Hope and Glory

By David Ingram

A HOT AND TOPICAL SUBJECT David Ingram has produced a fast moving novel about a Post European Britain. With a blunt talking Yorkshireman installed as its' new Prime Minister, this is a very clever story of the consequences of life in Britain should it ever make the bold decision to withdraw from its' uncomfortable position in Europe. There are clever sub plots involving a sinister European Minister for Trade who is determined to keep his job at any cost, and a bitter ex employee out to pay back his former boss who made him redundant as a result of the European demise. Laced with an acerbic and witty dialogue, this is a pacy read, with an unexpected conclusion.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Feb 22, 2008
• ISBN: 9781456774158

David Ingram

David Ingram is an Emeritus Professor in the Department of Speech and Hearing Science at Arizona State University. He received his BS from Georgetown University and his Ph.D. in Linguistics from Stanford University. His research interests are in language acquisition in typically developing children and children with language disorders, with a crosslinguistic focus. The language areas of interest are phonological, morphological and syntactic acquisition. He is the author of Phonological disability in children (1976), Procedures for the phonological analysis of children’s language (1981) and First language acquisition (1989). His most recent work has focused on whole word measures of phonological acquisition.  

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Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

About the Author

Prologue

The citizens of England had become tired of the European issue for some years now. It had dominated politics for decades. Edward Heath had taken the country in to what was at that time, the Common Market. There were hopes that England would finally blossom at the heart of Europe, following many failures to convince the French in general, and Charles De Gaulle in particular. Unfortunately, the indecent haste of Euro politics rapidly moved the Common Market, to become the European Community, and then the European Union. There was even now a curious acronym known as EEA, the origins of which were rather dubious. Margaret Thatcher had fought a lone battle for years against all the other nations (I am tiresome? There is only one of me. There are twelve of them, and they are all tiresome). Eventually it brought her reign to an end and the Euro Sceptics in England had lost their Champion.

When the New Labour Government surged to power in 1997, it marked the beginning of a new co operation with Europe. Integration was the name of the game. The Euro became the currency in all but a few countries in 2001. England did not make that change, but it did accept European laws, and more and more decisions were being made by a whole raft of Euro Politicians, none of whom had been put there by the electorate of the United Kingdom.

While all this was going on, there were other factors affecting the nation as a whole. Immigration and Amalgamation continued to be an ever increasing problem. This was exacerbated by the growth of the European Union .The original ‘community’ only had 6 members, but with ever increasing speed, the re named EU had grown to a total of 27 members in the first decade of the 21st century. Most of the recent additions were cash hungry Countries, only too eager to come on board, and enjoy the benefits. Scotland and Wales had been given an unbalanced devolution and separation when it suited them. The difficulties with Ireland continued, although this was now limited to political argument, rather than terrorist activity.

The people of the United Kingdom were getting more and more disillusioned, and frustration coupled with anger was setting in. No major political party rose to the challenge on behalf of the beleaguered ordinary citizens. Politicians continued the theme that they knew what was best for the people, and the people were never consulted. The New Labour Party was Pro Europe, The Conservatives were neither one nor the other, and the Liberal Democrats would give away the entire Nation to Brussels. There was no hope. Fringe parties came and went on a platform of British Nationalism, but apart from denting a few egos, and winning some Euro seats and meaningless council control, it made no difference to the agenda. When it came to the General Election, people returned to the main parties for their votes. As a result, New Labour won another General Election, although its’ previously healthy majority had been slashed to a meagre 4 seats.

Despite the close result, the latest in a long line of failed Conservative leaders decided to resign, on the basis that he should have won, and should therefore fall on his sword. This resulted in 4 candidates throwing themselves into the ring to become the new Leader. 3 of them were the usual well known MP’s who had been in and out of the various Shadow cabinets for years. The same re cycled old words were being put out with the usual spin. There was however, a 4th surprise candidate who had never been in the public eye before, but soon would be. He started out as no more than a ‘stalking horse’ candidate, but grew in stature by the day.

Timothy Eccles was a blunt Yorkshireman, and had just become an MP for the first time at the recent election. He was only 38 at the time, and was the member for Leeds North. He had been elected because of his outspoken views on Europe. This was not party policy, but it is what the people of Leeds wanted to hear, and they gave him a huge majority from what before had been a marginal seat.

Timothy Eccles then put his name forward for leader of the party, and it was a major surprise that he had the backing necessary to do so.

His campaign had taken the other 3 candidates by complete surprise, as he mounted a more and more aggressive approach to the subject of Europe, and he campaigned on the basis that either Great Britain got more support from Europe and less interference, or it would leave Europe altogether. His direct Yorkshire style, and forthright wit, took him to the final vote with just 2 candidates left. Prior to the final vote, he stepped up his vitriol, and won the campaign easily to become the new leader of the Conservative party.

During the next 12 months, Timothy had started to twist the knife at Prime Ministers Question time, and stuck to the one theme. He was criticised for not saying enough about public health, education, transport, and other issues. He was unrepentant in this criticism, saying that he would sort out the European issue properly, and in doing so, it would then be possible to make changes for the good on all the domestic issues that were so important and so run down. He stated this theme time and time again, and was relentless in his pursuit of the Prime Minister on this single subject. It was a mono policy approach, but was very effective in its relentless pressure.

Labour lost 3 by elections during the following year, and, as a result of that, had lost its overall majority. It was now having to modify its policies on everything in order not to lose a parliamentary vote, rather similar to the Wilson Government in the mid 1960’s. Eventually, Timothy Eccles called for a no confidence debate on the Government, accusing it of failing to govern at all for fear of losing a vote. A loud and fractious debate took place, and was followed by a searing tension as everybody waited for the votes from the lobby to be announced. The government were defeated, and had no choice but to dissolve parliament and call another General Election.

Timothy Eccles fought a brutal campaign, and on virtually one subject. He had sensed the view of the people. He knew they had long desired a Champion for their views on Europe, and he was going to tell them what they wanted to hear. His campaign started to become Xenophobic. He stated categorically that if elected, he would have no hesitation in withdrawing Great Britain from Europe, unless Europe changed a raft of policies that he named one by one. Further, he would repeal the Welsh and Scottish assemblies. The United Kingdom was just that as far as he was concerned, and he would have no truck with a divided Kingdom, any more than he would with the Europeans. The opinion polls were reflecting a dramatic upswing, and as the Election grew closer, the Labour Party was becoming rather desperate. They tried the fear factor that leaving Europe would mean 2 million lost jobs, and many businesses going broke within weeks. When that failed to have any impact on the polls, they tried to produce some dirty facts about Timothy Eccles past. He had an answer for all of their fear tactics, and he rode the remarks casually and firmly. When it came to dirty tricks about him, he did not worry at all as he had a clean bill of health, and the opposition campaign just had a negative effect, giving him more points in the opinion polls.

During the last week of the campaign, Timothy started to introduce a new element of his Britain for the British policy. He would be reviewing matters regarding immigration past and present. He did not elaborate too much, especially on what was meant by past and present, but it added to his status, and he was dubbed by the papers as the Champion Brit.

Election Day arrived, and it was apparent that the highest turn out for decades would be achieved. Within 2 hours of the polls closing it was already clear that the Conservatives were likely to win. After 4 hours, it was certain, and the Labour leader conceded defeat.

• • •

Timothy Eccles sat at the desk in 10 Downing Street. He had seen the Queen, and had returned triumphantly to meet the press as the new Prime Minister of Great Britain. The furore and activity had finally subsided, and he sat quietly at the desk, looking around, taking in the atmosphere. I’ve done it he said to himself And I am bloody well going to make this country great again. All he had to do now was practice what he had just preached. The hard part was just about to begin.

• • •

Chapter 1

Clarissa Forbes-Johnson sat in front of the mirror. Her lipstick was smudged from the night before, and she needed to make an immediate refurbishment to her entire being if she was going to make it on time to the office today. It had been a long night, and the celebration had been a curious one.

The Company had been downsized, and the party was to say goodbye to many colleagues. Some loved, some hated, some weird, some kind. The usual mix. Office politics came to the fore as the alcohol broke down inhibitions, and suppressed truths were released. One of the departing Managers had groped her and confessed a previously unknown and undying love for her. The smudged lipstick had been caused by a pathetic lunging attempt at a kiss. Good job he was going and good riddance to him and most of the others she thought as she simultaneously continued to make her facial repairs. Clarissa was PA to the Managing Director, and the business had been built by him on the strength of exports of cordage products. 70% of the business was in Europe, and they enjoyed a strong position in the market because of the European Union rules of engagement on trade. The new Prime Minister had been elected on a strong mandate against the EU, but nobody had really expected him to act so swiftly and remove the United Kingdom as a member forthwith. It had thrown business into confusion. Some Companies had decided to wait and see, others had a strong export base outside of Europe, which meant they were not affected. Carson Cordage had a mixture of business, but Jonathon Carson had built his success on spectacular instant decisions over the years, and he had decided that the withdrawal from the EU meant a downsizing was required at once, and it was necessary to do this before the Company went into a reverse cash position. Many of the factory staff had gone the year before in any case. Their lower quality range had come under pressure from world wide pricing policies. This pressure was not helped by the ever increasing burden of employment laws. These laws, founded in Brussels, but supported by the British government, had rendered employing people as a hazardous exercise, and an expensive one at that. These costs could not support the pricing of their cheaper cordage product range, and so Carson had taken a decision to stop production of all those particular items and reduce the factory staff by 60%.They made the reluctant decision to replace this lost production by outsourcing these products from China, who could still produce them at a fraction of the price, and there were no employment hazards. They had been doing this for more than a year now, and so, following the Government’s decision to withdraw from Europe, it made it a somewhat easier decision for the Company to switch its’ remaining products to the existing factories in China. They did so with spectacular haste within weeks of the General Election. Jonathon Carson was not a man to hang around once a decision had been made. As a result, the factory itself was closed, and the office and Managerial staff had been cut severely. Only the best and multi tasking personnel remained to take the Company forward with a revised plan.

‘The Party’s over" Clarissa mused as she re constituted her face, ready for the new day ahead. Work had been fun these last 7 years, and now a new and more austere phase awaited. She wondered whether her boss would change now. She had a good relationship with him. Plutonic, but flirty at the same time. Her PA role would become mostly symbolic, as she now had to take on extra duties previously carried out by some of the support and marketing staff. It would mean she was not special any more, but at least still in work.

The shrill of her mobile phone pierced her thoughts and made her jump.

‘Hello" she said quietly.

Michael here -. You ran out on me Said the voice belonging to the Groper from the night before.

Did I? She said defensively, cursing herself for not checking the caller display before answering.

Yes, when shall we meet?

I’ll get back to you

Yeh Yeh. I know

‘Really, I will"

‘I only want to apologise. I was not nice last night, and don’t want to leave it that way"

Ok, fair enough, but I will still have to get back to you. I will call you later

Alright. Talk later. Bye

She clicked her phone shut, and went back to the re construction of her face, and wondered what this new phase in her life had in store for her.

• • •

At about the time that Clarissa was handling her telephone call, Jonathon Carson was driving to the office, pondering the strategy for today, and the way forward. He often made rapid decisions, and most of the time he was right. He had not expected the new government to act so immediately and completely, and he felt he had to react instantly to counter its’ effects on his business. It was a new challenge, and he hoped he was still up for such a thing. He had a lot to do today. New structures to be put into place. The immediate implementation of a new business plan, which would be ‘lean and mean’. Customers in Europe were as confused as he was. The immediate cut in the local production had caused some early difficulty, but fortunately, the switch to China the previous year, would mean they would be able to make up any lost capacity fairly quickly. The main challenge with this new reliance on a remote facility was the quality control issue. He really needed to consider travelling out to the Far East, but had only a small budget to do so, and so he would have to depend on the supplier being trusted more than he would have liked.

The loud pop music in the car instantly muted, as his hands free mobile cut into his thoughts.

Yes He said rather brusquely. He was not used to early morning calls in the car, and did not like his private space invaded.

It was his Chinese supplier, telling him that a large consignment was ready for shipment and he needed payment.

I’ll call you back. I am in the car at the moment he said in a frustrated manner.

Will you pay today? The Chinese voice continued relentlessly, as if he had not spoken.

Yes, Yes. Look, I am in the car. I will call you after I get to the office

Are you on the way to the bank?

No, I am in the car

So, you drive to the bank?

No, I … He sighed with complete frustration, and gripped the steering wheel tightly, causing the car to deviate alarmingly.

I……I have to go. I will speak to you later He started to shout, and terminated the call abruptly without any courteous remarks. He knew his temper would have risen even further had he stayed on the line any longer. British people of his generation tended not to want to discuss detailed business matters on mobile phones, and he found these calls a complete intrusion on his private time. It seemed to Jonathon that People from the Far East had no such inhibitions, and made scant allowance for the situation at the other end

One of the problems with importing his production was a negative Cash flow situation. Pay now, get product later…hopefully.

The Chinese were always very direct on the telephone. Partly because of their style, and partly because of the language. There was no point in trying to negotiate terms. They had the product, and he needed it. This meant he now had to contact his Bank Manager as soon as he arrived at the office, and discuss revised facilities. Not the kind of start to an office day that was already one filled with uncertainty. How he hated Banks and Bank Managers. They got younger and less experienced by the year, and these days , he found himself being spoken at by a young upstart who could only say words from a pre prepared speech or tutorial, and who knew nothing about the real world of business at all.

He began to wonder what this new phase had in store for him.

• • •

The European trade commissioner also had a new situation to resolve. He now needed to look at import and export quotas in a new light. His native United Kingdom was no longer a member. He hated what the new Prime Minister had done so swiftly and unilaterally. He had tried to negotiate, but with this new man it was not possible. He now considered that the only strategy left to him was to make life as difficult as possible for British firms in order to get this politician removed, and Britain back in the fold as soon as possible.

As Lester Fanshaw pondered his strategy, he wondered what this new phase in his life had in store for him.

• • •

Sarah and Michael Cummings were happily married with 2 children. Until recently, they had a large disposable income, with both of them working in executive positions. They employed a Nanny to look after the children. Things were about to change drastically however, because both of them had just been made redundant. Michael was Marketing Manager of Carson Cordage, and had been a victim of the recent cull by the Managing Director. Sarah had been working for a French firm, who had retaliated to the British withdrawal by sacking all British staff. They were able to do this with impunity, as the British employees no longer had protection under European employment law. They had both received redundancy packages, but they too had a new phase in their lives to consider, and plenty of time to dwell on it.

• • •

Timothy Eccles had long ago stopped taking calls from the European Commissioner for trade. There was no point, as he no longer had to pander to such people. The man had continued to be a nuisance, and Timothy was not the type to waste time on trivial matters that were now finished with. Consequently, there was a standing instruction to his PA that he was never available to calls from that particular source. This had seemed to work, as the calls had stopped for about a month. However, he now found himself staring at a communiqué issued from Brussels that very day. The European Commission for trade was issuing instructions to all of its member states to cease all trade with England immediately, or face the consequences of penalties. The real shock was that this instruction applied to all retrospective trade, and so all contracts already in force were to be regarded as Null and Void, irrespective of whether payment had already been effected or not. The Prime Minister knew that this would cause an immediate panic in the city, and he knew then that he had a fight on his hands, and that the new phase in his life had begun.

Chapter 2

Clarrie, can you get me Wong Nai Chung on the phone? I need him urgently

OK, Jonathon. I will check out his numbers

What do you mean, don’t you know his number?

It depends where he is in China at any given time. He could be on any one of about 5 numbers

Oh. Well get him quickly please

Despite the please, Clarissa noticed already that this was a different Jonathon Carson than usual. More tense, and less considerate. He actually knew how difficult it was to contact Chinese businessmen. It depended which province they were in during that particular week, and which Mistress they were shacking up with. They usually had a different mobile number for each Woman. Then there were different office numbers, depending on which factory he was at, and which office he was using. She tried all 5 of her suppliers known numbers, and all of them were on Putonghua language voice mail. She could not understand the words, but had heard them often enough to wait for the beep and then leave a message. She also used her mobile to send sms messages to all of the mobile numbers that she knew for David Wong (David was his English name). She never knew if these got through or not, but he usually responded to one type of message or the other, after variable periods of time.

Got him yet?

No, he is not answering any of his numbers. I have left messages

MESSAGES. I could have done that myself. I pay you to get hold of these people

Before she had a chance to respond, he had clicked the line, and Clarissa wondered if it was going to be like this every day from now on, or whether it was just a bad day under new circumstances. Time would tell.

To dissipate the time in anticipating an eventual response to her messages, Clarissa decided to have a look at the other tasks that had been allocated to her from the meeting earlier that morning. They had all discussed the situation regarding business with their current European customers, and the way forward with all the consequences. Jonathon had decided on the approach that they had to assume that this business would be coming to an end, and that anything they did get in the future would be regarded as a bonus. They should now consider themselves as a rest of the world exporter, and concentrate their efforts on those clients outside of Eurpope.They had a decent number already, but needed to expand sales with these existing clients and seek new ones as quickly as possible. Jonathon, and what was left of his Sales team, would concentrate on this aspect, and ensure that a world class service was provided to achieve expansion of that business with them accordingly. Production within the UK had now been stopped. They needed to make sure that the Chinese were a reliable source for their main customer base, and, indeed, that the customer acceptance of this was not tainted with a poor perception of a change in product quality. Clarissa was to work within the European base, and her initial task was to write to all of their existing customers in this region, and ask for their position in the light of the new Political circumstances. Existing orders could be completed from the stock they had in their warehouse from the final production runs at their own factory. There were a number of forward orders to be scheduled, and they needed to know if these would be cancelled or not, as they would now be fulfilled by the Chinese factory, which required more advance notice than an in house facility. There were other details required as well, not the least of which were outstanding payments from several clients, most noticeably those from France, who were slow at the best of times. She had a Hit list of priorities with all of this work, and set about immersing herself in this, which she hoped would make her day go quickly.

• • •

Jonathon Carson knew he had spoken to Clarissa badly. He thought about calling her back to apologise, but decided to leave it until he needed to call her for something else. He did not usually behave like that, but he had experienced a difficult day already. A bad start at home with the wife, and then the meeting this morning, which was a very negative one, and all about putting out fires, it had seemed to him. He was still unsure of himself when dealing with the Chinese. His own factory he could control very well, and after all it was just downstairs, or at least it used to be. The Chinese factory was 6,000 miles away, a different language and a different culture. David Wong spoke pretty good English, but Jonathon was never quite sure if everything he said to him was fully understood. There had been problems with almost every shipment so far, and they all seemed to come from a complete misunderstanding of what Jonathon thought was very clear. He now needed to know two almost opposite things from China, and he was rather tense about making the call, because he was very unsure whether he could make David Wong understand such a conundrum. On the one hand he needed to know if it was possible for China to reduce the volume of his orders, and if so, how quickly could this be done. He needed to know this, because he expected his European customers to turn off very soon, but did not know for sure yet. On the other hand, he also needed to know if China could increase production, and if so, by how much and how soon. This would be needed when they secured new orders from their business thrust outside of Europe, and he had to consider the possibility that they might retain some, or all of their European business as well. In the event of these two things happening simultaneously, then they could actually need more product than the current predictions were indicating. This would be fairly reasonable to explain to an English supplier, but he was very nervous about how a Chinese would interpret a request to both increase and decrease orders at the same time. He did not really want to make the call, but he needed to know. Sometimes, he could contact David Wong by E-Mail first, and then discuss the detail by telephone. But, as often seems to happen, the Chinese E-Mail address seemed to be down at the moment, and he could not contact him by this method. Fax was never an option anyway, because David never seemed to be in the same office twice. He dreaded what he knew was likely to be a call that would be filled with misunderstanding and probably go off at all sorts of unnecessary tangentential directions.

Jonathon’s phone rang, and Clarissa spoke in measured terms to him.

I have located David Wong. He is on the line now. Shall I put him through?

‘Yes, sure…and, I am sorry about earlier. It is not a great day"

‘It is ok I do understand Jonathon She was the only person in the Company to call him Jonathon. She disliked the familiar and disrespectful Jon" That everybody else used.

I will put him through now She added in a businesslike manner.

Thank you Clarrie Jonathon did not afford her the same respect of name, much to her irritation.

‘David. How are you?" He shouted down the receiver, as if a foreigner would understand him better if he spoke louder.

Jon. Yes. Me, I am ok. Do you have a new order?

Not yet. I want to talk about your production

Your old order is nearly ready. I will send you fax copy bill of lading soon. Did you make the payment after I called you this morning in your car?

I arranged with my Bank, Yes Jonathon exaggerated the truth. He had spoken to his bank, but had not actually arranged payment yet, because approval was awaited from the Head Office. He wondered why Bank Managers had such a fancy title including the word Manager, when these days they always had to seek authority from elsewhere for the simplest of tasks.

‘No new order yet He continued I want to talk about future production"

‘So, you ready to place next order. Good. You send me list of new order. I quote you good prices"

I don’t want to place an order yet. I want to know if you can change production and when

You too late to change order, it is ready for shipping David Wong’s voice had changed tone sharply.

No, no I do not mean my current order, I mean future orders

I told you, future orders no problem. You just E-Mail me new order and I will give you good price

Your E-Mail is not working

You send me E-Mail and I will receive it ok now David Wong often said this, and just as often it did not work.

David, please stop and listen to me. I do not want to place another order yet

Why not, we have your production ready for future orders. You said you had plenty orders for future

Jonathon was becoming really frustrated now. These calls were often difficult, and this was worse than usual. He felt the rush of blood to his head which he could never control in situations like this. It was the anger of the extreme inability to make somebody else comprehend what he thought to be the blindingly obvious. He was a nice man normally, but if he got frustrated, he often changed to a mad man, and could never seem to control it.

Why don’t you damn well listen to me He shouted out sufficiently for all those around him to pretend not to hear, as they knew the type of thing that was coming. I am doing my best to be sensible to you. Don’t they teach you to listen to customers in your damn country? Jonathon did not wait for an answer to this rhetorical question, and continued anyway.

I want to discuss my future plans with you. You keep interrupting and talk about something else. LISTEN TO ME. I don’t care about the current order, or even what my next order will be. I just want to know how quickly your factory can react to any changes to my business UP OR DOWN….OK? GOT THAT?

So, you want to place another order with different quantity. Right?? Why don’t you care about current order? You don’t want it?

Yes, I mean No. Oh bloody hell, what is the point of talking to you He slammed the receiver down to the point of almost breaking it. He knew it was wrong. He knew David Wong was not really being difficult, but he did struggle with the culture and the use of the language.

He swivelled in his chair, and stared at the staff around the office he now shared with them. They all had their heads down, and were acting as if nothing happened. He knew that they knew, and he knew what they were thinking as well. He felt bad.

Anyone want a drink after work tonight? he asked in a rather pathetic attempt at an apology. It was now 4pm and the local bars would be open after work.

Everybody turned him down on the basis that as this was the first day in their new positions, they wanted to get to grips with their paperwork, and in a lot of cases they then needed to get back to see their children before it was too late in the evening.

Jonathon felt worse now. They were turning him down because they did not like him or were scared of him, or both, he thought, and he was probably right at that moment.

He called Clarissa, who was only too pleased to share a drink with him at any time, and she accepted his offer with polite pleasure.

• • •

Jonathon Carson was 47. He had been born in West London of working class parents. His upbringing had been a happy one, and his parents taught him good values. He now lived in South West Surrey, quite close to his business. He had started as a warehouse assistant (He found himself sweeping up most of the time), in a rope factory in Brentford back in 1977. He passed the minimum necessary qualifications at School and just sort of found himself at this Company having been the first job he had applied for that caught his eye in the local paper. Jobs were pretty easy to get in those days. He stayed at the company for a long time and worked his way through various Departments and ranks, eventually becoming Production Controller. He was then ‘head hunted’ by a competitor, and joined them as Commercial Manager at their headquarters in Croydon. By this time, he was 28, and was married with 2 children. Jonathon was a placid character, but determined with it. His wife was a somewhat unstable type and his marriage had gone through many crises over the years. The Children were his joy, but he saw less of them as his work became more important. His wife, Katherine, had become more stringent with him over the years, and relations were always strained. He did not like personal conflict, and tried to stay out of the way most of the time. They moved house to the affluent part of Surrey, near Dorking, and became part of the Surrey Stockbroker set. As Commercial Manager of the new Company, he had been introduced to export for the first time. Previously, his work had been rather insular. He had only really been involved with Production, and although he did meet visiting customers, his first employer only did business within England. The new Company had markets worldwide, and in this new role and status, he became involved with overseas customers, and found that he was rather good at selling to them. He had also started to travel overseas on business for the first time. Something he enjoyed very much, but his wife did not. After doing this work for 4 years and becoming really well known in the industry, he decided he could take the dramatic step of leaving and starting his own Company. He had enough contacts in the industry to kick start business very quickly, and for the first time, he was supremely confident that he could make a success on his own. He was right, and he had built Carson Cordage into a big business. He had also formed Carson Consumer, and had begun to get involved in general trade of consumer products. This is where he had first become involved with China, which in turn had led him to the decision to switch his cordage production to the Far East as well. Despite his now extensive experience at dealing with foreigners, he did always struggle with the Chinese, and found it something of a challenge that he had not overcome yet. The decision to start using China was seen by him as a necessary evil, but he knew he was going to have to learn fast about how to deal with this culture. You could no longer avoid such a country, and if he didn’t deal with them, then others would. So, he needed to be first through the window to the East. He had almost 15 years of exciting growth, and had become immune to any possibility of this success ever being threatened. Consequently, it was a considerable shock when the new government was voted in and an even greater shock when they carried out their election promise of withdrawal from Europe. Never having had to deal with a negative situation before, Jonathon did make a Knee jerk reaction to this, and very hastily took steps to close his factory and switch all his production to the Far East. All he thought he had to do was to switch the high quality products to the same factory in China that he had been dealing with for the last year. He was of the opinion that he was in a great position to be able to make such a fast response, and so protect his position, and beat his competitors at the same time. Nobody else could make this switch as quickly and with such a seamless transition. Jonathon began to see what was a negative, and turn it into a positive. Despite Union difficulties, he negotiated all factory employees’ exits very swiftly and painlessly. The support staff that was no longer necessary were just given the basic notices required under current employment law. Having built up such a large workforce over 15 years, he did not like any of this, but felt that he was doing it for the overall good of those left at the head office. It was much smaller now, and with the factory downstairs now silent, it did give the impression of a ghost site, but he could not vacate the premises just like that. He owned the site and it was an asset he was reluctant to divest unless it really became necessary. It was a curious feeling now though. Coming to work. No sounds of production. No hustle and bustle. No constant whirring of old machines spinning thread. No Lorries constantly arriving and leaving. Just a vast empty car park and a choice of spaces, followed by a quiet walk up a silent staircase to the offices above. Offices that had previously been filled with Production planners and support staff of all kinds were now empty. They mothballed 50% of the space, and re trenched the remaining staff into the area that remained. Jonathon retained an office, but also had a desk out in the general office to show that he was now also being frugal. He shared his time between private office and general office, but Clarissa wondered how long that trend would last.

He had been very good to his staff over the years, and was quite a good man to work for. That had been over 15 successful years. A big test was now to come. Would he still be nice when the going got tough? He certainly had not been nice on his first day, and he still had problems to sort out.

• • •

Clarissa drank her second Vodka slowly. She enjoyed the company of Jonathon Carson. He was an athletic looking 47 year old, and she admired the way he had looked after himself. She was 34; he looked 38, so there was no real difference between them, as far