The Birth of the Hong Kong Island Family.

Chapter 254 [New Year's Plan]

At the end of the year, Cheung Kong Industries, Global Shipping, and Cheung Kong Industries (sales department) moved into the Crocodile Shirt Building at the same time.

鳄鱼恤大厦共16层及一层地铺，环球大厦在15~16层办公，长江实业在13~14层办公，长江工业（销售部）、优衣库服装公司、公仔面则在12层办公室。

In other words, the company owns a five-story office building, and of course has to pay the rent; the other eight-story office building has 30% of overseas companies.

At 08:30 in the morning, Lin Zhichao came to Global Shipping, did not go directly into the office, but inspected it.

"Boss, morning"

"morning"

Everyone is in good spirits. After all, they have moved into a first-class Grade A office building, and they feel comfortable.

When Lin Zhichao came to the 'Information Command Center', there were four staff members; in fact, this information hub center is in operation 24 hours a day, and there are always people on duty.

"Is there a problem with the radio wave signal?"

"No problem, all ships have confirmed the signal."

After getting a satisfactory answer, Lin Zhichao left and returned to the office.

Through the windows, Central and Victoria Harbor can still be seen clearly. After all, there are not many high-rise buildings in Central at present, and the [-]th floor already has a very high view.

Who would have thought that in another 20 years, such a building would have been submerged in Central and become one of the most inconspicuous buildings.Of course, the value has risen to a terrible level.

Comfortable!

He likes to stand on tall buildings and look down, with a wide view.

Lin Zhichao returned to his office in a good mood. This office is only about 300 square feet, which is not very large. After all, the actual area of ​​this floor is only 7000 square feet.

"Boss, I heard from Manager Wang that there are more and more second-hand ships for sale in the port of the Gulf of Aden. There are about [-] ships, and the price of [-] tons is only [-] US dollars. You can’t buy a large batch in one go, you have to dismantle it or continue to use it!”

Feng Yongfa walked in and reported a situation.

This matter is still somewhat important, and it is a way to kill multiple birds with one stone, so he can rest assured after going to see it for himself.

After thinking about it, Lin Zhichao said: "I think it is feasible! Remember to arrange for the cargo ship to load from the Gulf of Aden and sail back to Indonesia, Japan, Taiwan Island, Hong Kong and other places when it comes back, so that you can earn more shipping fees. After returning, Remove as many as possible, leaving only the better ships in operation."

Although Europe and the United States are in a cold winter for shipping, Asia is a nascent economy after all, and there is always business. The main reason is that there are not many merchant ships in Asia.

Moreover, Lin Zhichao said that dismantling as much as possible is to try not to leave these cheap second-hand ships to competitors, so as not to affect the market after entering the market.

Feng Yongfa also understood Lin Zhichao's meaning, and said: "Don't worry, boss, I will try my best to choose better ships, and then open up more scattered businesses, and then dismantle them when they are almost used. Of course, I will also let them have more Buy some."

Lin Zhichao said: "The ship dismantling yard can't eat much. It's not bad to dismantle [-] merchant ships a year. If it can dismantle warships and aircraft carriers, the profits will naturally be higher."

In seven months of dismantling this year, only about 20 ships have been dismantled. Of course, this is just a prelude.

Feng Yongfa nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go and communicate with Zhongtian Shipbreaking Yard later to learn more about the situation. I'll check the port market as soon as possible, and I'll be back."

"Um"

It is easy to purchase 'ships to be dismantled' for Zhongtian Shipbreaking Yard, and more importantly, to miss 'better' merchant ships.

After all, it only takes tens of thousands of dollars to buy a [-]-ton freighter. This is like making two or three trips and paying back the cost. After two or three trips, you can make a lot of money and send it for dismantling.

At the same time, it can seize the market in a disguised form and squeeze competitors.

Feng Yongfa, as the deputy general manager, went to the Gulf of Aden port for inspection, which is not considered an overkill. After all, he would go to the port there several times a year, because of which direction the oil is loaded from (Yemen port).

The function of inspecting the port is not only to find leaks, but also to determine the market, because the port is like a barometer, representing the shipping market.

"Jiaxuan shopping mall, grand opening!"

"The new business model includes clothing, gold stores, toys, and catering in one package, so you can enjoy yourself!"

With the spread of the advertisement, the "Jiaxuan Shopping Center" in the Crocodile Shirt Building was also grandly opened on New Year's Day in 1959!
The advertisement was not very big, but it was only placed in the newspaper for three days, because if there were too many people, it would be a troublesome thing; you should know that when the "Man Yi Building" in Central opened last year, the people who went to experience the first escalator in Hong Kong, It is very crowded and needs to arrange for the elevator master to be on duty.

The Jiaxuan shopping mall has only four floors, and each floor has seven or eight shops. It can only be regarded as a miniature shopping mall, with a total of thirty shops.

"Lin Sheng, congratulations!"

On the day of the opening, we still invited some guests and friends to come to join us.Everyone inadvertently showed envious expressions. After all, such a building is already worth a lot.Few of the top ten real estate developers in Hong Kong are willing to invest. After all, this is a rental property, and it will take seven or eight years to pay back the capital, which is very tight on funds.

"Lin Sheng, you are indeed the most innovative in the real estate industry. You have extended your shop to the second, third and basement floors. The rent is several times that of an office building!" Hu Zhaochi, a veteran Shunde businessman, said with a hearty smile.

Hu Zhaochi is a trade and real estate businessman, and is still investing in the hotel industry; of course, he has a very famous son, that is, the eldest son Hu Baoxing, who is one of the founders of the famous "Woo Kwan Lee & Lo Law Firm" in Hong Kong. Many of the royal lawyers of the wealthy have also achieved success in business. The real estate company that cooperates with Lee Shau Kee is called 'Wingtai Construction Industry'.

"Mr. Hu, this is an honor for you, this way please!" Lin Zhichao said enthusiastically.

Although he can't really engage in the "small circle" culture - he only makes friends with Shunde people, but since he is from the same town, he must have some enthusiasm.

"Lin Sheng, congratulations, this building is so beautiful!" Afterwards, Liao Baoshan also came to congratulate.

"Sheng Liao, you are in good spirits!" Lin Zhichao greeted.

He and Liao Baoshan can be regarded as true friends. Of course, although the two have a good relationship, if it was the 1961 bank run incident, Lin Zhichao could not be a good person. Liao Baoshan borrowed money from him, at most 1000 million Hong Kong dollars, with interest.In the previous life, it is said that all of Liao Baoshan's friends lent him 3000 million, but it was still not enough. HSBC and Standard Chartered lent him another 3000 million. The important thing is the statement of HSBC and Standard Chartered, which has a greater "guarantee" effect.Otherwise, 1 million deposits, at least 8000 million or more must be withdrawn.

Even for someone as close as Li Gaofu, Lin Zhichao only borrowed money in moderation when encountering a financial crisis.

Losses are deserved, and this is the lesson that should be learned.

The people who came to participate in the opening were a group of real estate friends, not many people were invited, after all, it was only a small project.

After the ribbon-cutting, everyone went in to visit one after another. At the same time, there was also a lot of traffic.Next to the escalators on the third floor, there are staff members to avoid accidents.

A family of three came to visit the 'Jiaxuan Shopping Center' with the flow of people. When they came to the basement floor, there were shops for crafts and industrial products.

The son said in surprise: "Bond toy, that's an electric train!"

With this shout, they dragged their parents in for a stroll, but the result was that the couple could only satisfy their son's wishes.

On the next floor, there are brands such as 'Crocodile Shirt' and 'Chow Tai Fook', and the couple also bought clothing and jewelry.

Next, on the second floor, there are still clothing, shoe stores, and watch stores. The woman bought another piece of clothing.

The grades of these stores correspond to the shopping level of white-collar and blue-collar workers in Hong Kong. There are neither high-end foreign brands nor cheap brands.

On the third floor, the family of three was hungry, so they walked into a wonton noodle restaurant to feast on their mouths.There are also bakeries, Cantonese restaurants, and tea restaurants on this floor. At the beginning, these people moved in to attract business, but they made a lot of verbal promises, such as the office staff would eat here and so on.

Every floor has something to gain, and the family of three walked around after eating and returning with a full reward.

On that day, the Jiaxuan shopping mall had sufficient customer flow, and it could even be said that it was overcrowded. Many tenants were all happy; especially the tenants in the basement, second and third floors, whose prices were originally cheap, but now the customer flow is so high, how could they be unhappy? reason.

Of course, Lin Zhichao is also very happy. The high passenger flow means that the rent can be increased next year!Rent increase!
Landlords in Hong Kong have always been very strong.

The top 500 companies are all trembling in front of them!
The first working day after New Year's Day (1959).

Lin Zhichao is sitting in the office of Cheung Kong Industrial. He is looking at the design sketches of "Paterson Street" and "Triangle Street" in Causeway Bay.The more important ones are the two buildings built in the "Triangle Lot" and the "First Building of Paterson Street" opposite it. These are the planned "department store" and "shopping center". Of course, there are office buildings and residences on the top.

The planning department has a standard for the commercial area and residential area of ​​this kind of land. If it exceeds the standard, it may be troublesome-paying money.

At the same time, buildings in this era are generally 17 stories high, not more than 20 stories high, which is caused by construction costs and planning; so in the 21st century, when you open a satellite map, there are a lot of buildings in Wanchai, Causeway Bay, and Kowloon. The 17- to 20-storey buildings were built in the 50s to 60s and are more than 60 years old.

But despite the fact that these houses are old, they are of better quality than the new buildings in the Mainland. This is Lin Zhichao’s light experience. The steel bars used in Hong Kong’s buildings are very thick, and the steel bars are very dense.Although it is not in the 'earthquake zone', it is in the 'typhoon zone', so all high-rise buildings must withstand typhoons.

"husband!"

With a sudden 'shout', Lin Zhichao raised his head with a smile.

"I thought I was home!"

Tang Caiyun walked into the office with a sly look on her face, and then said with a smile: "At home, you never work!"

This is true. Lin Zhichao forbids himself to work at home, including calling his subordinates to 'cook soup'. At most, he has to think about some plans; of course, the most important thing is to spend time with his family.

"Are you used to the new office?" Lin Zhichao asked.

In fact, the couple are in the same office.

Cheung Kong has more than 100 employees, but only 1.4 square feet of office space. Except for a few core executives who have independent offices, everyone is shared by multiple people.

In this era, a real estate company actually only has a dozen or twenty people.For example, Changjiang Industrial has more than 100 people. That is because Changjiang Industrial is developing large-scale commercial projects, hotel projects, and even poly construction and quarry enterprises.

Therefore, more than 100 people are not enough, and we are still recruiting staff.

Tang Caiyun said: "Very good!"

While answering, she added tea for Lin Zhichao, and then sat in her seat, also looking at some drawings and plans.

This is Lin Zhichao training Tang Caiyun to be able to "top" at critical moments; he also said insincerely, let her watch and learn more in the company, but don't talk too much, there can't be two bosses.

To put it bluntly, it is "nuclear weapons", which may not be used, but they cannot be without.

"Later, I will inject 3000 million yuan from Changjiang Industrial Group into Changjiang Industrial for this year's land acquisition and other funds!" Lin Zhichao said casually.

Up to now, the liquidity on the account of the Yangtze River Industry Group has reached more than 1.8 million.Last year, the Yangtze River Industries Group expected a profit of more than 9000 million, approaching the level of 1 million.Of course, there is also a lot of investment, such as steel factories, overseas zipper factories, equipment procurement, etc., the total investment is almost more than 3000 million.

Tang Caiyun said: "Aren't there few uncompleted properties this year?"

Generally speaking, Cheung Kong is sufficient to use 'sales of uncompleted properties' to solve the funding problem.

Lin Zhichao said: "This year, there are only two or three small properties for sale. The main reason is that the price will be higher next year. In addition, we have sufficient funds, so we can arrange it this way. From next year, we will sell uncompleted properties, buy land, and invest in Central at the same time. Commercial Building."

Tang Caiyun also likes to invest in rental properties, saying: "Good"

Afterwards, the couple began to work seriously, mainly because Lin Zhichao wanted to devote himself to work.Lin Zhichao has to personally audit the blueprints of every real estate project of Cheung Kong, and will also inspect the real estate.

This situation will have to last for at least a few years before Lin Zhichao can rest assured.

At present, of the five commercial projects of Cheung Kong in Hong Kong, only the 'Global Building' has yet to start construction, but the drawings have almost been finalized and construction is expected to start this spring.

Lin Zhichao also wants to invest in two first-class commercial buildings in Central in recent years, and is slowly waiting for an opportunity.Of course, for ordinary small and medium-sized buildings, forget it, it's not interesting to invest too much in that thing.

Years ago.

Lin Zhichao, Feng Yongfa and other high-level executives came to the Global Maritime Academy for inspection. This is a self-owned three-story industrial building with a small playground; it is not only a teaching building for training seafarers, but also some public libraries and activity rooms. For seafarers on leave.

It can be said that it can be seen from here—Global Shipping is rich and powerful, and specially bought a piece of land of [-] square feet to build a "seaman's home".

During the inspection, Lin Zhichao raised a question: "Our seafarers' salaries and benefits are the highest in Hong Kong. Why is there still a loss of seafarers, especially the loss of senior seafarers?"

Everyone immediately had wry smiles and indignation. This is indeed a very 'serious' problem. Training a seaman and leaving after three years is somewhat of a loss.

If you sign a contract for five years, it is easy to give people a sense of 'disgust', and the emotions of senior seamen are also very important.

Feng Yongfa, who just came back from overseas, said the key point: "Boss, just because our senior seamen are so good, some shipping companies and ship owners have moved their minds to poach senior seamen whose contracts have expired at high prices. After all, no matter how bad they are , I also hope that there are a few good senior seafarers to support the scene; on the contrary, ordinary seafarers, other shipowners usually recruit those who are uneven through the 'recommended ship hall'."

Lin Zhichao thought to himself, I am afraid that some big ship owners are trying to move the minds of senior seafarers who are shipping around the world.

After thinking for a while, he said seriously: "The loss of our senior seamen is a loss for the company. Even the loss of those old seamen is also a loss. Therefore, I plan to start a 'staff pension' plan, and allocate 10% of each employee's % of salary, it is mandatory to be included in the 'pension system', and then we use the funds in it to invest in shipping, and use money to generate money to increase the amount of the pension system, and finally every seaman can get it when he retires A pension."

All the high-level executives showed joy, they were not stupid, it was the boss leading the staff to make money.

Feng Yongfa immediately said: "This plan is not only to seek benefits for all employees of Global Shipping, but also to retain seafarers and reduce brain drain."

In fact, global shipping does not lose many talents, it just happens.Now that Lin Zhichao found out, he naturally came up with the most suitable solution.

Hong Kong does not have a government pension system, but there is a 'mandatory provident fund' in later generations, but it is still very early.

However, good companies will have their own employee pension system, mainly to improve employee loyalty.For example, Hengchang Enterprise of later generations has become so powerful in trade because it has cultivated 5000 very loyal "veteran officials". These old officials not only have pension systems, but also have internal shares.

Lin Zhichao asked all the official seafarers of "Global Shipping" to pay 10% of their normal salary every month to pay pensions and invest in shipping, which is equivalent to giving shares.

"Okay, let's formulate specific strategies later, and give the sailors a heads-up first!"

Building such a pension system is a very big thing, and it should be promoted step by step.

(End of this chapter)