The vendor said how happy she and her husband had been there and that she wished him every happiness there too. She hoped that the nightingale would stay and that the house martins would continue to nest under the eaves. Nick felt compelled to write back promising to keep her informed of the birds.

In the ten days before Helen and Cliff arrived the two supermarkets and the two industrial estates confirmed their interest which meant that Nick's optimism in taking them on had been confirmed. The self-designing supermarket produced a detailed specification down to the trees in the parking area. That meant merely a plan for the work and costings. Two other firms would be tendering. The other called for a complete design merely specifying the building requirements in outline and designating a parking area. It would take six months of hard graft to produce a design, an outline plan and costings. Two other firms were again involved so the competition was going to be intense. It was not just going to be a question of cost and time but of architectural appeal and practicality as well.

As far as the maintenance contracts for the industrial estates were concerned it would be a question of project managers doing a detailed reconnaissance of each and coming up with an offer. There might be some minor design work involved at a later stage.

Nick and Sally got their heads together to put together teams from their depleted resources. Nick was determined not to recruit professional engineers until he was sure that he had won the projects. He had warned Jerry, Harry and David that they would be working at full stretch and he was not prepared to change his mind. He had to be sure though that quality would not drop and that was what Sally was there for.

"Right, Sally, what does Helen need?" he asked.

"A civil and an electrical engineer, an architect, a quantity surveyor and a draughtsman."

"Mechanical?"

"On call."

"OK. We've centralised the drawing office so that's the draughtsman dealt with. You really think that the other four will be enough?"

"Yes for the time being but when the detailed design work starts she'll need to double up except for the architect."

"All right. What about her maintenance job?"

"The supermarket team ought to be able to cope with that. One might give that to the mechanical engineer to head up."

"Good idea! What about the site manager though? I'd have thought that the lead civil engineer should do that. So we'll need to take on another civil engineer at a later date."

Sally nodded. "That makes sense," she said, "but on the other hand a new brain might not be a bad idea."

"So he could be the new civil."

"Yes. The only thing is that we wouldn't know how good he is."

"The interview ought to establish that."

"But not necessarily his drive and standards."

"We ought to get those from his references."

"Hmm," said Sally with a grin. "No one's allowed to write bad references these days."

Nick grinned back. "And what might your previous employers have said about you, fire-eater."

"That I was a go-getter," she replied airily, "but then I never had a previous employer so it's a dead duck."

Nick chuckled and blew her a raspberry. Sally laughed back. She really did like this man. He did not miss a trick but he was fun and amusing.

"So what about Cliff's team?"

"Same as Helen's starter less the architect."

"OK. So now," said Nick, "we've got to consider who we extract from the existing project managers. I'm not going to lay down the law but invite them to make offers."

"Hmm," said Sally again.

"But with their arms twisted behind their backs."

"Ah! You're a hard taskmaster."

"Needs must. Who do you reckon has got some spare?"

"Jerry. His two projects are ongoing and he doesn't need a design team at the moment."

"But he does need people if there's a hiccup."

"Yes, but they could be lent back to him as and when. David's got the cruiser dock and, if the two road jobs come off, he'll be pressed."

"So we might have to pare Harry down too."

Sally nodded. "He could probably take it. He hasn't got a current project and is personally involved in the container dock."

"I agree. The electricals aren't a problem even though we've only got four left. They can spread their work. The only trouble is that people do like to work to one boss, not two or three. I think the answer is one each to the existing project managers and one to Helen with Cliff having a call on the others."

"That makes sense."

"I must have a chat with Melanie. We're going to have to start to build up a workforce again."

Sally nodded excitedly. "This is why I joined Marshall. Trouble was I didn't know how useless Merv the Swerve was and that this area was going downhill at the time. I take back all I said about moribund outfits."

Nick smiled warmly. "Thanks, Sally, but we still have a way to go."

Nick was pleased with that discussion. He had in fact already thought it through but had wanted to involve Sally to give her something to do and test her as well. She had come through with flying colours.

Managers' the following Monday was a grind. Not unexpectedly Jerry and Harry were reluctant to let any of their staff go. Nick gently but firmly reminded them that the redundancy programme had left some spare capacity against possible re-expansion and that he had warned them that until Marshall of Liverpool was once more a thriving concern they would be working at full stretch.

"What happens when we win the container dock project," asked Harry, "and no doubt will be preparing for the next big one?"

"Then," said Nick grandly, "I shall open my goodie bag."

That caused a laugh which loosened the tension but the offers were still grudging. The project managers were asked to warn off those required to transfer. Nick acknowledged that there would be some grumbling. He asked Sally to get together with the Office Manager to allocate and prepare rooms. He offered the movers the sop of brand new computers.

"Do you want them linked within the project branches like the others?" Sally asked.

"Yes," replied Nick, "and," turning to Jerry and Harry, "you'd better warn the guys that are moving to remove the naughty bits from their existing computers before they go."

There was more laughter and still more when Melanie added, "And I shall wish to know the names of those that need to."

"Purely for disciplinary purposes," she added which caused another burst.

"Dominatrix," murmured Norman audibly.

"I'll book you in at two," retorted Melanie.

That restored all the good humour and the rest of the meeting went smoothly. Melanie said that she had found accommodation for Helen and Cliff who would be moving in over the weekend. She had arranged for of them to report to her at nine o'clock on Monday and would bring them down to meet Nick at half past. She would then take them on to their offices to meet their staff. They would both be present at Managers' at eleven.