Chapter 8

Nick was tired but happy when he got back to his hotel. It had been a busy and quite dramatic week. All the same he had already achieved quite a bit and there was more in the pipeline. He decided to get away for the weekend, get some fresh air into his lungs and allow his brain to clear. The weather forecast was reasonable so he decided to explore the Lake District, somewhere he had never been before. He played around on his laptop and decided Ambleside looked a good place to spend Saturday night. He managed to find a Bed and Breakfast there and set off very early in the morning beating all the traffic. He was at Ambleside by nine. He bought a map and a newspaper, found a café for breakfast and studied the map. He decided to take exercise the first day and then drive round and get a further idea of the area the following day. He bought some sandwiches and a couple of apples from the café.

He chose to walk up Bow Fell. At 1,460 feet he reckoned on getting a decent view and the map showed a path that did not look perpendicular. He enjoyed it. The climb was steep enough to make him breathe deeply and he thought resignedly that he would be stiff the following morning. The view was indeed rewarding: Scafell Pike to the west, the Langdale Pikes to the east, Great Gable to the north-west and the Old Man of Coniston to the south. He ate his sandwiches at the summit and gloried in the surrounding beauty.

He was back at Ambleside by four and booked into his room. His landlady suggested a restaurant on the Rydal road for dinner. In the meantime he decided to take a look at Lake Windermere. He drove down to Bowness where he had a cup of tea and some delicious chocolate cake. He had been a little disappointed that apart from the stretch immediately south of Ambleside he was unable to see much of the lake. On the way back he stopped and walked to the waters edge. It was again beautiful.

Having had a bath he walked to the restaurant. He had a drink at the bar, ordered his dinner and then found a quiet corner to read his newspaper. The meal was excellent. He was drinking his coffee and not very successfully doing the crossword when he was diverted by a peal of laughter from another table. He looked up and froze. The girl looked like Veronica. It was not but the likeness was there. He could not take his eyes off her. That was a foolish thing to do. His happy mood nose dived. "If only ... I wonder whether she's happy ... I wonder whether she'd have been happy with me now ... How I wish ... No I don't ... I mustn't..."

He signalled the waiter, settled his bill and left. He walked morosely back to his room. He undressed and climbed listlessly into bed. He lay there struggling to get the girl out of his mind and trying to persuade himself once more that no woman was worthy of his love ever again. Eventually he fell asleep.

He did not feel refreshed when he woke in the morning but his landlady was a cheerful bustling soul and when he left, after a huge and delicious breakfast, he was feeling much more himself. As he had feared he was stiff after the previous day's walk. He drove from Ambleside over the Kirkstone Pass to Ullswater where the road ran right beside the lake. He then headed west towards Keswick passing under a looming Blencathra. At Keswick he headed south then west over the Honister Pass along Buttermere and up towards Cockermouth. He did not go as far as that taking the hill road west past Loweswater to the main road where he headed south. He stopped at Calder Bridge for a pub lunch and then wandered up the side of the river for a glimpse of the ruins of Calder Abbey. He was back at his hotel just after five where he had tea and hot scones.

He found his mind returning to the laughing girl of the evening before but dismissed her sharply. Instead he made himself think about the coming week and in particular the Managers' Meeting and his talk to everyone about redundancy. Resolutely he went to his room and started to make notes.

He was in the office by eight as usual and immediately immersed himself in the Managers' Meeting again. Despite a cheerful 'good morning' Megan thought he was withdrawn but put it down to preoccupation with his first real meeting with his managers.

The meeting was interesting if only for the reaction of George. Nick kicked off with what he had done in the previous week.

"It's been quite a first week," he began. "I've spent some valuable time with all of you and have met your staff. I hope to get to know them better as time goes on. Two big things came out of it though. The first is that Northcliffe was a disaster with far reaching consequences. The leading civil engineering firm in the north-west made a cock-up of alarming proportions and lost its good name. As a result we have had insufficient work and have fallen even further behind our competitors. That is going to change. I have already begun to bring the City Council, the port and the canal back on board. It is utterly imperative that we win the two contracts for which we are about to tender. Now, Norman feels that we may have to offer a price at no profit to win on the council office but, whether or not we make a profit, that tender is to be to the highest engineering standards but there is to be no extravagance in design or materials. Clear, Jerry?"

"Yes, Nick."

"Now this brings me to my second point: organisation. The main reason Northcliffe was the disaster it was was no central management. You, Jerry, complained about it but were fobbed off. So were you George. The directive I issued last week I stand by but as it stands and with our present organisation Jerry seems to be about to get the lot and, with the best will in the world, he can't be expected to cope with it all. So, we are going to reorganise. The present organisation, based on disciplines, is inflexible and results in uneven loading.

"So, you, Jerry, will become Project Manager Container Port Development. You, Harry, will become Project Manager Liner Port Development. David and George you will become Project Managers Other Projects. Not very exciting as things stand but as we pull in more big projects, which we will, you will be nominated to run them. There will always be a PM Other Projects because we will have a host of small ones. If the burden gets too big I will employ or promote other PMs. Quarries, Gareth, remain unchanged."

He paused and looked round. "What do you think?"

"Does that mean that staff will switch round to fit the project bill?" asked Jerry.

"You bet."

"So I can pinch some of George's electricians?"

"With my agreement, yes, but he'll probably want a quid pro quo."

"It makes sense to me," said David, "and would be an encouragement to me to go and find some big project I could get my teeth into."

"Spot on. Harry?"

"It seems logical to me."

"George?"

"It seems logical to me too but I can't say I like it. I enjoy my specialism. On the other hand, it would add variety, I suppose." He did not look happy.

"Gareth?"

Gareth grinned. "No problem," he replied. "I've still got my private little empire."

Nick smiled back. "You never know," he said.

"And you don't know my wife," riposted Gareth. "I don't know as she'd take to living in a foreign country."

There was laughter from everyone bar George who was staring morosely at the table.

"Well, the next thing I wanted to no more than mention was Arthur's resignation. The police consider that my suspicions of fraud in Contracts were well founded. Their investigations will continue. The fact that Arthur resigned should not be interpreted that he was involved and I'd like you to knock that on the head if you hear that sort of rumour. He resigned on a matter of principle."

Norman's face was inscrutable.

"In his place I'm sure you will all join me in welcoming Eric Fisher to this exclusive club."

There was laughter and applause.

"Now, I said last week that my job was to turn Marshall of Liverpool round. The fact that we've now got a foot in the door with the two port projects and are bringing the council round to viewing us more favourably are steps in the right direction but our position is more dire than I thought it was. Tell us, Norman."

"Quite simply, if we don't get the council office job we'll be in the red."

There was a sharp intake of breath all round the table.

"Shit!" breathed Jerry Markham.

"Yes, Jerry," said Nick quietly. "You've got a hell of a responsibility on your shoulders and the pressure will still be on with the port office block. We can't get involved in skulduggery but you need to work on Bob Ainscough, impress him with the standard of work at Heatherbrow, befriend him, indicate that our tender will be flexible in that we could tailor it to fit his budget as long as we did not have to breach any safety regulations or our own quality standards. Promise him Sally with a bullwhip if necessary."

That provoked further laughter.