Part 18: Antah Berhad is Now Compleat!

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In September 1989, Antah Berhad of Malaysia took a 33% holding in The Compleat Group, the shares being purchased from Ron & Pat Faulkner. The deal came with two Loan Stock agreements. The first for ￡300,000 (secured redeemable) made available immediately, and ￡150,000 (unsecured convertible) for later call down.

The funding allowed us to speed up the refitting of the company owned shops, whilst growing the franchise. Over the following month’s new franchise stores were opened in: Ashford, Bicester, Carmarthen, Cirencester, Dundee, Edinburgh, Halesowen, Harlow, Haverfordwest West, Isle of Man, Liverpool, Newbury, Portswood, Rickmansworth, Sevenoaks, Watermead (Aylesbury) and Worcester. The negotiations for most of these licences were carried out by Jeff Frankling.

The opening of these stores called for the dedicated efforts of many people. I apologise to those I have failed to mention so far, but Janet Brownbill and Roz Feldman were two key players in how the stores “looked and felt”, creating key displays both in-store and in the windows of the shops throughout the UK. Each new shop opening was supported by small local advertisements, and our PR Consultant Keith Wilden would liaise with these local papers to great effect. Keith would also try to maximise our promotions such as at Easter, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day etc. He also helped in the creation of our Wedding Gift List service.

In addition to the Kaleidoscope in-store concessions (mentioned previously), I also set up an association called CoCoCo (Coordinated Cookware Companies), this gave access to our exclusive own label products to a limited group of (approximately 20) specialist independent cookware shops located in UK towns where we had NO Compleat Cookshop licensees. I personally went out and visited each store to discuss membership with the owners. An inaugural meeting (and product display was held in rooms adjacent to the Aylesbury Watermead shop.

Antah Invitation.

On the 22nd May 1990, Martine and I, together with Janet & Brian Boatwright, and Kate & Stephen Berendt, flew out to Malaysia (on Malaysian Airlines) for the 6th Antah Group Conference. This event was held every 18 months. On the same plane (we virtually took over “business class”) was Jerry & Ann Owen, (Antah), David Treleaven (Kemp Joinery), Laurence Hart & David Petrie (D.L. Products), Richard Thompson and Mark Chitty (NewWorld Telecommunications) John Smith and David Tilly (Unigroup). This group represented all of the UK Antah Investments at that time. Tunku Imran was aware by this time that I had a history as a singer / guitar player (see Part 2), so I was asked to bring my guitar along! I was “extremely rusty” at this point so I was a bit hesitant, but it all worked out.

The Conference itself “The Challenge of a New Decade” was held in Malacca between the 24th - 27th May 1990.

We transferred directly from Kuala Lumpur airport to the hotel complex in Malacca by coach, a two hour trip. Community singing was led by Tunku Imran and other members of the board who joined us on board for the journey. Actually, community singing was a regular occurrence during the entire Malaysia trip as can be seen on the LONG video link Here: 1990 Antah Malaysia - The Fun Bit of the Conference

This will be too long for most of you, so a shorter version - still nearly an hour can be seen Here: Antah at Play - The Royals letting their hair down.

One evening was set aside for group entertainment competition, during which every Antah Malaysian business division performed an act on stage.

Even if you don’t watch it all, don't miss the Board of Directors - On Stage - at: (short version) 25.30 with their rendering of "Old King Cole"! - It will make you smile - they certainly did know how to breakdown barriers. You will also hear frequent outbreaks of the Yam Seng, a “drinking toast” like no other, unique to Malaysia, a Cantonese term that means “drink to victory" from 7m.40

As this was the first attendance by UK companies, we were also encouraged to do a “joint” performance for the competition. However, I was singled out for a solo spot. For this special occasion, I wrote a Tribute to Malaysia song. There is a glimpse of me with guitar at: 22.17

If you are into that sort of thing (or if Malaysia would like a new national anthem) - you can see me rehearsing the full song a few weeks earlier at home in the UK on this video: Me rehearsing Malaysia song.

I am pleased to report that the winners of the contest were the group of men dressed simply in waist down sarongs (some with monkey masks) (see video -but I am sorry I do not recall which Antah division they were from), and amazingly my personal contribution came in a close second thanks to support from Tuanku Nicky, she actually wanted me to win!

Those prepared to suffer the “long version” of the video click Here: Antah at Play you will also get the bonus of seeing bits of the Malacca "Sound & Light show", plus a sample of the unique Baba & Nyonya entertainment. Baba Nyonya are a subgroup within Chinese communities.

After the Malacca conference, the entire UK group (and Antah Directors), transferred for two days to the Antah resort at Cherating Holiday Villa village on the East coast (Pahang State), an area famous for the beaches where sea turtles lay their eggs. This coastal break was another big party, with more community singing, and I had another solo spot entertaining the gathering.

We then all returned to visit Istana Lama Seri Menanti, the royal town of Negeri Sembilan since 1773. Note: Negeri Sembilan translates from Malay as "Nine States"

Tunku Imran personally showed us a round the 4 floors of the small wooden palace built in 1902. (Pictures of the palace can be seen in Part 17) This was home to the royal family for 30 years. Palace visit - video: Sri Menanti Old Palace

One evening, we were invited to attend a formal dinner with the father of Tunku Imran and Tunku Naquiyuddin, Tuanku Jaafar ibni Almarhum Tuanku Abdul Rahman, the 10th Yang di-Pertuan Besar Negeri Sembilan, the ruler of the Negeri Sembilan territory. Tuanku Jaafar later became the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King / Sultan) of Malaysia from 1994 to 1999.

This was a strange “ceremony” to be a part of. Firstly, all the guests were seated around a square (open middle) rectangle, this included the serving ministers and advisors to the Court. Then the Anthem of Negeri Sembilan (hear it by clicking on blue link above) was played. I am sorry to say that as it was played from a vinyl record on what looked like an ancient gramophone it sounded - well, not good. Then Tuanku Jaafar was escorted in, and the “full silver service” banquet began. A server seemed to hover behind each guest, and not being at all sure of the etiquette at such a Malaysian occasion, I think we, first time attendees were rather nervous of potentially doing something wrong. At one point, I was singled out when Tuanku Jaafar had my “Malaysia song” drawn to his attention, fortunately no musical instruments were in sight and the conversation moved on. I think that whilst we all appreciated the honour of being invited, many were relieved when it was all over.

In addition a farewell dinner (and karaoke evening) was held at Tunku Naquiyuddin’s home on the 31st May 1990 for the UK guests and the Antah Management.

Although most of the UK party flew back on the 2nd June. Martine and I stayed on until the 8th June to visit a bit more of Malaysia by car, travelling via the Batu caves and Cameron Highlands as far north as Penang Island.

I would be back in Malaysia again 19th January - 29th January 1992 for “The Challenge of Change” conference in Langkawi. More about that later.

More About - Antah Berhad

A corporate video about the Antah Group, (plus the directors off duty), can be watched here: https://youtu.be/cIJZUiMs6Q8

At the time of the investment by Antah into Compleat Cookshop, the Antah Board of Directors and Group Structure was as pictured below:

Back at Compleat Cookshop, as an investor Antah was the perfect partner. Jerry Owen was appointed to the Compleat Cookshop board and usually attended board meetings, but mainly as an observer. We were asked to bring our accounting into line with Antah group practises regarding things such as the write down of assets etc, but nothing that could be called interference. What we did learn was that like all large organisations, Antah’s reserves were invested and much of it in long term bonds etc. Therefore when requesting funds it might be agreed in hours, but the actual transfer could take weeks to come through so we had to plan the cashflow well ahead.

This Antah funding (and growing number of outlets) also allowed us to purchase in greater bulk, full container loads of many products. On the whole this went well, but of course there are exceptions. Tony had found an excellent agent for Turkish products, Eddie Warrington. Eddie had served in the diplomatic service and spoke Turkish fluently. In fact his Turkish was the equivalent of the Queens English, very upper class. He had excellent business relationships all over turkey covering many trades.

Turkish Delight - (I know that’s corny!!)

Eddie introduced Tony to a manufacturer of Marble tableware, Cheese boards, Breadboards, Salt and pepper shakers etc. After seeing samples, we ordered a full mixed container of products. Everything was fine except the Salt and Pepper pots. Whilst the samples had been OK, the supplied items had absolutely enormous holes in the top - totally unfit for purpose. In the end we got a credit for these, but the negotiations were torturous, and as they were unsalable they ended up in the municipal tip.

A more successful link up with Turkey was with Kutahya Porselen. Kutahya city is in Western Turkey. We were importing some of their pottery and porcelain ranges via Eddie who mentioned to me that the head of the business Mr. Nafi Güral was in the UK to study English. He was staying with old friends on the outskirts of Oxford. We arranged to take him to dinner one evening at Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons Restaurant at Great Milton (between Oxford and Thame) Martine and I had been there (once before) and appreciated what a dinning experience it was, Nafi certainly enjoyed the evening.

When Martine and I were in Istanbul in late November 1990, Nafi and his wife Gülsüm took us on a tour of their favourite places. The tour included a boat trip on the Bosphorus, and a horse and carriage ride. We also visited his Kutahya Porselen Istanbul showroom.

Nafi Güral will appear again in a future part.

At Compleat Cookshop, buying in larger quantities was putting pressure on warehouse space and we started to keep an eye out for our next move, but the introduction of “direct to store” deliveries relieved this pressure in the short term.

Staff Changes at Compleat Cookshop

Tony Barnard decided to take up an opportunity to go into partnership with Nick Shaw who was importing Coffee Machines and other products from Italy. They will be mentioned again in a later part.

Martine joined the buying team whilst we sought a replacement for Tony, and together with Jeremy Lowe she visited the International housewares show in Chicago in the ongoing search for exclusive products.

The search for Tony's successor led to the employment of Pamela Pugh. Pamela was a bit of an institution in her own right in the kitchen housewares trade. She was a founding partner and director of the very first Elizabeth David shop (see part 16) and was steeped in knowledge about all aspects of kitchenware.

In Liza Chaney’s 1998 biography of Elizabeth David you find (re Pamela Pugh):

A few months after the Malaysian trip, Stephen Berendt left Compleat Cookshop and Pamela took over (for a few months) the running of the company shops whilst Janet Brownbill concentrated on the franchisees.

With the buying department back up to strength, Martine then took control of the warehouse and distribution activities.

We were growing so quickly, I thought it would be good for us (and reassuring for Antah) if we had an outside opinion of what challenges we might face in the near future. Previously (In Part 14) I mentioned Alan Devine MD at Berketex Bride. Alan (no longer with Berketex) lived close by at Stow near Aylesbury, and he agreed to review the business. During the process, he met with Jerry Owen and Tunku Imran. Fortunately his review was favourable and supportive. More about Alan Devine very soon.

Note: A few points about Malaysia. In this constitutional monarchy there is a revolving “Head of State” elected every five years from among nine Royal Malay States. The Negeri Sembilan State once covered a much larger geographical area and (as mentioned above) this gives rise to its name. Unlike the other Royal States, in Negeri Sembilan the ruler is elected by the four territorial chiefs who must choose a Muslim male direct descendent of Raja Lenggang.

The cradle of the Malay race was in Indonesia, and until 1808, whenever a new Ruler for the Malay people was required, one was supplied from Indonesia. Raja Lenggang was the last of these, and it was he who decreed that in future they would not seek a ruler from outside the country. An excellent little article about this can be seen at: Malaysian Royal Line

Note: In the UK it is unthinkable that those “closest to the crown” would be “active in business” in Malaysia this is not at all the case - at least until the moment power is assumed! Tunku Naquiyuddin served as regent for Negeri Sembilan while his father was”King” and had to step down from his business interests during this period.

Pronovias

Although the Pronovias wedding gown agency had amicably ended in 1988 (Part 15), contact had been maintained, and perhaps with an eye to the possibility of introducing the brand to Malaysia I travelled with Martine, Jerry & Ann Owen to the launch of the Spring 1991 range in Barcelona - this was in September 1990. You can see the entire event here: https://youtu.be/XVasj_P6pUM

Out Of The Blue

The following months after the trip to Malaysia were spent consolidating the trading improvements within the company shops and increasing the product range for licensees. New applicants for the franchise were always in the pipeline and the key hurdle to getting them open was finding a good location. In November 1990, I was in Essex visiting potential retail premises when in the early afternoon I received a phone call THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING!

The call was from Malcolm Bradshaw at J W Carpenters Ltd t/a Cargo In-House based in Thame. Readers may remember (Part 17) that I had visited Malcolm and his joint MD Mrs Toue Munkoe-Renahan just as a “get to know you” visit, because they were our closest competitor in the South East of the UK. Established for over 100 years, with more than 50 large Hardware / Houseware stores, over 500 staff and a turnover circa ￡20 million. At least 10 times the size of the “direct turnover” of Compleat Cookshop

The call was simple and dramatic - we will be GOING BUST on Monday!

They had just said goodbye at the airport to a potential investor (a retail group from the Netherlands if I recall correctly). As negotiations for an investment had failed, they had no option left but to declare insolvency. Malcolm wondered if Compleat Cookshop / Antah might be interested. That was a really “clutching at Straws” call, but if you don’t try you can’t know!

I pointed out this was Saturday, and my investors were 6500 miles away, (2pm UK time is 9pm in Malaysia), but I said I would investigate if there were any options, and asked him to try to delay the inevitable until at least Tuesday.

I got hold of Jerry Owen, who in turn had quick discussions with Malaysia.

We “might be interested” was my message back to Malcolm

Next Part: Carpenters In House - Phase One - HELP - No Stock at Christmas!

Future Part: The Quest of Jimmy Pike - Australian ethnic desert artist .