A Career in Construction Part 24

In the first months of 1993, a huge amount of my time was involved with negotiations on the Final Account for the British Airways Shorthaul Catering Facility with meetings every week. This was a complicated and intense resolution of many Sub-Contract accounts but eventually we achieved a successful settlement. The most notable contract we gained at this time was the reconstruction and fit out of a mansion on Palace Green, Kensington for an Arab Sheikh. A major contract and one that turned out very well. I can remember being involved in the presentation documents to go with the tender, one of the latest nights at work ever, and I mean after midnight. So late, that on the way home I was stopped by the police for a random breath test.

Other contracts in 1993, as well as those spilling over from the previous year (notably Fenchurch Street) included Heathrow House, Paddock Wood, and Raines Dairy. But the largest contract this year was gained through our ownership by SAE. The Orion Hotel (now the Citadenes Aparthotel) was a new building of 129 apartments on Goswell Road in the city. Plenty to keep us busy.

But what happened at the end of 1993 would define our existence for the years to come. Our French owners had a change at the top and instead of their global expansion (of which we were part) they decided to put this in reverse. They had been looking to sell our company but could not find a buyer. There was even a chance they might just close us down. In the end they sold the company to Mike for a nominal sum. I can remember vividly the 16th December 1993. I joined Mike at the offices of his solicitors, Garrett and Co, with our advisers Arthur Anderson, as the final documents were signed in France and faxed over to us. There was much nail biting and pacing The Strand as we were never convinced it would happen. But it did and we were on our own. Not really a place to be as the market was becoming more and more difficult.

However, 1994 started on a high note when we won St Luke's Hospital for the Clergy. A major reconstruction and refurbishment of an existing property on Fitzroy Square. Note the extra storey we built on top.

We also won Woolwich County Court and  Travel Lodges for Granada at Leigh Delamare. And we were negotiating the contract for a large Aparthotel on Gloucester Road for Citadenes. Instead of a reasonable negotiation with who were our ex French partners, it turned out to be a nightmare with their consultants MDA. We were desperate for this prestigious contract (£6.6 Million was quite something in 1994) but being an independent small builder was going to make it hard to capture jobs of the size we were used to. At the final meeting we conceded too much but agreed the deal. In the taxi back from the meeting I made it plain that we needed to win some better profitable work in the future to offset what I believed would be a big hit. The contract was signed on 20th May 1994, but it proved to be a fatal decision.

Gloucester Road was in trouble from the start. Although we submitted early claims for delays outside our control, cash flow was already a problem. We were also experiencing problems on tenders. The market was getting ever tighter with work being won below cost, something we could not compete with, especially as we knew we had to get profitable work with the risks on the hotel contract.

The year ended with winning only one decent contract out of the many for which we tendered, a £2 Million contract for the Cable Corporation. Although at the beginning of 1995 we also won a £3 Million refurbishment contract on New Bond Street. But Gloucester Road was continuing to be financially very difficult although going better on site. I remember the Sunday we closed Gloucester Road for the delivery of two massive vierendeel steel girders to bridge the pub that never closed.
And there was  one huge highlight. We were invited to the opening of St Luke's Hospital for the Clergy by the Queen and Prince Philip. On the 8th March 1995 with five other members of staff, waiting on the landing of the rear staircase, we were greeted by the Queen who climbed the stairs on her own. To shake her hand was as good as it gets.

St Luke's Hospital also turned out well financially. Although the contract period was doubled due to client changes, by the end of 1995 I had managed to negotiate a respectable final account over a succession of meetings with the client's QS, and the top bras from the clergy. This was to be our last bit of good news.

We did win the odd small contract during 1995, but what amazed me, looking at my notebooks, was how many tenders we processed in  both 1994 and 1995. It was just so hard to win anything decent, which would make 1995 our last full year of trading.