Be Careful What You Wish For: The Clifton Chronicles 4 (12 page)

‘I will be dealing with that this morning. In fact, it’s one of the reasons I’m visiting my bank.’

‘I’m glad to hear that,’ said Rafferty. ‘It would be a pity if you were to lose another of your sons so soon after the unfortunate death of Bruno.’

‘Don’t threaten me!’ shouted Martinez.

‘It wasn’t a threat,’ said Rafferty, coming to a halt at the next light. ‘And it’s only because I like you that I’d let you choose which of your sons would be
allowed to survive.’

Martinez fell back in his seat and didn’t open his mouth again as the car continued on its journey, before finally coming to a halt outside the Midland Bank in St James’s.

Whenever Martinez walked up the steps of the bank, he felt he was entering another world, one in which he was made to feel he didn’t belong. He was just about to grasp the door handle,
when it swung open and a young man stepped forward.

‘Good morning, Mr Martinez. Mr Ledbury is looking forward to seeing you.’ Without another word, he led one of the bank’s most valued customers straight to the manager’s
office.

‘Good morning, Martinez,’ said the manager as Don Pedro entered the room. ‘Mild weather we’re having for this time of year.’

It had taken Martinez some time to accept that when an Englishman drops the Mr and refers to you only by your surname, it is in fact a compliment, because they are treating you as an equal. But
not until they call you by your first name can you be considered a friend.

‘Good morning, Ledbury,’ said Martinez, but he still wasn’t sure how to respond to the English obsession with the weather.

‘Can I get you some coffee?’

‘No, thank you. I have another appointment at twelve.’

‘Of course. We have, as you instructed, continued to purchase Barrington’s shares as and when they come on the market. As you are aware, now that you are in possession of twenty-two
point five per cent of the company’s stock, you are entitled to nominate two more directors to join Major Fisher on the board. However, I must stress that were your shareholding to increase
to twenty-five per cent, it would be a legal requirement for the bank to inform the Stock Exchange that you intend to make a takeover bid for the entire company.’

‘That’s the last thing I want to do,’ said Martinez. ‘Twenty-two point five per cent is quite enough to serve my purpose.’

‘Excellent, then all I require is the names of the two new directors you have chosen to represent you on the board of Barrington’s.’

Martinez removed an envelope from an inside pocket and handed it to the bank manager. Ledbury opened it, extracted the nomination form, and studied the names. Although he was surprised, he
didn’t comment. All he said was, ‘As your banker, I must add that I hope the unfortunate setbacks Barrington’s has experienced recently will not prove a problem for you in the
long term.’

‘I have never been more confident about the company’s future.’

‘I’m delighted to hear that, because the purchase of such a large number of shares has made considerable inroads into your capital. We must hope that the price will not fall any
lower.’

‘I think you’ll find that the company will shortly be making an announcement that should please both the shareholders and the City.’

‘That is indeed good news. Is there anything else I can do for you at the present time?’

‘Yes,’ said Martinez. ‘I would like you to transfer one hundred thousand pounds to an account in Zurich.’

‘I’m sorry to have to inform the board that I have decided to resign as chairman.’

The immediate reaction of Ross Buchanan’s colleagues was shock and disbelief, quickly followed by almost universal protest. One director remained silent: the only one who wasn’t
surprised by the announcement. It quickly became clear that almost every member of the board didn’t want Buchanan to stand down. The chairman waited for everyone to settle, before he
continued.

‘I’m touched by your loyalty, but it’s my duty to inform you that a major shareholder has made it clear that I no longer enjoy his confidence,’ he said, stressing the
word
his.
‘He reminded me, and quite rightly, that I put my full authority behind the building of the
Buckingham,
which in his opinion has proved to be ill-judged at best,
and irresponsible at worst. We have already missed the first two of our completion dates, and our expenditure is currently running at eighteen per cent over budget.’

‘All the more reason for you to stay on the bridge,’ said the admiral. ‘The skipper should be the last person to abandon ship when there’s a storm brewing.’

‘In this case I think our only hope is for me to abandon ship, admiral,’ said Buchanan. One or two heads bowed, and Emma feared that nothing she could say would make Buchanan change
his mind. ‘In my experience,’ he continued, ‘whenever circumstances such as those we are now facing arise, the City looks for fresh leadership to resolve the problem, and resolve
it quickly.’ Ross looked up at his colleagues, and added, ‘I am bound to say that I don’t think you’ll have to look beyond the current directors to find the right person to
take my place.’

‘Perhaps if we were to appoint Mrs Clifton and Major Fisher as joint deputy chairmen,’ suggested Anscott, ‘that might calm the nerves of our masters who occupy the Square
Mile.’

‘I’m afraid they would see that for what it is, Anscott, a short-term compromise. If at some time in the future Barrington’s needs to borrow even more cash, your new chairman
must go to the banks not cap in hand, but with confidence, the most important word in the City’s dictionary.’

‘Would it help, Ross’ – the first time Emma had called the chairman by his Christian name during a board meeting – ‘if I made it clear that my family has full
confidence in your stewardship and wishes you to remain as chairman?’

‘I’d be touched, of course, but the City would be unmoved, and would regard it as nothing more than a gesture. Although at a personal level, Emma, I am most grateful for your
support.’

‘And you can always rely on my support,’ Fisher chipped in. ‘I’ll back you to the end.’

‘That’s the problem, major. If I don’t go, it may well turn out to be the end, the end of this great company as we know it, and that isn’t something I could live
with.’ The chairman looked around the table in case anyone else wanted to offer an opinion, but they all now appeared to accept that the die had been cast.

‘At five o’clock this afternoon, after the Stock Exchange has closed, I shall announce that for personal reasons, I have tendered my resignation as chairman of the board of
Barrington Shipping. However, with your agreement, I will remain in charge of the day-to-day affairs of the company until a new chairman has been appointed.’

No one raised any objection. The meeting broke up a few minutes later, and Emma was not surprised to see Fisher quickly leave the boardroom. He returned twenty minutes later to join his
colleagues for lunch.

‘You’ll need to play your one trump card,’ said Martinez after Fisher had told him the details of what had happened at the board meeting.

‘And what might that be?’

‘You’re a man, and there isn’t a publicly listed company in the country that has a female chairman. In fact, few even have a woman on the board.’

‘Emma Clifton makes a habit of breaking the mould,’ Fisher reminded him.

‘Maybe so, but can you think of any of your fellow directors who might not be able to stomach the idea of a woman chairman?’

‘No, but—’

‘But?’

‘I do know that Knowles and Anscott voted against women being allowed inside the club house of the Royal Wyvern Golf Club on match days.’

‘Then let them know how much you admire their principled stand, and that you would have done the same had you been a member of the club.’

‘I did, and I am,’ said the major.

‘Then that’s two votes in the bag. What about the admiral? After all, he’s a bachelor.’

‘A possibility. I remember he abstained when her name was first put up as a board member.’

‘A possible third.’

‘But even if they did back me, that’s still only three votes, and I’m fairly certain the other four directors would support Mrs Clifton.’

‘Don’t forget, I’ll be appointing two more directors the day before the meeting is due to take place. That will give you six votes, more than enough to tip the balance in your
favour.’

‘Not if the Barringtons were to take up all the other places on the board. Then I’d still need another vote to be certain of victory, because if the result was a tie, I’m
fairly sure Buchanan would give his casting vote to Mrs Clifton.’

‘Then we’ll need to have another director in place by next Thursday.’

Both men fell silent, until Martinez said, ‘Can you think of anyone who has a little spare cash, remembering how cheap the shares are at the moment, and who wouldn’t, under any
circumstances, want Mrs Clifton to be the next chairman of Barrington’s?’

‘Yes,’ said Fisher without hesitation. ‘I know someone who detests Emma Clifton even more than you do, and she’s recently been awarded a large divorce
settlement.’

‘G
OOD MORNING
,’ said Ross Buchanan, ‘and welcome to this extraordinary general meeting. There is only one item on today’s
agenda, namely to appoint a new chairman of the Barrington Shipping Company. I would like to open by saying what a privilege it’s been to serve as your chairman for the past five years, and
how sad I am to relinquish that post. However, for reasons I do not need to rake over again, I feel this is an appropriate time to stand down and allow someone else to take my place.

‘My first responsibility,’ he continued, ‘is to introduce those shareholders who have joined us today and who are entitled to vote at an EGM, as set out in the statutes of the
company’s constitution. One or two of those seated around this table will be familiar to the board, while others may not be quite as well known. On my right is Mr David Dixon, the
company’s chief executive, and on my left is Mr Philip Webster, the company secretary. To his left is our finance director, Mr Michael Carrick. Seated next to him is Rear Admiral Summers,
then Mrs Clifton, Mr Anscott, Mr Knowles, Major Fisher and Mr Dobbs, all of whom are non-executive directors. They are joined today by individuals or representatives of companies who have a large
shareholding in Barrington’s, including Mr Peter Maynard and Mrs Alex Fisher, both of whom are Major Fisher’s nominees, as he now represents twenty-two point five per cent of the
company.’ Maynard beamed, while Susan Fisher bowed her head and blushed when everyone turned to look at her.

‘Representing the Barrington family and their twenty-two per cent holding are Sir Giles Barrington MC MP and his sister, Dr Grace Barrington. The other two individuals present who have
also met the legal requirement to vote on this occasion are the Lady Virginia Fenwick’ – Virginia patted Fisher on the back, leaving no one in any doubt where her support lay,
‘and –’ the chairman checked his notes – ‘Mr Cedric Hardcastle, who represents Farthings Bank, which currently holds seven point five per cent of the company’s
stock.’

Everyone around the table turned to look at the one person none of them had come across before. He was dressed in a three-piece grey suit, white shirt and well-worn blue silk tie. He
couldn’t have been more than an inch over five foot, and he was almost completely bald except for a thin semi-circle of grey hair that barely reached his ears. Because he wore thick,
horn-rimmed glasses, it was almost impossible to guess his age. Fifty? Sixty? Possibly even seventy? Mr Hardcastle removed his glasses to reveal steel-grey eyes, and Emma felt certain that she had
seen him before, but couldn’t remember where.

‘Good morning, Mr Chairman,’ was all he said, although those four words revealed which county he hailed from.

‘Let us move on to the business at hand,’ said Buchanan. ‘By the deadline of six o’clock yesterday evening, two candidates had allowed their names to be put forward as
prospective chairmen: Mrs Emma Clifton, who is proposed by Sir Giles Barrington MC MP, and seconded by Dr Grace Barrington, and Major Alex Fisher, proposed by Mr Anscott and seconded by Mr Knowles.
Both candidates will now address the board on how they see the future of the company. I call upon Major Fisher to open proceedings.’