Chapter 7 Downsizing

If Barron is given enough time, he is confident that with a certain amount of original capital, he can earn enough money in the capital market to save the family assets!

But now it seems that I still need to speed up the progress, so the initial amount of original capital is more important.

This is what he is doing now, trying to raise as much funds as he can use.

At this time, there are actually many financial investment opportunities.

For example, international oil prices have started to rise since the end of last year.

Now, the international oil price is around US$25 per barrel. Although there will be fluctuations in the future, it will generally be in an upward channel. It was not until mid-July 2008 that the international oil price reached a high point. Close to $150 per barrel.

It can be said that this is a long-term bullish opportunity, but in the short term, if you want to solve the current funding problem, you need a way that can produce faster results.

"Master Barron, there is something you need to decide."

At this time, the butler Sean said to Barron:

"It's about the arrangement of servants. Now we have three more personal servants at home. In addition, given our current situation, I'm afraid the previous configuration of servants can also be adjusted, which can save a lot of money..."

What the butler Sean was referring to was that after Barron's father, eldest brother and grandmother passed away, the trio's personal servants became redundant.

And now there is only one member of the Cavendish family, Barron, which means that he is the only master left in this manor. Therefore, the original number of servants of more than thirty people is reduced to It seems too much and could be streamlined.

After all, as a butler, Sean must consider the main family first.

Speaking of these, we need to talk about some configurations of servants in noble families.

Generally in a traditional aristocratic family, there will be a butler who serves as the head of all servants.

Just like in the Cavendish family, the butler is Sean, who can usually be called the butler directly. He is responsible for coordinating and managing the affairs of the entire family, as well as taking care of some more valuable items, such as the wine cellar and silver tableware... …

In addition, there will be a housekeeper who is mainly responsible for managing the maids in the home. In addition to serving as the housekeeper's assistant, she is responsible for directing the tidying and cleaning of the home.

In the Cavendish family, the housekeeper is named Riley. She has been the housekeeper of the family since her mother's generation.

Then there is the cook, who is responsible for the affairs of the kitchen. Usually the cook, the male butler and the female housekeeper are all high-level servants.

The cook enjoys supreme rights in the kitchen. For example, at some family banquets, the cook has the right to refuse requests for meals other than the menus set in advance.

Then there are valets and valets. A valet is a servant who accompanies female members to take care of their daily life; a valet is a servant who accompanies male members to take care of their daily life.

As for other male servants and maids, when there are more than two, there will also be certain levels, such as chief male servant, first male servant, etc.

Therefore, for a family of the size of the Duke of Devonshire, it is very normal for each family member to have his own personal servant - even Barron stayed in London most of the time before, and the family made arrangements for him. Ramos, the valet.

So now, there is no need to retain the three redundant personal servants, which can also save the manor's expenses.

In addition, the original number of servants of more than thirty people can also be streamlined.

"How was it usually handled before?"

After hearing Barron's question, Butler Sean said:

"They will all be dismissed. When there is no need for so many people, the decision will be based on their daily performance. And when we dismiss them, for those servants who have worked hard for the family before, we can help them to be the next one. Patrons write letters of recommendation, which are often very helpful for their subsequent job applications.”

"Then let's proceed like this, Butler Sean, you can decide these things."

Barron waved his hand and said.

"in addition……"

Butler Sean hesitated for a moment:

"Anna, the old lady's former personal housekeeper, is almost sixty years old and has served the old lady for forty years... I'm afraid it will be difficult for her to find another job at her age..."

"We cannot be impersonal towards such a person. You can ask her opinion. If she still wants to work, then we can provide her with an easier job. If she hopes to live a long life, then we can pay for her future expenses. Part of the cost of living.”

In the beginning, more respectable aristocratic families would provide pensions for servants like Anna who had served the family for most of their lives. However, with the improvement of the entire social security system, their salary already includes this part of the pension. Therefore, what Barron said is to provide the other party with an additional subsidy in addition to the pension.

"You are so kind, Master Barron. God will bless you."

Originally, the butler Sean was a little worried. Based on his previous understanding of Master Barron, he was likely to be unkind, so after Barron said such words, he did not hesitate to praise him and was still very emotional. of.

"Then if you look at this asset catalogue, if you don't sell those jewelry and antiques, how much cash can you get out?"

Barron asked, handing back to him the inventory of assets that Butler Sean had given to his family to hold directly.

"In my opinion, at most £100,000 of funds can be used..."

Hearing this amount, Barron sighed. Most of his family's assets have been injected into the family trust fund, and he believed that the cash portion of the assets originally held directly would inevitably be invested in the "London Star" fraud project. …

At this point, this part of the assets can only be used for Barron's investment with 100,000 pounds of funds, just as Sean's butler said to him.

But with this money, it is very difficult and almost impossible to get back the planned 35 million pounds of funds in the capital market.

Even though Barron has experience in his previous life, for the capital market at this time, he can only remember some key nodes at most. It is impossible to remember all the price trends of investment products.

Seeing Barron's slightly melancholy expression, Butler Sean said:

"Master, are you going to use it to pay inheritance tax? In fact, you can temporarily sell those jewelry and antiques or mortgage them..."

"I'm going to invest it, otherwise I won't have the money to pay the inheritance tax and bank loans anyway."

"invest?!"

Butler Sean was shocked when he heard that Barron was ready to invest:

"But Master, investment is risky. It is very possible that all the money will be lost..."

It can be seen that after the family's investment loss in the "London Star", Butler Sean is particularly sensitive to the word "investment".

What's more, in his eyes, how could the young master, who only used to spend time and alcohol, invest... Even the master lost such a large sum of money because of investment, which put the Cavendish family into such a situation at this time. In the midst of a big crisis!