January 1988 started as the end of the previous year had finished, with no contract on the horizon. But Steve and Neil joined us on the 4th and that day the Group MD (who had connections with Ladbrokes who at that time owned Hilton Hotels) had asked if they could attend a meeting the following day with Ladbrokes who may require a small refurbishment of the hotel on Park Lane. When Steve and Neil returned, it seemed there might be work of around a few hundred thousand pound for us and that we needed to start right away. It seemed like a very small job. How wrong could you be.
The next day (Wednesday 6th January) we got the full story. Mike and I joined Steve and Neil for a meeting with Ladbrokes and Hilton's top brass at Park Lane. It was explained to us that the lease for the hotel was up on 31st March and one of the conditions of the lease was that the hotel must be returned on that date in an as new condition. So the whole hotel had to be brought into a perfect state. There was only one problem. The hotel had to keep operating as all the bookings taken for the next three months had to be fulfilled. This sounded to be quite impossible but we would have to give it a try. Especially when the Ladbrokes MD asked why we hadn't yet started! But we hadn't got a contract? This took two days to sort out with our lawyers and we actually started on SUNDAY 10th January.
In the meantime we were finding out what had to be done, when we could go into bedrooms and function rooms, how we would tackle back of house areas and renew the heating and electrical systems. This meant we had to co-ordinate everything with the hotel management, something that was not easy, given they understandably didn't want us there in the first place. The planning became a huge exercise and involved 24 hour working. We started interviewing trade contractors.
Looking back, I always wondered why we were picked for such a hugely important project, especially that, as a company, we were working out of a portacabin. I can only think that the Wiltshier Group MD told Ladbrokes that we were immediately available, the group had a history of hotel work and that we would be given the assistance of managers from other Wiltshier companies. And we were. They came from all over, including Scotland. And we employed Wiltshier Interiors as a trade contractor.
The next few weeks were the most intense of my whole career. There are so many memories. We supplemented Wiltshier staff with some from agencies. We worked incredibly long hours with many meetings that started in the evening. It was commonplace to double book meetings and rush between the two. We occasionally stayed at the hotel overnight and toured the night shift crew. Eventually there were a huge number of men working all hours day and night. There were massive technical problems from clearing asbestos from the heating systems to repairing or renewing bedroom entrance doors in the time allowed.
Then suddenly on 29th February Ladbrokes signed a new lease for the hotel. They wanted us out as soon as possible, but it was as hard to instantly wind down operations as it had been to start up. We started with cancelling the night shift. This left a large number of disgruntles operatives almost causing a riot in the locality that evening. Gradually we emptied the building and agreed what we would finish and what we would leave. We had completed £11 Million Pounds of work in just 11 weeks from a standing start. Something that is pretty unprecedented in my experience. But more important, it set up our company for the future.
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