Chapter 502 A request

Alfayed is 73 years old, but judging from his appearance, he still has the meticulous old-money demeanor.

It is said that when he first came to Europe, in order to integrate into the upper class society, Alfayez hired a black valet who had served the Duke of Windsor for nearly 30 years to teach him aristocratic life, including dressing etiquette and hobbies. detail.

It is obvious that by now he has integrated these into his every word and deed.

"Your Royal Highness, in fact, before this, it was not for sale. The lofty status of Harrods cannot be compared with Marks and Spencer or Sainsbury's."

Al Fayed said this when talking about going to Harrods department store.

"In my opinion, there is no such thing as a non-sale product in this world, it is just a price..."

Barron smiled and said to him:

"The difference is that I believe that after more than 20 years of operation, you have some feelings for Harrods, and I hope it can get a better owner so that it can continue its glory."

His meaning is self-evident. If Harrods needs a better operator, then I am afraid that in terms of wealth, status and even resources, the whole of England, and even the world, is more suitable than Barron's. There are only a handful of people.

As mentioned before, Alfayed is 73 years old, and I am afraid that he has already thought about retiring at this time. In Barron's previous life, Harrods was sold for more than 1.5 billion in 2010. The price was sterling, and he was sold to Qatar Holding Company, owned by the Qatari royal family, because he had decided to retire and hoped to have more time to share his family with his children and grandchildren.

Barron's bid for this department store was US$2 billion. At that time, Alfayez spent US$600 million to purchase Harrods. If he chooses to sell it now, he will not only get nearly 2.5 times the income. , and the income that Harrods has brought to him over the years has been even more considerable.

Perhaps because Barron got his idea right, Alfayez said:

"Before that, I still need His Highness the Duke to agree to my request..."

"Please say."

"I hope that if you acquire it, you will ensure that the legacy I built there continues."

After hearing the other party's request, Barron nodded and said:

"I am a person who respects tradition very much, but trends are always changing. Sir, you should be able to understand that some outdated... traditions sometimes need to be changed."

I believe Alfayez can understand what Barron meant.

Everyone who walks into Harrods department store will be surprised by the luxurious furnishings inside the department store.

Dark marble, gilded walls, hieroglyphic reliefs, copper spiral staircases, and even a sphinx... This is a luxurious ancient Egyptian palace style, all originated from the current owner of Harrods department store, Al Faye Now - after he bought Harrods department store in 1985, he spent a lot of money to renovate the entire building. The original elegant British style was diluted by the Middle Eastern luxury style.

If the current style of Harrods can still be preserved by Barron's for a while, then the style of Diana and Alfayez's son Dodi in Harrods is very annoying to the royal family. I'm afraid Barron won't be able to keep the statue after the acquisition. Well, returning it to its original owner is the best option.

In doing so, you can also gain the favor of the royal family.

Of course, the reason why Barron's decided to acquire Harrods was not because of this, but because the department store was still very successful. Even during the subsequent subprime mortgage crisis, Harrods still performed well and did not Been too affected.

And as the world's most profitable department store, Harrods has only had one in London, which shows its strong ability to attract money.

Alfayed's statement also shows that he has basically agreed to the sale. Next, it is Yulia Moore's turn to complete the acquisition process.

…

October 18th was Barron’s birthday again, and Barron once again celebrated his second 27th birthday.

Before Barron's birthday, British Automotive Group formulated plans for new models of its brands.

Including Bentley's new flagship model Mulsanne, which is still equipped with the Volkswagen Group's w12 engine, Aston Martin's sports car Vantage, which is equipped with a Cosworth V8 engine, and the first SUV model DBX.

In fact, except for Aston Martin's SUV model DBX, which needs to start from the design, the remaining Bentley Mulsanne and Aston Martin Vantage sports cars already have ready-made design plans.

Because usually for many car brands, it usually takes 5-10 years from the day the design director first puts his ideas on paper to the day the first customer car is produced.

In fact, almost no new model project is carried out according to the estimated time plan.

No matter what model was eventually launched, how many cars were built, whether it was just 1,000 Aston Martins or 30,000 Land Rovers, none of them went according to plan, they were always delayed.

Therefore, when designers design a car, they are actually designing for the future ten years later - because today's design will be produced and purchased by people almost ten years later.

This means that among the various brands under the British Automobile Group, many have been designed several years ago, or even more than ten years ago, and may even have concept versions of models or even concept cars. car model.

It's just that before that, these models were advanced to varying degrees due to many factors, either because they were difficult to achieve with the technology at the time, or they were not in line with market trends, or for other reasons, and were ultimately not mass-produced.

And often the initial design of a concept car looks futuristic, but by the time it is released, they look more realistic, that is to say, there will be many changes in the details of the appearance.

So in fact, what Bentley, Aston Martin, and even Jaguar and Land Rover need to do is to choose the one that best suits their future positioning among these designs and complete mass production.

Among them, what Barron is most concerned about is naturally Bentley's new flagship model Mulsanne.

He personally went to Bentley's design center, and among those models, he saw a very familiar one - that should be the design concept drawing of the new Mulsanne released in 2009 in his previous life.

This design reminds Barron of the powerful and unique front face design of the previous Mulsanne, which retains the two iconic Bentley designs of the grille dome and round headlights.

The long hood, short front overhang and long rear overhang, the muscular design of the rear waistline and the clear lines extend gracefully from the front to the back. This series of exterior designs all demonstrate the rich classic British charm.

In fact, the name Mulsanne was used by Bentley as early as 1980. However, the Mulsanne at that time was a replica of the Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit. It adopted the same internal and external design, retaining only Bentley's unique features. There are grilles.

"The Mulsanne I hope to see is the pinnacle of British luxury car manufacturing. It should be the best Bentley ever made that Bentley can be proud of!"

After selecting this car design, Barron told Bentley's management.