Meeting the British

[Serenierre]

King Leopold III International Airport
Paris.

The sky was clear and the sun, bright, ideal conditions for a flight. Foreign Minister Jean-Luc Mausmette looked out of the window of the jet aircraft, which had just taken off the ground and begun its ascent. As foreign minister, Mausmette had been busy these past few weeks, dealing with the diplomatic mess that was the aftermath of the Belmontien border closure with Marquette. But with that matter clear, he could undertake the long planned meeting with his counterpart in London. As Western Gallia's two biggest economic powers, Belmont and Britain had a long history of cooperation and collaboration and, for Paris, continuing that was key. This meeting, planned originally to take place on the 15th of June, had barely been reported in the media, a rare occasion when the government managed to keep information away from the media's ears.

Foreign Minister Mausmette looked at the newspaper on his lap. The pictures of the first Marquen trains entering Belmont from the new opened routes was staring him in glorious black and white. The press in Belmont wasn't happy with the move but had relented that the closure would only hurt Belmont's economy in the long run. For Belmont, their economy trumped all other things. He looked up, his assistant brought him a hot cup of coffee. Taking a sip, "Good coffee, don't know when I'll get to have another one." Now looking at the aide, "I bet the first thing they offer me will be tea." He laughed.

The flight from Paris to London was not a long one and this meeting would last just for a few hours, when it finished, Mausmette would be back in Belmont. ​

OOC: No introductions, lets just head straight for the talks.

 

[Breotonia]

Meeting the British

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Foreign Office, London​

"Tea?" Foreign Secretary Matthew Steele offered Minister Mausmette as the Belmontien entered one of the many ornate rooms of the Foreign Office reserved for official meetings. This particular chamber was called the Locarno Room after a town in Franken where, probably, something rather important and memorable happened. Either that or some former Foreign Secretary had vacationed there and found the place rather nice. The walls were bookshelves twelve feet high filled with innumerable old and dusty tomes and volumes each probably quite rare and valuable but likely only even touched once every few years when they were inventoried. Some gaps in the shelves made room for large paintings all displaying a famous event or figure that any normal person would have difficulty placing. An over sized oak table measuring around eight meters by two meters and with more chairs than the Foreign Secretary would care to count stretched across the room. Despite ample space at it for dozens of people only three people sat (though, for some reason, places had been set and small trays with water and glasses were space out from one end to another every meter or so).

Steele motioned for Minister Mausmette, "Or perhaps coffee? Mineral water? An energy drink?" He chuckled at the last suggestion, he had met Mausmette several times before and he thought them on good enough terms to employ a little humor in their meetings. Steele moved to introduce the men accompanying him. He motioned to his right, a somber looking man in dark suit that was clearly cut for a businessman rather than an employee of His Majesty's Government, "This is Richard Denton, he represents British Air." He motioned to his left to a man wearing a suit more in the fashion (and pay grade) of a civil servant. "This is William Harken, Undersecretary for Economic, Business, and Agricultural Affairs."

"I suspect, being the type of people that we are and the cultures that we come from, that we would all like to get right to business." The Belmontien nodded in agreement, no sense wasting time with pointless formalities and polite posturing. "Now, as you know, the primary commercial air service of Britain has been, for half a century, British Air, formerly British Airways before it was privatized and purchased by the Shaw-Fujikawa Group in 1980. If we understand correctly the Belmontien Government intends for Air Belmont to go down the path of privatization as well."

"Per your request we spoken with industry representatives and British Air and we are in favor of a proposal to create an international operation under the umbrella of a holding company that would be jointly controlled by both British and Belmontien interests."

"I do have a question or two. Would the Belmontien half immidiatley become private, would their be a transition period, or for the foreseeable future do you intend keep the company a government operation? Second, a more practical term, what type of branding would the holding company undergo? What, simply, should it be called and known to the public as?" He smiled as a couple caterers entered the room with trays. "Oh good, the tea is here."

 

[Serenierre]

Locarno Room,
Foreign Office, London.

Hearing that one word question, Mausmette couldn't help but flash a smile. His British counterpart really didn't do anything to break stereotypes people had about his nation. Shaking Steele's hand firmly, he spoke in crisp English, "I can't come to Britain and not have the tea, now can I?" While Mausmette had assumed the job only in January, he had met with Steele at-least twice. Once during a trade summit between the two countries and another time at the Council of Nations. He found his British counterpart a likable personality and easy to work with.

After having a mighty laugh at the other's comment about energy drinks, the sixty seven year old, met with the British delegation present in the room, smiling and shaking the hands of each of the men. "Foreign Secretary Steele, let me introduce you and your colleagues to Mr. Charles Bizette, representative from

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, one of our largest companies, and Mr. Andre Philippe, Député from the Ministry of Finance."

It was no secret that the Government was wanting to sell its majority stake in the national airline. Not that the airline wasn't profitable, it was general opinion within the government that companies of such prominence of an airline should not be handled by bureaucrats. "Well, we aren't looking for a complete privatization, the government is in talks with Thasisse and the aim is to sell off all of our stake until we are left with only 20%, with the rest in private hands."

Député Philippe nodded in relief, "Finance Minister Yamaguchi has been hoping that Air Belmont could partner up with others and revamp its image. Its good to hear that the possibility of an Air-Belmont/British Air co-op is present."

Speaking in accented English, Charles Bizette looked at Secretary Steele, "Mr. Secretary, while for the moment our company is only holding 45% of Air Belmont, if talks go well, which they seem to be doing so, our stake will increase by 20%. But for some time, we expect that the airline shall be in government hands. As for your second question, whatever form the holding company takes, its name should be something like Shaw-Fujikawa-Thasisse or SFT Holdings. Your thoughts Mr. Denton."​

 

[Breotonia]

Locarno Room,
Foreign Office, London

Dention sipped from a bottle of water. "That all depends on how public the holding company ends up being. British Air is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Shaw-Fujikawa Group but we have found it beneficial to obscure the connection of the mother company from its children. If we rebranded everything we purchased with the Shaw-Fujikawa name I don't know if you would have passed any type of sign other than ours between the airport and the Foreign Office. Testing shows consumers have an adverse reaction to seeing the same company's name too often. Thasisse Holdings likely suffers no such problem because the company is associated with the Belmontien Royal Family."

He sipped once more from his bottle. "So if this holding company ends up being the name with which the public associates the airline we would suggest a different name. Perhaps Great Sea Airlines. If the holding company will be only a holding company with very little visibility to the public and our respective airlines will still remain the primary identifiers in the minds of our consumers then we find your suggestion wholly agreeable."

"I do hope you don't find it boring that we spend so much time on something like a name but we have found in the past that it's very important as a company's name is sort of its first impression to people and a poorly chosen name can damage initial confidence and inhibit investment and things like that."

 

[Serenierre]

Locarno Room,
Foreign Office, London.

Charles Bizette shifted in his seat. "Well, in my opinion Mr. Denton, the holdings company should be working behind the scenes, looking after the joint administrative efforts and the like. And I must correct you, Thasisse is not associated with the Belmontien Royal Family." He lied at the last sentence, acknowledging the Royal Families connection was against the policy of the company and the company had kept the Royal involvement classified. In fact he was surprised how the British man knew about that. "Thasisse studies have also been indicative that seeing the same name can effect the public's perception."

Speaking once more, Foreign Minister Mausmette said, "Seeing that both Belmont and Britain are kingdoms why not call the airline 'Royal Airlines'? After all, Great Sea Airlines, in my opinion, will limit the airline's marketability, am I right, Monsieur Bizette?"

"Oui, Monsieur Minister. Your thoughts, Mr. Denton."

 

[Breotonia]

Locarno Room,
Foreign Office, London

"My apologies Monsieur Minister, I must have been mistaken." Denton had thought the royal family's involvement had been more of an open secret. No matter though, the mention of royalty had helped them stumble upon a very good idea. "Yes, 'Royal Airlines'. I must say I quite like that." Foreign Secretary Steele interjected, "Of course it must be clear that there is no actual connection or approval by His Majesty Gregory V or Her Majesty Diana." Denton waved his hand dismissevely, "Of course, it's just a name. Don't be so worried."

The Foreign Secretary looked a bit perturbed but continued, "So, if I might review. A joint airline, called Royal Airlines, will be operated through a merger of British Air and Air Belmont assets under an umbrella company called," he consulted his notes, "SFT Holdings. That's perfectly agreeable to the Government. Mr. Denton?"

The executive nodded in agreement, "Yes that's perfect. Exactly what we were hoping for. The presence of a joint holding company also, I'm sure you're aware, will prove most useful should Shaw-Fujikawa and Thasisse enter into any further ventures down the road. Assuming this arrangement turns out as well as we hope, of course."