Page 61 - Be Reasonable – Do It My Way , Peter E. Daly AM, My Story

CHAPTER 5 - PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
he was using Sandy’s office which was always void of paper. It was the cleanest desk you could ever imagine with a lovely leather inlay. Anyway, while he was there Alan lit a cigarette and the top of the match dropped on the inlay and burnt a hole. Given Sandy was due to return in a few days, we had to arrange for the inlay leather to be replaced and this was also a problem because all the drawers were locked. Anyway, we achieved the task.
Alan was notorious for being late or arriving at the last minute. I never forget we were having a dinner party at home and of course the notable person hadn’t arrived.
We were all dressed in shorts or casual wear but knowing that he would turn up sooner or later, I put my dinner jacket on and opened the top of the kitchen door which was split like a stable door meaning he could only see the top half of me when he arrived. It was shortly after that he pitched up, pulled up in the driveway with a big screech stopped outside the kitchen, saw me, reversed out again and went home. When he came back he was wearing his dinner jacket! We all had a great laugh at his expense.
When I was transferred to Australia I was requested to spend some time in the UK studying the Australian business plans etc. When I was there I met Alan’s mother and we had Devonshire tea which was very sophisticated at the Hilton. She asked me whether Alan would follow me to Australia. I must say this came as somewhat of a surprise, because Alan and I only tentatively discussed this, although I had a strong feeling that if I asked him to come, he would certainly follow and join us in Australia.
Anyway, it stuck in my mind and I had a chat with Alan who incidentally I was communicating with even more than I did when I was in South Africa. He was helping me write the Corporate Plan for the future of the Australian operations. Australia, like us in South Africa, had not been all that sophisticated in planning and there was opportunity to bring something to Australia and at long last add value.
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