"Lord Golding's office" said a bright, cheery, voice. I explained who I was, and was connected right away.
"Elle, thank you for calling."
"You're welcome Lord Golding. I understand you want Pearson Hardwick to take over the governance work for the bank?"
"I do indeed. You don't need to be formal with me Elle, please call me Oscar. Yes, we've been using Odey and Corbett, but in light of the high praise your firm's receiving from all sides, I thought it was time for a change. I hope you don't mind me requesting you as my contact, only I know how exact and precise you are."
"That's fine Oscar, I don't bear any grudge. I'm delighted to welcome you as a client. Just let me know how Pearson Hardwick can assist you." I kept my voice even and professional. I was determined not to allow Oscar to rattle me.
"Would you prefer to discuss this in either of our offices, or would it be better to meet for lunch?" Oscar was testing me. I didn't fancy going to his office just yet, not with the memories of what we did there last time so fresh in my mind.
"I have a mad schedule this week, all the lunchtimes are booked for meetings already. I can do Wednesday afternoon at three in my office, or tomorrow evening for dinner?" I cringed slightly as I said it, but part of my job was to wine and dine clients, and Oscar was now an important client. Sly bastard, I thought.
"Tomorrow evening would be great. Should I book somewhere?"#p#分页标题#e#
"That would be fine. I'll pick you up around 7.30?" I was determined to maintain an element of control.
"Oh, ok, sure. I'll see you tomorrow." He sounded puzzled. Truth was that I didn't want him anywhere near my flat. Tomorrow night he'd be meeting 'Professional Elle', not his ex girlfriend, 'compliant Elle.' I added it into my already mad schedule, wondering when I'd get time to do the mundane chores that keep my polished persona alive, and looking respectable.
My phone chirped with a text from James.
*well done little Elle, kick ass ms lawyer. Pleased 4 u. Wish I was home 4 celebration*
I met the first of my new clients for lunch that day, the CEO of a major software company, whose firm were considering a flotation on the AIM market. I took him to lunch in the Italian
restaurant on the ground floor that Oscar had introduced me to.
His name was Steve Robbins. He was in his late forties, rather geeky, and extremely nervy. He explained that he had begun his company in his spare bedroom many years ago, and had grown it himself to be a major player in the world of financial software. He supplied the software for all the major stock exchanges around the world, and had built the most commonly used trading platform for hedge funds and stockbrokers. I asked Steve what he hoped to gain by floating, and he blushed slightly as he told me he had met his future wife, and wanted to be able to devote time, and money, to his new life as a husband, rather than all his money being tied up in his company, and his time devoted to micro-managing every aspect of it. He wanted some spare cash, and to take a director's role, rather than be an owner.
Lunch flew by as I outlined how a flotation worked, what he could expect in terms of the process, and how we would partner with our preferred accountants, and an investment bank, to oversee the process. I explained how we would set up a new board of directors and arrange the legal side of the new PLC. Before our meeting ended, I promised to type up some bullet points, and email him all the information. I also arranged to email some projections based on his last three years accounts, so he could decide whether a flotation would generate the cash he wanted.
"I can see why Ivan rates you so much," he said, surprising me, "I can tell you know your stuff. I'll wait for your email, and once I know where we are money wise, I'll be instructing. I won't bother speaking to any other law firms now."
I smiled widely."Good, I look forward to hearing from you," and paid the bill before heading back to my office. As soon as I got back, I called our contact at Deloitte, and asked for the projections. I found information about the pros and cons of floating a company, and saved them, ready to add to the projections when they came in. I had worked on a flotation during my traineeship, so was pretty familiar with the processes. Just to be sure, I nipped along to my old office to speak to Matt, who was quite the expert, and who had handled a lot of flotations for the firm. He checked over the info I was planning to send to Steve, and added a few notes of his own, so a complete package would go over.
Back in my office, my phone rang. "Good afternoon Elle, did you have a good weekend?" Ivan's sultry voice purred at me. "The girls missed you yesterday, almost sulked when they realised they had to put up with just me for the day."