SWDnovel Chapter 129 Core Meeting
Chapter 129 Core Meeting
Chapter 129 Core Meeting
1764 5 Month 22 Day.
Chen Wenbin returned to London on the morning of the second day.
A courtier arrived at Robin's residence and respectfully presented an invitation from King George III and Queen Diana to visit Buckingham House that afternoon.
To outsiders, this appeared to be His Majesty the King's high regard for Sir Robin, a newly rich man. However, Chen Wenbin knew very well that the actual situation was that His Majesty the King was already eager to receive his share of the profits from Robin Pharmacy.
In his last personal letter to George III, aside from the end of the letter telling him not to cause trouble in France, most of the content was about marveling at the money-making ability of Robin Pharmacy and Robin Metals, and about the financial difficulties of the royal family.
For example, when he wanted to renovate and expand Buckingham Palace, Parliament refused to approve the funds. Some MPs even argued that the King shouldn't waste money expanding the palace when Britain was tightening its belt to pay off its debts.
The meaning behind George III's letter was quite clear: "I want to build a garden, so send me the money now!"
"Looks like being rich doesn't necessarily bring happiness! There are just too many people eyeing you—"
After the court attendants left, Chen Wenbin sighed to himself, then sent someone to summon his core team and key members in London.
The group included the Adams brothers, John Morris, manager of Robin Metals, Henry Hopkins, deputy manager of the London Textile Company, Edward Scott, manager of the Providence Shipping Company, Smith, treasurer of Robin Company, Stevenson, deputy manager of Robin Metals, Glock of Robin Construction, Lawrence, manager of Robin Pharmacy, Eric Lovelat, manager of Pacific Trading Company, Anthony, head of security, and James Holly, a trusted aide, totaling twelve people.
At 11:30 a.m., in the conference room on the first floor of Robin's mansion.
Lord Chen sat in the main seat, his gaze sweeping over everyone, making eye contact with each of them. From their expressions, it was clear that they were all in a good mood.
One of the main purposes of today's meeting is for Boss Chen to work with them to develop a mid-year employee bonus distribution plan, which will provide bonuses and stock options to employees and management who have performed well in the past six months.
These core executives of the company naturally received generous bonuses and even some company shares, so of course they were happy.
"—Great, it seems everyone is really looking forward to today's meeting!"
Chen Wenbin gave an opening speech, then nodded to them and said, "First of all, I want to thank you all for your hard work over the past five months—because you have created a figure—165,981 pounds 11 shillings and 5p!"
He pointed to John Smith, the finance director, who was sitting third from the right.
"This figure was just told to me by Mr. Smith. It represents the total sales generated by all companies except London Textiles in the past five months. It's a remarkable achievement!"
It proves what kind of miracles can be created when innovative technologies and inventions are combined with professional operation and management!
Now, I want to applaud you, and you should applaud yourselves, because you are the creators of miracles!
You deserve this honor!
After speaking, Boss Chen stood up with a smile and watched everyone applaud. Seeing this, the others excitedly stood up and applauded vigorously as well.
"Sir! This is a miracle you have created! I am honored to follow you!"
Someone clapped and shouted.
Chen Wenbin and the others looked in the direction of the voice and saw that it was James Holly, an Irishman sitting at the end of the table, who was flushed with excitement.
Chen Wenbin's smile widened, while the others inwardly despised this street urchin, but outwardly praised their boss.
Stevenson, the deputy manager of Robin Metals Company who had already written a letter of allegiance to Chen Wenbin, immediately exclaimed excitedly, "That's right! It is you who truly created this miracle! Without your technology and promotion, those nobles would not have placed such a frenzy of orders for our royal carriages!"
"You invented both morphine and aspirin!"
Lawrence, the manager of Robin Pharmacy, clapped his fat hands vigorously and exclaimed exaggeratedly, "My God! I never imagined that medicine could be so profitable!"
"The Robin Building and the pre-sale apartments were also your inventions—truly brilliant and ingenious ideas! You must have received divine inspiration!"
This is Glock, the manager of Robin Construction. He truly admires Boss Chen for being able to sell the blueprints at a high price in advance using a sand table.
As they bragged more and more outrageously, Chen Wenbin quickly gestured for them to sit down. "Sit down! Everyone, sit down!"
"Relax a bit, I have to see the King this afternoon, so I don't have time to listen to your flattery."
After a burst of laughter, everyone took their seats. Those familiar with Chen Wenbin knew that this boss was a very easy-going person as long as you didn't infringe on his interests. Therefore, they didn't fawn over him like the others had before.
John Adams, Chen Wenbin's secretary, stood up and said, "—Next, I would like each gentleman to introduce the operation and financial situation of the company they are in charge of, starting with Mr. Morris."
John Morris, seated first on the left, nodded, opened the prepared summary materials, and said to everyone, "Sirs, gentlemen, I shall begin."
Since its inception, Robin Metals has launched three products: the Diana sewing machine, the Robin spring scale, and the King's Carriage.
Chen Wenbin listened attentively while taking notes on paper with a graphite pencil, occasionally asking questions of the presenter.
Forty-five minutes later, all twelve people had finished their reports, and he had a general understanding of the current situation of each company.
Overall, he currently controls three main profitable companies: Robin Metals, Robin Pharmaceuticals, and Robin Construction.
The most profitable of them all is undoubtedly Robin Pharmaceuticals, which has earned £94,000 in the past five months thanks to morphine, aspirin, and the London Robin Hospital. This is only because the supply of morphine was cut off and new raw materials have not yet been shipped from India; otherwise, they would have earned even more.
Secondly, there was Robin Metal Company, which received an advance payment of up to £30,000 by providing the same spring-loaded carriages as the king to the nobility. In addition, it earned £4,000 by mass-producing spring scales and selling sewing machines as assembly parts in its spring factory.
As for Robin Construction's income, it all comes from pre-sale housing payments, and the funds are basically from the employees of Chen Wenbin's various companies. However, most of these funds are used for the development of Robin New Town in London and cannot be used for the time being.
It's worth mentioning that the two newspapers Chen Wenbin had acquired, the London Chronicle and the Popular GG newspaper, as well as the KFC fast food chain he impulsively instructed the chefs to create, all actually turned a profit!
The two newspapers earned him a combined £230 over five months, while KFC, with its uniquely flavored fried chicken, fries, and beef patty burgers, along with its open kitchen model, carved out a niche for itself in French-dominated London.
Opinions among Londoners are mixed. Most of the wealthier citizens are satisfied with seeing the food being prepared, and the fried chicken burgers and fries with ketchup taste good.
Although food prices are much higher, at least there's no need to worry about getting diarrhea after eating at unfamiliar restaurants. Therefore, many wealthy Londoners choose to have their servants buy food from KFC to change things up.
The older generation of London's high society who admired French cuisine scoffed at KFC's simple food, considering it not proper at all. However, some aristocratic young people loved KFC's simplicity and efficiency.
As for ordinary people who can only afford bread, they can't afford a hamburger that costs at least 1 shilling, so they are not KFC's target audience.
KFC's specific revenue and profit situation is as follows: it opened seven restaurants in three months, with a total revenue of £5,000, but the profit was only £880, with an average profit of £120-£130 per store.
But this model is replicable. Just by opening one more store in London, you can make about £40 in profit every month, and that may increase in the future. It's a real cash cow.
Of course, Chen Wenbin's most profitable company was the London Textile Group, which monopolized cotton yarn textiles.
This company makes just as much money as Robin Pharmacy by selling Jenna spinning machines and spinning businesses, and is rapidly merging with other spinning and weaving workshops. It has even established a machinery factory to process and manufacture spinning machines, weaving machines, and sewing machines.
However, Chen Wenbin now only owns 13% of the company's shares, having lost control. The company's board of directors has no plans to distribute dividends in the short term, so he is basically just waiting to cash out and leave.