He Opened A Matchmaking Agency In 18Th Century London [EN]: Chapter 68

68. Breakthrough

◈ Theo’s Residence, Hampstead, London.

Upon arriving in London, Theo sought out a real estate agent specializing in the sale of Jamaican colonial plantations, intending to sell the Jamaican plantation he had received from Baron Palmer.

The agent checked the location using the address on the Jamaican plantation deed.

After examining the plantation on a map he had brought, he said,

“Hmm… it’s larger than I expected. A plantation of this size could easily fetch around 10,000 pounds.”

Theo had thought it would be worth around 5,000 pounds at most, so this was a larger sum than he had anticipated.

Baron Palmer had certainly apologized, saying it wasn’t very good land, so he hadn’t expected it to be worth so much.

Theo asked with a delighted expression,

“Really? Then I’d like to sell it as soon as possible. I’m willing to lower the price for a quick sale.”

The real estate agent shook his head at the mention of a quick sale.

“No, it’s impossible to sell it that quickly. Jamaican plantations don’t sell immediately, even if they’re offered cheaply. Most buyers want to see the land in person, so it usually takes at least three months.

Moreover, since this isn’t a sugar cane plantation, it will take even longer to find a buyer.”

“What? It’s not a sugar cane plantation?”

The agent pointed to the deed and said to Theo, who looked puzzled,

“Didn’t you know? Look here, at the contents of the deed. The location is listed as Blue Mountain, east of St. Andrew, Jamaica. This area is at a high altitude and has steep mountain slopes, making it unsuitable for sugar cane cultivation.”

Theo looked at where the real estate agent was pointing and indeed, it was written ‘Blue Mountain’.

“Ah…”

A conversation he had with Baron Palmer came to mind.

When he asked why he was giving away a plantation as a reward for arranging his son’s marriage, he apologized, saying that the plantation wasn’t very profitable and wasn’t being used much, so it wouldn’t be worth much money.

Come to think of it, he had never said it was a sugar cane plantation. Theo had just assumed it was because he had heard that Baron Palmer owned several sugar cane plantations.

He hadn’t paid much attention at the time because he wasn’t very interested in the Jamaican plantation.

Theo asked, flustered,

“Then what kind of plantation is it?”

“If it’s located here… it’s probably a coffee plantation.”

“A coffee plantation?”

“Yes. I’m almost certain. Recently, many small-scale coffee plantations have sprung up in that area of Jamaica. Sugar cane cannot be grown there due to the location. However, coffee plantations aren’t very profitable…”

*

After sending the real estate agent away, Theo was deep in thought.

It seemed difficult to immediately sell the Jamaican plantation to raise quick funds.

However, Theo’s mind was preoccupied with a completely different question.

‘Jamaican coffee plantations are all unprofitable…?’

According to the agent, Jamaican coffee plantations barely made any profit.

Theo didn’t know much about coffee beans because he didn’t particularly like coffee.

However, before coming to the 18th century, he had heard about Jamaican coffee from a VVIP member of his matchmaking agency who was the CEO of a small coffee bean company.

‘I remember that member being very happy about signing a memorandum of understanding [a formal agreement] for the sale of Jamaican Blue Mountain beans…’

The member’s story of securing a supply and sales contract for Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee had even made it into a newspaper article, which Theo had read with interest.

He also remembered the article mentioning that Japan monopolized over 90% of Jamaican Blue Mountain beans, requiring people in other countries to pay more than 10 times the price to taste this coffee.

Of course, the price was somewhat exaggerated due to Japan’s near-monopoly, but Theo remembered that Blue Mountain coffee was definitely one of the world’s finest coffees in terms of flavor and aroma.

‘So, at least Jamaica has good conditions for coffee production. But why are coffee plantations so unprofitable now?’

In fact, unlike Dutch and French companies, which were making huge profits from coffee, the British East India Company was very passive in the coffee trade at this time.

Instead, Britain began regularly importing tea from China and India around 1717, causing the British coffee industry to lose its self-sufficiency.

‘Hmm, so Britain doesn’t really know the value of Jamaican coffee yet. Moreover, it’s a well-known fact that after the French Revolution, which will happen in about ten years, Saint-Domingue (now Haiti), the largest coffee-producing French colony, will collapse due to a revolt by black slaves…

Then, Jamaica, right next door, will inevitably have a high chance of seizing that opportunity? Ah! I see. So, Jamaican coffee, which is so poor now, will greatly prosper after the Saint-Domingue revolt. That’s why Blue Mountain coffee is so famous in modern times… Then, could this be a very good opportunity?’

If a field is already popular, it’s hard to get in first, and the entry costs are only going to increase. And the profits you get will be smaller.

But if no one knows about it and it’s not popular, like now, the barriers to entry are low, so you can make a lot of money.

Theo had noticed many times that the neighboring European countries were all crazy about coffee, while only Britain was hesitant.

So, if he could produce high-quality Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee decades earlier, he might be able to make a lot of money.

Any business can be pushed forward without worry if you have confidence in the future.

But people hesitate because they are unsure of what will happen in the future.

Theo, who knew the certain future of Jamaican coffee, was as confident in coffee as he was in steam engines and the textile industry.

‘Either way, I can’t sell the coffee plantation right now, and it would be a loss to sell it for a pittance. Let’s go and take a look at it myself when Catherine’s matter is over. It might be a surprisingly high value-added business.

Also, if I open a cafe on Theo Street, I can gain popularity and promote it with high-end Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee.

And I don’t have to stay in Jamaica for a long time? I just need to pay attention to the beginning and then have a reliable manager to look after the plantation.’

There were quite a few wealthy businessmen in England who indirectly operated plantations in Jamaica with managers. Baron Palmer, who gave the Jamaican coffee plantation as compensation, was one of those cases.

To build a matchmaking agency in the center of London and even create ‘Theo Street’, it would be good to add another business that could reliably guarantee profits, in addition to steam engines and the textile industry.

That would reduce the risk of a lack of funds and speed up the time to achieve the goal.

◈ Osborne’s Mansion, Manchester.

Although there was a setback in not being able to sell the Jamaican plantation, Theo managed to liquidate his assets as much as possible, secure investments and loans, and fortunately, he was able to raise about 80,000 pounds and set off for Manchester.

As soon as Theo arrived in Manchester, he paid 78,000 pounds and decisively bought Osborne’s factory.

‘The business owners around here who didn’t buy this factory will probably regret it for the rest of their lives.’

It’s 78,000 pounds now, but in a few years, the value of the factory will be more than ten times that.

Catherine used the money she received from Theo for the sale of the factory to cleanly resolve various debt issues related to the factory, unpaid raw material costs, and unpaid wages.

*

On the day she cleared up the troublesome debt issues, Catherine invited Ricardo, Peterson, factory manager Hester Walker, butler Blake, and Theo to dinner.

It was a farewell dinner for Ricardo, who had to leave Manchester the next day for work.

After a meal in a friendly atmosphere, they discussed the normalization of the factory over tea.

Factory manager Walker brought up the most urgent issue.

“Now that it’s possible to normalize the factory, we need to get the factory running as soon as possible for the contract with Russia.

But the problem is the skilled workers in charge of muslin fabrics.

Unlike flannel, skilled workers are essential in the process of weaving muslin [a fine, lightweight cotton fabric], but most of them have left, leaving only about 10 people.”

Because the quality of muslin produced at Osborne’s factory was so good, they had received a considerable order for muslin along with flannel when they signed a contract with Russia.

If they had only signed a flannel contract, there would have been other factories in England with better conditions than Osborne’s factory, but Osborne’s factory was the only one capable of producing high-quality muslin fabrics, which seemed to be the decisive reason for signing the contract with Russia.

Butler John Blake spoke with a grim face at Walker’s words that there was a shortage of skilled workers to produce muslin fabrics.

“Most of the skilled workers from the owner’s factory have gone to Enoch Redmond’s factory. But I heard that they all attached strange contract clauses to the workers who moved. If they quit his factory within two years, they would have to pay a penalty of dozens of times their weekly wage.”

It was impossible to blame the workers who left the factory.

They had no choice but to work in other factories to support their families right before the cold winter.

“Anyway, it’s not just about manpower. In order to properly fulfill the Russian contract, we need skilled workers who can skillfully weave muslin, but we can’t find such manpower right now…”

Since ancient times, England has had many ‘putting-out systems’ [a system where merchants provide raw materials to people who work at home], in which wool was used to make cloth through domestic handicraft, and wholesalers or traders took the finished products to sell.

Later, factories using water power were established, and the work of extracting yarn was automated to some extent, but the weaving of textiles using this yarn still required a lot of skilled craftsmen, so mass production was not possible.

Of course, in about 10 years, the method of weaving cloth by combining power looms with steam engines will greatly develop, and skilled workers will be less needed, but skilled workers were still essential.

Osborne’s factory had many of these skilled workers, and the speed and quality were far superior to other factories.

In addition, the production of high-quality muslin, which was thought to be possible only in India, would have been a great advantage.

“How about bringing back our skilled workers who went to Enoch Redmond’s factory? Even if we have to pay the penalty.”

Blake shook his head at Peterson’s words.

“The penalty is dozens of times, so it will cost thousands of pounds to bring all the employees out.”

Catherine said with an angry face.

“Isn’t that a completely unfair contract? Can’t we sue and bring them back?”

“Catherine, it will take too long to sue. On the other hand, there are only a few months left to fulfill the Russian contract, so we have to start working right away.”

“…I see.”

Theo asked factory manager Walker.

“About how many skilled workers do you need to make muslin products?”

“We need about 40 to 50 skilled technicians to weave muslin fabrics. Maybe it will be a little difficult, but with that amount, we can roughly meet the first shipment that Russia wants by March next year.

Currently, about 10 people can be put into making muslin fabrics. Therefore, in order to produce the products within the specified delivery period, we need at least 30 or more skilled workers.”

Theo, who had been thinking for a while, said as if he had made up his mind.

“I think we should bring the skilled workers back, no matter how much the penalty costs. If we pay the penalty for them and match their previous salaries, there’s no reason not to come. Let’s bring them in as soon as possible and start working.”

Then, factory manager Walker pointed out a realistic problem.

“However, it will take quite a while to persuade those employees again, negotiate, and bring them out. They will have to hand over some of the work they were doing at Redmond’s factory before they can be sent. That kind of work will take at least a month.

However, in order to deliver the items contracted with Russia, we need to start production in two weeks at the latest. Otherwise, we will never be able to meet the production schedule even if we run the machines day and night.”

Ricardo, who had been listening silently, suddenly raised his head as if he had thought of something.

Then he asked Theo.

“Mr. Sanders! Doesn’t Count Anthony Burns’s territory have many skilled textile craftsmen?”

Theo blinked at Ricardo’s question.

“Is that so? I’m hearing this for the first time.”

“Ah, you didn’t know? It’s been famous for a long time that many textile home craftsmen live in a small village next to Maidstone Village, the Kent family’s territory.

I don’t know if they even make muslin, but I heard that their textile skills are so great that people from England and other foreign countries buy them.”

“Then… are you suggesting we call on them?”

“Yes! We should ask Count Burns, who governs the area. Ask if we can borrow the skilled workers’ strength for just one month.”