chairman assured him that the major seemed a decent enough chap, rarely opened his mouth at board meetings and certainly wasn’t causing any trouble, Giles was not convinced. He didn’t believe Fisher was capable of changing his spots. But with an imminent election on the cards, at which the Tories were expected to increase their majority, as well as the mystery as to why Virginia still hadn’t signed her decree nisi papers despite her having begged him to give her grounds for divorce, Fisher was the least of his problems.
‘Gentlemen,’ said the chairman of Barrington Shipping, ‘I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to suggest that the proposal I’m making today might well prove to be a turning point in the history of the company. This bold new venture proposed by Mr Compton, our managing director, has my full backing, and I will be inviting the board to support a plan that the company build its first new passenger liner since the war, in an attempt to keep pace with our great rivals, Cunard and P&O. I would like to believe that our founder, Joshua Barrington, would have applauded such an initiative.’
Alex listened intently. He had come to respect Sir William Travers, who had replaced Hugo Barrington – not that anyone ever referred to the past chairman – as a shrewd and intelligent operator, regarded by both the industry and the city as a safe pair of hands.
‘The capital outlay will unquestionably stretch our reserves,’ continued Sir William, ‘but our bankers are willing to support us, as our figures show that even if we are able to sell only 40 per cent of the cabin space on the new vessel, we would recoup our investment within five years. I’ll be happy to answer any of the board’s questions.’
‘Do you think the public might still have the fate of the Titanic fixed indelibly in their subconscious, making them wary of sailing on a new luxury liner?’ asked Fisher.
‘That’s a fair point, major,’ replied Sir William, ‘but Cunard’s recent decision to add another vessel to their fleet would rather suggest that a new generation of travellers have noticed that there hasn’t been a major shipping accident involving a luxury liner since that tragic disaster in 1912.’
‘How long would it take for us to build this ship?’
‘If the board gives the go-ahead, we would put the contract out to tender immediately, and hope to appoint specialist marine architects by the end of the year, with a view to the vessel being launched in three years’ time.’
Alex waited for another member of the board to ask a question he didn’t want to ask himself.
‘What is the estimated cost?’
‘It’s hard to give an exact figure,’ admitted Sir William, ‘but I have allowed for three million pounds in our budget. However, I would consider that to be an overestimate.’
‘Let’s hope so,’ said another board member. ‘And we’ll need to inform the shareholders what we have in mind.’
‘I agree,’ said Sir William. ‘I will do so at our AGM next month, at which I shall also be pointing out that our profit forecasts are most encouraging, and I can see no reason why we shouldn’t pay our shareholders the same dividend as last year. Even so, the board must face the possibility that some of our shareholders may be wary of this change in direction, not to mention such a large capital outlay. This might well cause a fall in our share price. However, once the City realizes we have the resources to cover any short-term difficulties, it should only be a matter of time before our shares fully recover. Any more questions?’
‘Have we settled on a name for the new passenger division of the company, and for its first ship?’ asked Fisher.
‘We’re thinking of calling the new division the Palace Line, and its first liner the Buckingham, signalling the company’s commitment to a new Elizabethan era.’
On that, the board were in full agreement.
‘Explain it to me once again,’ said Virginia.
‘Sir William will announce at the AGM next Thursday that Barrington’s is going to build a luxury liner to rival anything Cunard and P&O currently have on the high seas, with an estimated cost of three million pounds.’
‘That sounds like a rather bold and imaginative step to me.’
‘And risky to others, because most investors on the stock market are neither bold nor imaginative, and will be anxious about the construction costs rising and the difficulty of selling enough cabin space to cover the capital expenditure. But