The Lone Wolf Rescuer
He was an English businessman who had flown in unannounced that day from the UK to meet with Joseph; such was the urgency of his business situation and the business proposition he had for him. It was the Sunday night they arrived home from a family holiday in the Canary Islands in 1988. Watching TV in their sitting room to relax after a long journey, his wife suddenly pointed to the stranger standing in their front garden, peering in through their front window. Somewhat alarmed, Joseph went out immediately to enquire about his business there. Apologising profusely for the intrusion, the stranger introduced himself as Julian Stephenson, the Managing Director of a Manchester-based Narrow Fabrics company, part of a UK Plc and asked if Joseph Friel lived there. Upon acknowledgement, Julian quickly explained how he had learned about him from his Trade contacts, naming some shared contacts to reassure a sceptical Joseph. He had heard that Joseph was exceptionally skilled as a lone wolf Company Rescuer. Julian continued apace, stating that he had an immediate dilemma and an urgent proposition for him but which he was sure would be mutually beneficial. Intrigued now, Joseph invited him in for a coffee to discuss the matter further.
Introducing his wife, Julian apologised about dropping-in unannounced like that, especially at that late hour. Coffee served, he continued to explain to Joseph and his wife that they had an Irish subsidiary with a big problem that could not wait. It was about to be put into Receivership under the explicit advice of their Auditors to his Board of Directors, quoting insolvency. His particular dilemma was that he feared it would ultimately end in Liquidation, his over-riding concern being that their inter-company debts were of such a scale that they would endanger the solvency of the parent company, his original family business of long standing, too. Seemingly very direct by nature, his Proposal was for Joseph to visit their Irish facility in question asap, look over the Books and Factory with the eye and ear of a CIMA Accountant, and Report directly to him on the prospects for a Company Rescue. He would pay him quite handsomely for that Report, and importantly, pay it direct from his UK company to assure him of prompt settlement. Joseph knew his existing clients had fully booked him out for the year ahead; so played the issues over in his mind as Julian continued to dive into details. He was undoubtedly impressed by Julian’s straightforward manner, research and Proposal. In truth, he was most excited by the international dimension of his Proposal too, involved working with a reputable UK Plc. Seeing it was a matter of evident extreme urgency, he responded in kind; that he had an idea of how he might rearrange his commitments the following morning and be able to create the time to complete that Report in that week. Julian, being visibly relieved and action-oriented, asked if they could meet up the next day at his Irish Auditors cum Advisors offices to make a plan; then reassemble again to review the Report after it was ready on the following weekend. It was to be the start of a most educational but rewarding two-year adventure, always intensely challenging, but ultimately daunting.
Contracts Have Intentions too
When they met, Julian’s Auditors were very sceptical as to how any lone wolf, no matter how well-accredited, could achieve a goal that their reputable body of Auditors and Advisors could not, Company Rescue. Joseph knew the reputation of those Auditors very well, thought of them as being among the top Receivers and Liquidators in the country. Undaunted he proceeded, answered all their questions forthrightly, making sure to contrast their extensive experience as Receivers with his hands-on knowledge of the Narrow Fabrics industry and over many years as a qualified CIMA Management Accountant. Unspoken, he was also acutely understood the many downsides of Receiverships, observed in great detail from the other side of the tracks as he had done. There was obviously no love lost between them but Julian was the ruler in chief. After some further exchanges, Julian was convinced and asked Joseph to proceed to prepare that Report immediately; emphasising that their Auditors would assist him in every way possible. He looked infinitely more hopeful than his Auditor friends at that moment. He had just one concern, what if the Management or Unions got a hint that closure might be a consequence? Joseph volunteered a solution which had been successfully deployed many times before. He could present himself as a Keyman Systems management information systems specialist, one sent in by the parent company to overhaul all daily, weekly and monthly information Reporting and align them with theirs? Perfect, that shouldn’t ring any alarm bells! So, armed with that vague title, a suitcase and trusted state-of-the-art Commodore 64, an 8-bit ‘luggable’ home computer, first released at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in 1982, he set off for West of Ireland by train that evening to present himself at their subsidiary Factory next day. Meanwhile, Julian took a return flight to Manchester, parting with only a single request; update him every half-day literally, to report to him in detail on what he finds.
Next morning, Tuesday, Joseph introduced himself formally to the Irish Factory’s Chief Executive who had been notified, then spoke respectfully to their Board of Directors, Management, and local Auditors. The latter arrived on site later that day, ostensibly to check over a few remaining issues related to their their Annual Audit. Joseph and team spent the day trawling through systems, asking pertinent questions and exploring answers around existing trading conditions and matters arising therefrom to get a feel for the place. Joseph and the Chief Executive took a tour on the Wednesday of their extensive Factory operations, expansive warehouses, the office services while meeting some staff ad hoc as they went; finally reviewing the Books of Account with the assistance of the Auditors and the Financial Director. Joseph was always careful to introduce himself as a Keyman Systems Analyst, noticing an elevated sense of curiosity. He spent the rest of the week looking in-depth through their Order Books, their control and monitoring systems while familiarising himself with the product in all its stages of production. Joseph observed that their Management appeared downbeat while employees portrayed a deep suspicion towards anyone new, especially resistant to new ideas or too many awkward questions. Joseph sensed something was gravely wrong, not just with the trading figures but in the chaotic Warehouse which, in his broad experience, invariably spelt trouble. Unsuspectingly, a new and insightful chapter in his life was about to be opened.
Having worked night and day, processed everything of importance into his luggable computer via bespoke software system, Joseph headed back by train to the City as he completed the first draft of his Company Rescue Report in transit, then updated Manchester Report as requested. The Report was ready for presentation by the time they reassembled as planned with Julian and his Auditor A-Team at their HQ that Saturday. Yes, the parent company could salvage their Irish subsidiary, said the Keyman Systems Report, but only if they could get Union agreement to undertake a prescribed list of immediate and radical actions which he had specified therein. He handed over his detailed Report, complete with detailed projections, as he made his presentation of facts. Successful implementation would require three significant undertakings- substantial Redundancies, Relocation of their 40,000 sq ft Factory operations to a low-cost facility in another town nearby, and a Name change to signal a new beginning. These would, collectively, not be a small task. If undertook successfully, however, Receivership would not then be necessary, he declared. That would, noteworthy, also remove the insolvency threat to the parent company. He concluded his presentation to a most receptive Julian and an Auditor A-Team of non-believers. However, unconvinced as they were, they failed to articulate any flaws in the Report to support their opinion; they could not see beyond the Books, Joseph figured. Julian made an immediate Executive decision, to implement the Report’s recommendations. So he asked Joseph for a bill, confirming that he would have it paid from HQ immediately in appreciation of a job well done, for a Report promptly and professionally completed, and despite considerable inconvenience to its author. Without prior warning and to the shock of everyone in the room, Julian suddenly asked Joseph if he personally could undertake that Report programme as Keyman Systems in his capacity as a lone wolf Company Rescuer.
Continuing without a pause to conceal, perhaps, a fear of rejection, it would be a fixed two-year contract, charged at his regular hourly asking-rate plus all receipted costs and disbursements. That would properly reflect the anticipated extensive travel and long hours that would necessarily be involved. He was aware that his Proposal would require Joseph to undertake an exhausting weekly schedule for the next two years. Specifically, he would need to fly to Manchester every Monday on the 6.05 am ‘red-eye’ to immerse himself in their HQ Factory management business for better integration with their Irish Factory. He would also need to fly back to Dublin every Wednesday evening and take the train, car or sometimes a flight to their Factory in the West of Ireland that night. He could return to Dublin on Friday nights to be with his family. He would stay in local hotels he had in mind on the weeknights but expected him to do paid work every evening as well on flights and train journeys too. That work would include preparing and filing very detailed daily Reports with him and his UK Management to ensure better integration of the emergent new programme. Joseph felt honoured and challenged by the scale and responsibility of his unexpected Proposal, especially in front of their company Auditors. Still, he also felt sure that was because they did not believe anyone could save the Irish Factory. He could.
Joseph was determined to undertake the contract; and yes, it would be a challenging but also most rewarding project, he thought. He promised to revert asap when he had examined all the details more closely; needed to sub-contract his current contracts, and especially to consider how his wife could rear their three young children on her own at home over that next two years, except for weekends. Yes, he could do his other work oversight from home over the weekends, he mused. But! In the final analysis, he believed he had all the unique credentials to save that Factory, while their family would benefit enormously from such a lucrative contract. They had experienced several tough financial years in recent times when the bank unceremoniously put their business into Receivership. He pondered for a moment on how those painful years had prepared him for this, for what could prove to be his biggest challenge to date. He reflected with his family that night on all those matters and his wife was equally convinced. Joseph rang Julian immediately to accept his offer before he caught his return flight. Delighted, Julian confirmed that contracts would be prepared by their solicitors immediately, to be exchanged by fax literally on Sunday, then signed off on Joseph’s first visit to Manchester to commence the work on the following Monday. There was no time to waste. He would ask his Secretary, Jill, to book Joseph’s first return flight and arrange accommodation near the Factories for that event to keep it all confidential.
The Art of Deception
Joseph made calls to complete his prerequisite contract outsourcing work, made family arrangements, assembled his mobile office kit, prepared his luggable software and organised his suitcase and collected his first flight tickets that Jill had arranged. Contract received, he provisionally booked, as advised by Julian, the recommended hotel accommodation for the following two years in Manchester and West of Ireland, all suitably located within walking distance of the Factories. Next, Joseph reserved open return Dublin-Manchester flights Monday to Wednesday for the same period; making sure to bill the UK HQ account. Julian had alerted him to the fact that flights in particular often got booked up for frequent big events there, noting that it was also a transfer hub for Zurich. Joseph was now ready to begin a journey into the unknown; the excitement started rising. It would take him into situations he could never have imagined. Narrow Fabrics manufacturing was still a whole new world awaiting discovery for him, though Joseph was already very familiar with its added value dimension. And so he began the red-eye Monday flights to Manchester, taking the taxi 20 miles to and from the Airport to their textile Factory in Greater Manchester, yet arriving in his designated office by 8.30 am; as he would continue to do weekly for two more years. Julian was always there to greet him and to religiously pursue his scheduled induction training schedule with him every day there under the ever watchful eyes of his senior Management. He had already secretly planned to appoint him soon to the new role of Managing Director of his Irish facility for the next two years, which he would then oversee on behalf of their Group Plc. That would open many doors for him and one day soon would, entirely unexpectedly, even earn him a rare personal overnight stay as a special guest of the Group Plc’s Chairman in their splendid Castle HQ in Cumbria, England.
The impact on Joseph of their HQ Textile manufacturing facility was immense, although he knew it was big business with a remarkable history that stretched back to mid-1800s. Little known and seldom understood in its complexity, Joseph already knew that narrow fabrics adorned countless other products that we buy and use every day; widely used in the garment industry on as labels on every garment; on hats, corsets, and lingerie, and in military uniforms as well. You would find them used as trouser or skirt belts, as ribbons for the hair or gift wrapping, as seat belts in a car, or as a leash for walking a dog. As a nod to their UK history, soldiers still find narrow fabrics used in their pack webbing and parachutes as well as their waist belts, helmets, and body armour. Narrow fabrics touch almost every Industry. The Factory operated 24/7, 7 days a week, never shutting its doors. The dimensions of the Factory were staggering; there were machines as far as the eye could see, including some enormous 20 ft high specimens. There was the constant high pitched shrill noise emitted all day and night long that took much acclimatisation. The range of products was vast; everything from woven to computerised product labels for garments, from ribbons to bows conceived in Calcutta, from belts to braces materials, from braids to dyehouses. The process was collectively compelling and inspiring for Joseph, who loved to know the process more than the product itself; that would give him a competitive advantage in creating added value retail product ranges later on. Then there were hundreds of highly skilled weavers to observe and appreciate. Joseph had known many of their end products but not the elaborate production processes or skills involved. Joseph found it hard to envisage any consumer product that was not touched by narrow fabrics.
But it was the family story that took it to a whole new level for him. Julian pointed to a book which he had written that adorned their Boardroom side table and urged him to read it at night to acquaint himself with his family and business roots. They built their Factory during Irish Famine times in the 1850s, extended to its current size in 1870s. They loved the fact that Julian’s father once played host to Princess Michael of Kent, on the occasion of the Factory’s 100 birthday. There were pride and joy in revealing that Harrods Store carried a retail range of their products. They revelled in having strong political connections at Party Leader level too. Most extraordinary of all to Joseph, their family tree and history could be traced back to the Time of the Battle of Hastings, in 1066. After they went public in the 1960s, they employed nearly 1,000 people. By Joseph’s Time, they were part by a British Plc Group, owning twenty-five (25) independently run companies in thirty (30) locations, including the USA; employing 4,000 people with sales exceeding Stg £100 million. Yet! Joseph would soon come to realise that a lie often lurks concealed behind an accepted story, often in the avoidance or circumvention of the truth.
Now it was time to turn his attention to their Irish subsidiary. Taking a late evening return flight to Dublin, he took a connecting flight to Shannon, arriving just before midnight. He took many such flights during his two years there. On one rare occasion in 1988, he caught a late-night 180 seater connecting flight from the Shannon to Dublin where he was only paying passenger; the incoming flight had borne a Central American President and his entourage whom he met face to face in the dark of a closed airport that night. He had advised his hotel of his late arrival. He was met early the next morning by the Chief Executive for breakfast, who took him for his first working day to the Factory, arriving at their desks before 8.00 am. The air was hot with suspicion as, flying in from his HQ Factory visit, the presumption was that he was going to be the eyes and ears of those whom they would often cynically refer to as their English masters. They began with a meeting of the Executive, a question and answer session, followed by a familiarisation tour of the facility with them. The Factory and the machines were comparatively new, being built or purchased in a grant-aided relocation of a few years before. But it was the Warehouse and staffing levels that attracted the most of his attention, just as it did on his first visit. That led them to the Order Books. They were in severe decline now, universally attributed to faulty production by all accounts; displaying a stream of returns, cancellations but always quoting fierce low-cost UK competition.
The Warehouse was overflowing with the defective product, which arguably supported their diagnosis, but for which no one seemed to take any responsibility. Recalling the initial Accounts review showing exceptionally high bad debts and provisions, Joseph opted to start there. One account, in particular, stood out; an unpaid export order to New England in the USA, value £150,000, but now a year overdue for payment. The Auditors had informed the Board that it would have to be written-off in the upcoming audit unless resolved, as would many others. That would spell insolvency of their local Factory and threaten the future of their UK parent too. Local Management understood too the high stakes alright. And it appeared that they looked to Joseph for resolution as if to test his trade knowledge and also whose side he was on. It felt like a trap to him, but if he took it on, he could prove his worth to them; thus earn their ongoing trust and loyalty. That brought him to the core issue, Insolvency, the very reason Julian reached out to Joseph that first night in his garden. So he asked to see product samples in question and to be taken through the process with the relevant machines and quality controller so he could understand the problem. The words heard from all quarters seemed carefully crafted, even orchestrated. He decided to ask then HQ’s Production Manager, who had much impressed him on his visit there with his insights; but again he found him wanting too; more openly blaming local quality control. It became immediately apparent to Joseph that there had been a stand-off for some time over the issue; for reasons not yet declared to him. Joseph contacted their prized customer in New England to get some balance, a third eye view. He portrayed a level of sophistication and authority that the local Factory executives appeared to take seriously; feared and revered in equal measure. Hadn’t he just booked a long-promised visit to Ireland for ten days later as it happened, he retorted; they could address the matter together then. On the day, Julian arrived unexpectedly too to meet and greet his old friend and valued customer in Ireland, clearly impressed by his prestigious Italian retailer market destination. All minds were brought to bear on the problem but once again to no avail; he would not be paying for faulty materials that fell far short of the standards demanded of his quality men’s braces for those Italian retailers end customers, no argument would be entertained.
Truth the First Faller
Two weeks later, Joseph received a call at home from the Chairman of the Board at Group Plc Castle HQ. He asked Joseph if he could fly-in on that Sunday evening, tickets to be arranged by him, for a private discussion about the Irish Factory’s serious bad debt situation; extending his invitation to stay overnight at the Castle as his special guest. It was all in preparation for their upcoming Board Meeting later that week, so no need to be alarmed. He wanted to address the escalating bad debt issue that threatened their Manchester and Irish company’s future over dinner that night; one condition, he must mention it to no one, especially not Julian. Joseph was taken seriously aback by what might be going on in the background; being invited as a special guest of a reputable Plc Chairman to a UK Castle was not an everyday event. The Chairman’s request would prove to be a gear changer if ever there was one for him. On Sunday, he set off by taxi from Manchester airport to cross the famed misty Moors until he saw the magnificent Castle appear on the horizon; adorning 20 acres of historical grounds. The Chairman was there to greet him on arrival. He told how his favourite native animals roamed their lands, cared for by a team of dedicated farmworkers who lived on his lands in the stone cottages that lined its entrance. The Castle was his family home, but also served as their Group Plc HQ and was used as its Conference and Training Centre too. It boasted a helicopter pad to service the needs of their many highly-valued American guests. Sure it even had a four-poster bed for Joseph’s stay, complete with its obligatory ghost story. After Joseph checked-in to his room, the Chairman invited his guest to a pre-arranged musical interlude in the auditorium; to listen to Clannad, one of his favourite Irish traditional groups and which he had recorded there that very year. Then it was time for the special dinner for two in the Castle dining room, served with all the splendour reserved for their special Castle guests. Honoured indeed, they soon got down to the serious business of the evening. The Chairman was deeply concerned by the escalating bad and provisional debts due to be written-off on the next audit. In particular, he had read Joseph’s Company Rescue Report and Julian had reported back on the recent non-productive Irish visit of the American customer to him. To cut to the root of his concern, the Board had a feeling that Julian was concealing the truth from them but which debt, should itt remain unpaid, would force the closure of both their Irish and Manchester Factories.
A straight-shooter, he asked Joseph to undertake a special mission for him in absolute secrecy. Would Joseph fly to New York the following Saturday, take an early Monday morning two-hour train journey to the Factory in New England and pay a visit to their customer to find out all the facts about the disputed debt? He explicitly wanted him to arrive unannounced. The purpose was to find the truth so that they could fix the problem before their next Board meeting. With desert served, the Chairman continued, “please take your family with you for a break as my thank you for this disruption, I can see no other way out.” He would arrange all the tickets and accommodation to ensure they kept their mission secret; they must tell no one if this plan was to work, especially Julian, as he would explain it all on his return. As if on cue, the door opened, and the Chairman’s wife announced the unexpected arrival of Julian. He heard about the dinner in the Castle by accident and felt seriously snubbed; he had never been invited there himself as a guest in all their years, despite his illustrious family history. The Chairman invited him to join them for an after-dinner drink, which Julian bruskly refused; undisturbed, the Chairman went on to explain that it was a private business matter involving Joseph’s Irish Factory Reports. Julian shrugged in disbelief, gave Joseph a daggers look, argued some more about the insult, then left abruptly. Joseph knew it was an excellent USA plan but was equally sure it would have severe repercussions for him with Julian. Things were indeed never going to be quite the same after that night; truth would be the first faller.
Trust the Next Casualty
Just one week later, Joseph was in a New York City hotel with his family, thrilled to meet up with family and friends over the weekend for a few memorable days. Mid-morning Monday he was in New England walking through the door of their valued customer, whom he had only hosted a week before in Ireland; did not seem unduly surprised by his unexpected arrival when they greeted. The reason became apparent moments later when Julian joined them; he had also arrived the night before, but for dinner with his old friend. Julian was a wise old fox and, was alerted by the Castle dinner, anticipated and confirmed the Chairman’s intentions, took a flight to New York to interrupt the process. Joseph immediately grasped the unfolding picture. He asked to see the faulty delivery in their Warehouse, it had to still be there, and wanted to see the related shipping documents too. Julian looked perturbed, tried in vain to dissuade him; they could surely reach some form of settlement. That had failed to do that on their Irish visit, Joseph reminded him, so now it is time to inspect the faulty delivery. On inspection, Joseph immediately saw the source of the problem; there was no Irish delivery there at all; in fact, they had used it in added value production. A faulty delivery was there alright, but it was not from the Irish Factory, he could see it was from that product range seen in his the UK Factory during induction. Both Factories had supplied the same customer, but the UK served him with a very different, more upmarket, product range. So, Joseph cross-checked the original order samples he had brought with him with those of the customer’s shipping documents in the declaration, to prove his case. Julian’s deceit and year-long cover-up were finally exposed by Joseph, including his misleading of the Group Plc Chairman. Brushing aside Julian’s pleadings to let it go as being far too late now, Joseph asked for a private meeting with the owner. Julian flew home disgruntled, and angry that Joseph, whom he had seriously underestimated and sought to mislead, had betrayed him. The event that just unfolded was not as either of them had expected.
The Group Plc Chairman had sent Joseph there on a secret mission, after a year without resolution, with one crucial task. He had to find the facts, confirm the debt, get it acknowledged and then Report back to their Group Plc Board in HQ immediately. So he appraised the owner of the situation confronting them. He was leaving New York in 48 hours, he had to have full settlement of the account with him, or go straight to the Castle and personally attend their upcoming Plc Board Meeting. Should the customer fail to honour the debt, be advised that they intended to advise the Board of their intention to Report the defaulter to the European Export Credit Agency. After that point, he suggested, they would no longer be able to insure their exports to Europe, including to their most valued Italian retailers. The impact was visible as he left. As Joseph and family were about to check out of their New York hotel, when he received an urgent phone call. The caller asked that he please wait one hour, by which time the full payment, then in transit, would reach him; it would be in the form of five monthly bank guaranteed Bills of Exchange, settling the account in full, £150,000. He trusted that was acceptable. Joseph accepted on behalf of the Chairman. Upon receipt, he flew home with his family and took a connecting flight to Manchester.
The Chairman had called the Board Meeting for the next day at the parent company HQ in Manchester. All seated, he asked permission of the Board for Joseph to attend with a Special Report on their Irish company’s bad debts situation. Julian was shocked to see Joseph in attendance, but there was no time to talk. Julian asked the Board to indulge him while he explained about his non-productive flight to New England but could personally understand the problem given their Irish Factory’s lack of quality control; he was stocking to his story. The Chairman intervened, asking Joseph if there was agreement on that point. Sadly no, he had flown to New England as the Chairman had instructed, met with the customer, discovered a different problem and resolved it. Opening his briefcase, Joseph pulled out five monthly payments in bank guaranteed Bills of Exchange totalling the amount due, £150,000. The Chairman was incredulous at the story and outcome, the Board were in disbelief, while Julian was disconsolate. Asked what happened, Joseph explained how the customer had switched the faulty product, which in fact came from Julian’s UK Factory, with a similar value order delivery from the Irish Factory. That had the effect of placing the blame on the Irish Factory incorrectly, forcing them to carry the bad debt instead; they had to get an inter-company loan from its parent company, Julian, to prevent a liquidity crisis. The Chair asked Julian for anys explanation he had for the cover-up.
Caught by surprise, he had no excuse. The Chair would not accept that, so insisted on an apology for Julian’s apparent deception or he would ask him to consider his position. Julian objected strenously, was asked to leave the meeting to think it over; only return with an apology. He left abruptly, so the Chair turned to Joseph and asked him to have a quiet word with Julian outside of the forum and tell him that if he did not return in 30 minutes with an acknowledgement of having misled the Board together with an apology, to consider himself fired. Julian consented reluctantly, with grave misgivings about that reversal of roles, and never forgave Joseph for his treachery! The Chair then asked what Joseph suggested they do with the Bills now; pay off the intercompany debt it created between the two Factories was his suggestion. If the Irish company failed during Joseph’s authored and managed Restructuring, it could then no longer bring down its immediate parent he though, as Julian had first feared. Excellent idea, all the Board agreed. Joseph left to return to Dublin and fly onwards to their Irish Factory that evening. It had been the most challenging call Joseph had to ever make in his life to date, but it was just the start.
Restructuring to Survive
Arriving at the Factory the next morning, he called-in their Executive to update them; they already knew the outcome. They were thrilled that the Group Plc Chairman no less had so openly exonerated their facility in front of his UK Board. They were quite delighted that the blatant dishonesty of their parent company, and Julian too, had been so openly exposed, at last. From that day, they would no longer dismiss Joseph so lightly again, though they wished he kept the money to use at home so-to-speak; he dared not tell them why yet. Now, they moved on to look into the other bad debts, but, strangely, the problem seemed to evaporate within weeks. They moved on to the next issue on their agenda then, the substantial volume of credit notes and cancelled orders? If the problem was quality control as they said, he wanted to meet the machine quality changers with responsibility for that. People were shifting uncomfortably in their seats, Joseph believed something was afoot, and promised to get to the bottom of it somehow. For now, though, he had a more urgent project, Staffing levels were far too high. He sat down with Management to look at every aspect of staffing their operations. He did not get the constructive input imagined, so he turned to his UK Production Director for help, who was now on a backfoot after the New England controversy at last Board Meeting. He agreed to head the project team and come over for a week or two. Within a week, all accepted that they had twice too many employees for their ongoing order book. They agreed to meet the Unions but were forewarned by Management not to expect their ready cooperation. Joseph was yet to uncover a long and bitter history between their two Factories, and no one would tell him why. Sad though it was, half the jobs saved would be better than all of them lost, felt Joseph. Union support, however, was not and would not be forthcoming. Management asked for a formal vote; failure to agree would inevitably mean the closure of the Plant. Still, they voted to reject their Proposal for redundancies, regardless.
Joseph turned to Manchester for Julian’s explicit instructions. Appeal to the workers once more, ask for a reversal of their decision or close the Plant with immediate effect, you hold the keys, came the blunt reply of Julian, still smarting from the UK Board meeting. Tensions were spilling over. Joseph called the second meeting of all employees, notified the Unions, and the Labour Court as he was obliged to do given they were an Irish grant-aided company. The Press and Politicians were informed too, unsurprisingly given the level of tension rising. Joseph arrived by car; alarm bells rang when the UK Directors of their Board failed to attend, or notify Joseph. The Directors had received, overnight, an official warning through Interpol of trouble ahead should they participate in that meeting. The situation was getting deadly serious, and the UK parent had placed Joseph in an invidious position without any consultation or consideration for his young family back home. Those red flag warnings were to be the start of a series of such flags for Joseph as tensions continued to rise; he fully understood their immediate implications. After consultation among those present, they decided the meeting must go ahead if they were to prevent Factory closure and loss of all the jobs. Joseph addressed the gathering in a highly charged room. To the astonishment of their UK parent, the workers voted to reverse their original vote and opted for redundancy and relocation to save the business if not the Factory; they finally understood how serious the problem had become. The Restructuring would have to proceed immediately to keep the Plant. Delighted that their Irish employees had rowed back from the brink, Julian applauded Joseph in front of a specially conveyed parent Factory meeting in Manchester for his tenacity, replaying the Irish news bulletin as evidence of such achievement. Fences seemingly mended between Julian and Joseph over the humiliating New England debacle, the UK Production Director and Joseph were instructed by him to conduct face to face interviews with every employee, cutting the workforce in half, then commence implementation of the Board’s Restructuring plan in full. The Interviewing team felt that they had selected a stable balance of skills, enough to sustain a viable business ongoing. All other surplus costs were next examined and earmarked for elimination. Then their attention turned to that enormous task, Factory Relocation to benefit substantially from lower-cost premises in a nearby town. That task was masterminded by the UK parent’s Production Director together with his handpicked small but highly specialist team of transporters. The relocation took just one week; a feat that left Joseph in disbelief. Meanwhile, the Management relocated the Warehouse materials and offices effects. Finally, his team devoted several months in extensive Factory renovations and equipment installations.
Beware of Ides of March
Joseph, meanwhile, turned his attention to re-examine an Order Book deep in crisis. Although Management declared that they had solved the problem, Joseph felt that the explanations for the exceptional level of returns, credit notes issued in settlement, disputed debtor accounts and ongoing order book cancellations were implausible. It seemed less like a perfect storm, more like a mantra he was hearing. Something was seriously wrong, just as in New England debacle, and he would find it. As they proceeded, he could sense a growing restlessness among Management as he delved ever deeper. Joseph, from long experience of such investigations, always found that Warehouses revealed the health of a business, and this business patient looked seriously ill to him; if he could pinpoint the cause, recovery could begin in earnest. Relying on his insights into the Trade, he soon found it was a few leading customers who seemed to have all the unresolved issues with order quality, yet maintained their association, stayed on the books. The pattern was an all too familiar one, indeed almost cosy, he thought. Could the problem be similar to New England, or a local version of it, no? His more in-depth Trade investigations discovered those disputed orders were readily replaced in the same quality by an as yet unidentified source at an invariably cheaper price; find them, he figured, and the solution will appear. When asked for explanations, their universal retort, quoted like a mantra, was poor quality control at the Factory but their alternative sources were their trade secret. Joseph remembered New England and how the UK parent Factory deliberately hid the truth from local Management and Joseph too; but this appeared quite different, somehow. With no other option left, Joseph decided that security had to be significantly enhanced to control access to the facility, despite its considerable expense; HQ agreed to secretly fund it from their account to get to the bottom of a long-running issue. It would immediately reveal excessive activity at night in the Factory and involvied the delivery bay. Suspicions rife, Joseph interrogated the Management team individually and collectively; made unscheduled visits to the facility to talk ad hoc to critical employees; poured over security records daily, even hourly. Within a week it pinpointed the Warehouse as the root cause. That led them back swiftly to the Order Book and who knew what.
A very definite pattern had emerged. Joseph had discovered a ghost alright, but not a Castle ghost, rather a ‘Ghost Factory’ operation instead, a Factory camouflaged within a Factory; one that was run in secret at night. It was an elaborate multi-national operation too, the beneficiaries of which were local Executives and a few vital participating employees. Joseph had just discovered what had undermined the future of the Factory. Joseph continued to file his Reports religiously with Julian, smoothing over the new glaring cracks appearing daily, not knowing who to trust now; he did not know the Group Chairman had demanded to see a copy ever since Joseph’s stay in the Castle. Unexpectedly, the Group Plc Chairman invited Joseph to Manchester again; this time he was asked to sit on a dedicated Project Team with a very different brief, to interview prospective international purchasers for several of the Group Plc companies, including their Irish facility. He had seen enough with those latest Reports from Ireland, Julian was not the sole source of the problem there anymore, it took two to tango he had always believed. Still, Joseph stood by his stubborn belief in the viability and retention of the local facility. Yet, Julian had cleverly outmanoeuvred Joseph into his pinpointing in his own hand the reason that would justify an impending closure, local collusion. Old grudges die hard, he realised. Luckily Joseph would still win the day. Following weeks of non-productive HQ Sale interviews, the would-be purchasers took on Board Joseph’s challenging insights into why and how the Irish facility could recover and withdrew their interest. The fight for local Factory survival had, however, just begun in earnest.
For flexibility and independence, Joseph started to drive to the Irish Factory now after each weekly return flight to Dublin from Manchester, leaving his car ready and waiting in the long term car park at the train station so as to get to the hotel by midnight. It was the March when Joseph picked up a note that someone had slipped under his hotel bedroom door. “Beware of the Ides of March” was all it said, but that was enough for him; he understood its meaning and the danger it spelt very well, though not who delivered it. The Shakespearean expression is associated with a personal warning; being the date when Julius Caeser was assassinated. He reflected on how he had lost the support of Julian in the UK HQ, his having failed to trick him into delivering the Irish Factory closure. And upon his instruction, he had now lost the help of his UK Executive and Management teams again. Worse, he also felt under threat from the Irish side because his latest discovery of collusion had exposed them to the growing risk of closure and redundancy. The rumour mill charged the atmosphere further every day. He felt trapped and in danger. So he chose to stay in a random guesthouse far outside of town for the rest of that week. It was 4.30 am on that first night, a call rang straight through to his room. How could that happen, who would know he was even there? He was wide awake in seconds, jumped straight out of bed, full of apprehensive. “We know where you’re staying,” an unfamiliar voice said, the sense of danger unmistakable before he reassuringly adding. “In the country, it is not difficult to spot a Dublin car, especially in these parts when jobs are at risk; then everybody knows everybody’s business. But I’m on your side, and I need you to listen carefully. You are caught right in the middle of something big that puts you danger, although it was not of your making.” Joseph’s mind was in overdrive; he wondered how many others could know of his location at that moment; such a call at such an unearthly hour felt very threatening? The caller continued speaking rapidly but seemed confident that Joseph trusted him somehow. “Time is of the essence, get your pen and take down this telephone number to Switzerland. I know the whole story. It is to the suppliers of the grant-aided Factory equipment purchased when we moved to our new factory a few years ago. Julian put me in charge of security then. Get to your office at 7.30 am your earliest access time using your electronic access key and ring that number; remember they are open, being an hour ahead. As Managing Director, request that copies of your Factory equipment purchase invoices for the past five years be sent to your fax machine (confirm number; you need them to do that as a matter of extreme urgency, ), within one hour. Tell them you have an emergency Board meeting with your Auditors, that your Books are under scrutiny. Upon receipt, check them immediately against the audited Books, and you’ll discover the rest. I have to go.” He vanished as he arrived, in an instant, but his message left a raw sense of threat in the air.
Without Truth Justice Dies
Joseph’s heart was pounding, and his mind was trying to factor in everything he heard and fill in the remaining blanks. He could trust no one except that lone caller, who had identified himself to him. Joseph did as instructed, and an hour later, just before 8.30 am, the fax machine in his office jumped alive with streams of copy invoices. As a CIMA Accountant, he quickly cross-checked the invoices with the audited records; his jaw dropped. The Swiss invoices in their Books had been inflated, marked up by a total of £600,000, undoubtedly designed to extract the exact amount of that Irish grant aid and transfer it to the benefit of their UK parent through inter company invoicing. It was deception on a grand scale, burdening the subsiduary with a massive debt and Joseph was the fall guy; but Julian was its architect. Joseph there and then knew the truth. Their parent company’s insolvency was not under threat from fear of any impending bankruptcy of its Irish subsidiary, as Julian had initially told him at his house that first night. The reverse was, in fact, the truth; the parent company intended to bury the truth. But what form might that threat now take? The question had to be, who knew? Who were most at risk of that pending expose? Which of them would represent the greatest threat to him? Did Julian know; did the Auditors know; did the Grant authorities know; did the local Irish Factory Board know; did the UK Parent’s Board know? Yes, he had a prime suspect in mind for author of the “Beware of the Ides of March” note now. Another hour later, there was a Swiss call back to Joseph; they implored him to scrap the copy invoices they had just sent, the real ones would follow shortly. His mind was in a whirl.
The cat was out of the bag; there were two sets of invoices. Joseph realised instantly that the discovery had made him secure; he had the evidence, the proof was in the invoices, it would neutralise the parent company who had masterminded the scam. He realised that the UK parent and Julian could not expose the Irish facility as they knew the local Executive had learned of the UK grant aid scam; one had served to camouflage the other. And the UK New England scam was their way of closing the Irish facility to ensure it kept the matter closed, permantly. Joseph was set-up by Julian to become the fall guy, but his past crises experiences had forewarned and protected him. He realised that Joseph’s exposure of HQ for their primary role in the New England scam and the ongoing fear of exposure of the local ghost Factory scam were both in the shade compared to that far more significant grant aid scam. It was stage-managed by HQ, from where the most considerable threat originated. Still, many people at Local, HQ, Group Plc, Auditors, Employees, Unions, Grant authorities or Political level had something to fear, everybody except Joseph, were under threat if it became public knowledge. It placed Joseph at significant reputational and personal risk. These invoices, however, would save the Factory for now, and protect Joseph, thanks to one previously unknown stranger in that late-night call.
It would emerge that when the local Management discovered the devious grant aid stroke, they didn’t pursue it but used it instead to protect themselves from prosecution for a parallel Ghost Factory stroke. So Julian pulled a stunt, tried to get an ‘innocent’ consultant to take the rap. He wrongly assumed that he would never learn the truth about what they had so carefully, comprehensively and collectively concealed. Corruption, Joseph confirmed first hand that day again, is invariably protected by wealth, power, lies and injustice. It was yet another discovery in a raft of corruption cases that kept popping up, uninvited, into his life. That is what life must be trying to teach him, he realised. Corruption was not an accident. “Integrity, transparency and the fight against corruption have to be part of the culture. They have to be taught as fundamental values” was what Angel Gurría, OECD Secretary-General would later say at the forum “Planet Integrity: Building a Fairer Society” in 2018. And all it takes to succeed is indifference: “People’s indifference is the best breeding ground for corruption to grow”, Delia Ferreira, Chair of Transparency International told the Argentinian newspaper Clarín in an interview in January 2018.
Joseph felt obligated to Report the grant aid scam to the grant authorities. To his shock and horror, they felt that exposure of the scam, especially by a subsidiary of a reputable UK Group Plc, would be worse for their collective reputations than any chances of recovering the funds. Turning to the reputable Auditors for salvation, they just wrung their hands in denial of any knowledge whatsoever of such invoice inflation; blaming Julian for the cover-up. So, they felt nothing should or could be done at that point, no matter how much they believed one ought to do it in the interest justice. They were all in it together, Joseph concluded. Yes! There was some solace in that it was Julian’s undoing, one bridge too far, but also the day trust and truth died for Joseph in keyman systems consulting dreams. He must move on. Before then, he would command one last price, though. He asked the company secretary to organise a Name Change and instructed their designers to prepare a new logo for same, complete with all the new stationery and cards. Then he formally requested a £500,000 investment, new non-repayable capital funding from the parent company to startup a local added value Enterprise Centre. That would develop New Business so they could leverage more value from their customers, generate higher revenue, by adding more value to their products and services, and replace teh lost local jobs. Joseph wanted to secure and reinvest the balance of funds they had sequestered from their Irish subsidiary, not a penny more not a penny less so-to-speak; allowing for Relocation costs. The slate was then clean; justice could finally be done and seen to be done. Despite all the obstacles, had completed his two-year contract successfully on all the three fronts to which he committed in his original Report – relocation, restructuring and name change; everything else had changed beyond recognition. Joseph learned from that point in his life that his trust has to be hard-earned in future, never again given so freely; and that, without truth, justice was sure to die on the vine. Future contracts would always be more for Joseph after that than an offer, an acceptance and the compensation; the real kicker would be their intention. He vowed to listen in particular to his instincts, not shut out his gut feeling that protected him so often. Finally, job done, he was ready to move on. It would take twenty years more to fulfil his original ambition.
Eriuvation: A Village Vista 2020 