Pope - Hotel secrets: a cautionary tale of hope & hospitality

Hotel Secrets

A Cautionary Tale of Hope & Hospitality

Harry Pope

First published in 2019 by

AG Books

www.agbooks.co.uk

Digital edition converted and distributed by

Andrews UK Limited

www.andrewsuk.com

Copyright 2019 Harry Pope

The right of Harry Pope to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Any person who does so may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

The views and opinions expressed herein belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect those of AG Books or Andrews UK Limited.

Prologue

Picture this scene... We are in the lounge of the Sheldon Hotel in Eastbourne, East Sussex. Present are the four joint owners one local couple and a husband-and-wife from California in the USA. Their accountant is also in attendance, along with his assistant. Also seated is a senior representative from the commercial office of NatWest Bank. And a solicitor.

The local man and wife are the writer of this book, Harry, and his better half, Pam. They are in their 50s, with a very strong independent commercial background. He is almost bald, she is not. Somewhat comfortably proportioned, he has been self-employed for the past sixteen years, initially owning a South London executive car hire business, which they ran very successfully as a couple. They make an excellent team, have been married for well over thirty years, confide in each other, are comfortable with each other, and trust each others judgment implicitly.

The Californian and his wife we shall call Mark and Deanna. Not their real names, because Harry is going to be revealing a lot, and doesnt particularly want to be sued... or worse. This comment will be explained as you read on.

They have been friends for six years, liking each others company, but never really close . A mutual respect, however, has steadily grown. This is about to be shattered.

Mark is a businessman very close to the Pacific ocean. He has a factory that manufactures custom parts for vehicles that are out of production, particularly bumpers and exhausts. Ostensibly this is a very successful business, with twenty employees and no partners. Mark has never had a business partner. He is over six feet tall with a strong physique, and is very used to getting his own way with whatever he does. Quite ruthless, he loves to show power. Dont shake hands with Mark.

Deanna is lovely. She is from a family of airheads. Her mother and father invested in the factory, but are not partners , just employees . Mother has a lovely nature, just like her daughter, who likes to spend money. Deanna has accounts with all the shopping channels; going to the store isnt particularly important... but getting on that phone and having something delivered is . At home she has two pets: an indolent psychotic cat that bites the hand that feeds it (Nasty) and a miniature chihuahua dog (but which thinks its a St. Bernard) that should be carried everywhere. Deanna is slim with the figure of a model in her 40s.

Mike, the account manager from NatWest, is one of the nicest bankers you could meet. He has a twinkle in his eye, can see beyond a balance sheet, and has been part of the business community for many years. He has a lot of contacts, and recommended the accountant. Mike is slim, hes wearing a conservative grey pin-striped suit, his thinning grey hair is cut short, and he comes across as one of the good guys in life. Which is true, because he is.

An accountant with a sense of humour? Yup, that is Steve; young for a junior partner in his 30s. He brings a wealth of experience to the meeting and is also respected in the local business community, which he has been a part of all his working years. Again, slim, he has discarded his jacket still wearing his tie, though. A couple of children and their mother at home, Steve has the confidence of his position, knowing he is good at his job.

Alongside him is a very senior employee of the practice, a young man who will go places because he is driven by ambition. Shrewd, gives good advice when asked, otherwise he just listens. Matt is one of those driven to succeed in what profession he chose, it is just coincidental that accountancy is what he is doing; it could be anything and he would be good at it.

There are three top legal practices in Eastbourne. One man present is senior partner with number three. Again, he has a lot of local knowledge; hes respected, influential. Tubby, short and bald... but dont let appearances deceive. Hes a very shrewd man. Harry doesnt want to describe him too well, as this man is still actively involved in the Eastbourne business community, and despite the fact that they havent met for many years, it could prove embarrassing for both as the events of this sorry tale evolve.

The door to the hotel lounge is closed, and this is the very first gathering of all of them, despite the fact that the hotel has been owned by the partnership for three months already. That is because Mark and Deanna have not been able to travel over since before Christmas due to commitments in California, so all present are intrigued to discuss the first three months.

So, you have all seen the figures for the first three months, said Harry. Bearing in mind they have been February March and April, the leanest time of the hotel year, I think I can be conservatively pleased. They are certainly an improvement on those provided to us by the previous owners up by 20%, but bear in mind that they were somewhat underplayed for accountancy reasons.

Steve the accountant: I think that these figures cause no concern, they have met what Harry said before the hotel was purchased; so far he has been proven right.

Mike the banker: I agree. He didnt try to forecast spectacular figures, and we havent got those. But they do show movement in the right direction.

Mark the Californian partner: I am glad we are all agreed, because I have to share something with you that none of you are aware of. That is, due to my debt situation in California, I need to have 6,000 transferred across every month to cover my outlay.

The room went very quiet.

Steve said but that just cant happen .

Mark replied It MUST happen. I have debts that have to be covered.

Steve: What debts?

Mark: Credit cards.

Harry: What credit cards?

Mark: You didnt realise, but when I was raising my share, I was short, so had to borrow on my credit cards.

Harry: How much did you have to borrow?

Mark: 100,000.

Steve: A new business just cant sustain that level of debt. You will never retrieve what you put in. On that basis, my advice would be to sell the hotel immediately and cut your losses.

Harry knew that from that moment on, his partnership in the Sheldon Hotel, Eastbourne, was doomed.

...

And he was right.

Chapter One: How It Started

We had lived in Cheam on the South London and north Surrey borders for the majority of our lives. Married in 1973, I had been involved in the funeral profession for many years, almost the start of our marriage, and in 1990 we had started our own business. This was called Cheam Limousines.

January 1990 I bought my first commercial vehicle, which was a basic model Daimler DS420 limousine. For those unaware, this had no air conditioning, a fridge in winter and an oven in summer, made by Daimler/Jaguar as a specialist limousine. By four years we had added a Mercedes 500 S Class in white; another couple of years and we had expanded sufficiently to have five cars and two full time drivers as well as me and a team of part-time drivers. That was when the first major contract arrived.