If I don't do anything then.....

I have posted here before about the situation the company I work for finds itself. Anyway, last week Thursday, just before I went to the doctor, the guy who own the place next door asked if he could come and view the property. He has in the past indicated an interest in buying it, but that discussion didn't bear fruit.

Now he's interested again. So much so that before I got home after his viewing, I got a call from the current owner to say he had made an offer, and it was for more than she was expecting!

Okay, so he really wants the place! I know he tried to buy the place behind the one next door, but that's not for sale. So, my advise to the landlady was to get hold of my boss, and let him know that if he does not put in an offer now, she's going to sell, and he will have to move.

Thing is, the lease here comes up at the end of May, around 6 weeks time. If this property gets sold, then we have to move. We have to find alternative workshops which suit our needs. We will have to get forklifts, riggers and crane trucks to move all the machines and equipment. The cost, my estimate, would be around R200k, depending how far we move. Then, in the new premises, we would have to get an electrical company to upgrade and fit the distribution boards, and pull in all the cables required to power the machines. My estimate here is between R300 and R400k! Along with being out of production for probably 4 - 6weeks.

This morning I went to where his offices are, and met with him. I explained the above, and recommended that he seriously consider buying the property. He listened and said that he had been in contact with the bank (for financing?), and they just needed one more document from him.

Let's see how this goes.

On another (related?) note, last month they didn't load the pay on time, and we all got paid late. It took for me to drive to his offices, and request they make it immediate clearance (which costs the company money), and ensure my staff get paid same day. Before I got back to the office we had all been paid. This month, I called him the night before payday, at around 6pm. I explained that I was checking that he had cleared the payments online, and he confirmed he had. Great, I thought.

The next morning (Friday 25/03/2025), I saw no notification on my cell phone from the bank. I get to work, and the employees confirm none of them have been paid! Damn! I make a call to the main office, and speak to the lady who loads the payments onto the banking system. She confirms that the payments were not released. I ask her to change them to "Immediate clearance" and get the boss to release. Then I call my staff together, and tell them there has again been a hiccup, but I promise that they will get paid before we knock off!

Lucky, about 2 hours later the wages came through, everyone got their notifications from their banks, and that problem was sorted.

I look like the hero now, but that aside, we really don't need this kind of stress. My staff don't earn bombs, don't have access to other funds, so depend on their pay coming in on time.

As it is, we gat paid on the last Friday of every month, but next week I'm meeting with the FM and CEO, and asking them to change it to the 25th of every month. That way, if there is a hiccup, we have a day or two to sort it out.

And this morning I received a message from the current landlord to confirm that the boss had indicated he will be sending her an offer, matching the other one she had received. So looks like he's buying. And, the offer was a couple ok 100k above her original asking price!

Enuff of that.....have another subject I want to post about - on my other blog.