Chapter 2

The next week was busy for Nick. He put his flat on the market and his belongings into store. On Wednesday he drove up to Liverpool and booked into a small hotel some ten miles outside. The rest of the week was spent house hunting. On Saturday he found somewhere: a small house in a country village about thirty minutes from the office. It would not be available for another three weeks and would then require a week's work to be fit for him. He reckoned the company would cover four weeks in a hotel. If it would not he would not be unduly concerned. It was not as though he had anyone else but himself to spend money on.

The week also gave him time to consider his approach to the new job. It was clear that he was going to have to be the proverbial new broom. He decided that stick and carrot in that order was the best approach. He would need to call in all the branch heads on Monday and tell them a few home truths. Their reactions would be telling. He would then need to do some homework on the last three years and see if he could spot where the weaknesses lay. After that he would need to discuss the way ahead with each head of branch individually. That is when the fun would start. Also, in the first and second week, he would need to meet and establish contacts with the council, the airport authorities, the harbour authority, the chamber of commerce, other big businesses and anyone else who might need the company's services. He would also need to go round and meet all the staff. It was going to be quite a first two weeks. He was relieved that he was not going to have to go through a protracted takeover from an unhappy and apparently ineffective predecessor.

He arrived at eight o'clock on Monday morning. The receptionist was barely polite but did show some spark when he said who he was. His secretary appeared swiftly and introduced herself.

"How do you do, Mr Braithwaite? I'm Margaret Evans but everyone calls me Meg." She offered her hand.

Nick shook it and smiled. "How do you do, Meg?" he said.

She was a small, wide woman in her fifties with curly hair that made her look like a poodle. Her eyes were bright and intelligent. There were laughter lines at the corner and the smile she gave him was welcoming. She wore a wedding ring. Nick was favourably impressed. As a woman, she would never be a danger to him.

She led him upstairs, passed one door and opened the second. She stood aside to let him in.

"Strewth!" exclaimed Nick. "Is there an en suite bathroom?"

Meg laughed. "No," she said, "but they didn't stint themselves when they built the Liverpool office."

"No, they certainly didn't."

In comparison to Pete's office it was huge. There was a desk in one corner. Down the centre was a conference table that would seat twelve and then in one corner were six leather armchairs round a large coffee table.

"My office is through there." Meg pointed to the door at the far end opposite the desk.

"Can I see?"

"Of course, sir."

She opened the door and Nick looked in. It was the same width as his own office but only some twelve feet across. There were filing cabinets on either side of the door into the passage and Meg's desk was set back against the window. There were a printer and a scanner to the left of it as one sat at the desk.

"That all looks pretty efficient," said Nick.

"Yes. It all works well. We don't lock the door into your office but everyone knows that they come through here if they want to see you." She grinned. "Unless someone's particularly angry."

"How often does that happen?"

"Not in the last ten years."

Nick smiled. There might be some anger later in the week.

"Now, sir, the most important question: are you a tea or a coffee man?"

"Coffee in the morning and tea in the afternoon."

Meg nodded. "Let me show you your office properly," she said.

There was not a lot to show other than the internal telephone system.

"You can dial out with a 9 prefix," she said, "but it'll probably be easier to ask me to get whoever. Your computer works to my printer and I've got the only scanner."

"Thank you, Meg. Why don't you fix us both a cup of coffee and then we'll have a chat so that I can get to know you better?"

Meg smiled delightedly and went to do that. In the meanwhile Nick unloaded his briefcase and put things tidily away. He wondered idly how long that tidiness would last.

Meg brought the coffee in with a plate of biscuits as well. They sat down in the corner.

"What's the weekly contribution?" he asked.

"Nothing. The company pays for a conference so I've usually got some spare to see us and the branch heads, when they visit, through."

"I'm going to have to have a lot of conferences." Nick smiled and then looked serious.

"How long have you been here, Meg?"

"Fifteen years, ten in this job."

"So how many managers have you seen?"

"You'll be the fourth."

Nick did a quick recall on what he had read up. "Two good and one less than good?"

Meg looked down and said nothing.

Nick was delighted. Meg was clearly the soul of discretion.

"So tell me about yourself. You're clearly married. What does you husband do? Children?"

"My husband, David, works for the company too. He's a quarry foreman."

"Slate or granite?"

"Either."

"And children?"

"Two. Eileen married another quarryman and is living in Wales: a boy aged five and a girl aged three. Rhys has done well. He got a degree and is a geologist. He's not married yet and I sometimes wonder whether he ever will: all stones and weird music, bless him."

Nick smiled. Not only was she discretionary she was also balanced and level-headed. He decided to swim into deeper water.

"Margaret married to David Evans. I'm prepared to bet that you're Welsh too."

Meg nodded.

"And your parents called you Megan?"

She nodded.

"May I call you that too? It's much prettier than Meg."

She blushed and nodded. "That's what my husband and friends call me too."

"Well, in that case, I'm honoured. But now, Megan, I'm going to get more intimate. Not in a family sense but in what you know about this place."

She looked at him slightly apprehensively.

"I'm going to have to call a meeting this morning to meet all the heads of branch. I'd like you to organise that, say ten o'clock. I want you to take the minutes."

Megan nodded.

"I'm going to form some instant opinions about our branch heads and I shall want to discuss them with you afterwards."

"I'm not sure that would be right, sir."

"You're my personal assistant, Megan. Right?"

"Yes, sir.

"Not my personal secretary."

Megan looked slightly bewildered. Nick smiled at her.

"So I intend to use you a sounding board, certainly until I get to know everyone properly."

Now Megan looked doubtful. "I'm not sure that would be proper for me," she said.

"Megan, I'm quite sure you have your own thoughts on people here irrespective of whether you like them or not. I'll bet you have a mental tally of the good and not so good."

She nodded.

"Well, I'd like to take advantage of your knowledge and experience but I promise that whatever you do say will be held in the strictest confidence. Does that sound reasonable?"

"As long as you don't put pressure on me."

"I won't, Megan. I promise that too. I might sulk a bit though."

That made her smile.

"So, let's kick off with you organising a meeting of all the heads in here at ten. Then I'd be grateful if you would organise meetings for me next week with all the local big wigs: council, airport, docks, chamber of commerce and major firms. Can you do that?"

"Yes, I'll show you the list before I start ringing round."

"Fine. You'd better include any major concerns in Cumbria and North Wales as well."

Megan left the room and Nick set about planning the meeting in detail. He decided to welcome everybody affably. He would start the meeting by saying that its aim was for them to see his face and he theirs. He would tell them that he intended to visit each of them in turn for an hour or so to discuss current and possible future projects. He would invite them to bid for appointments there and then. It would be interesting to see who had not brought a diary with them. He would then tell them of the task the CEO had set him and, through him, them. He would tell them that he did not intend to fail. Wrong! That was a negative approach. He was going to achieve the CEO's aim and ensure subsequent continued growth. He would hope that they would all strive to ensure the aim was met. It would be up to them whether the journey was rough or smooth and he would be looking to them all to pull their weight. Nothing and nobody was going to prevent him achieving his aim.