• • - Standards for spiders ...
:HOW'S the advertising campaign going?' Starts this week. Soft-Sell. Water power- ful, water friendly, water good for you, Pictures of lakes, swelling music from 01' Man River — something like that.' I Wonder how that will go down with the customers. Might encourage them to think that the product belongs to them already. Woman at a party had the nerve to tell me it was a natural resource!' Like oil?' `Quite. Anyway, they'll soon find out who owns it when they get their bills.' But everyone puts up prices before they come to market. Must do. Shows a rising curve of sales revenue — it looks good in the prospectus."Yes, I know, but just look at the affiliates — telling young Howard that they must bang up their prices by 50 per cent so as to meet his standards.' What's he doing about that?' He's asked the auditors to report.' And what will they say?' Usually depends who asks them.' `All right, but how did he get himself into it? What's all this about standards?"Well, there's some officious prodnose in Brussels with a Euro-directive on water, some of the divisions have pretty antiquated plant.' `Of course they have, if we'd let those divisional boards get their hands on money they'd have spent it like — never mind. Look at those asses in Newcastle, who thought that demand from heavy industry would grow on for ever and ever, so they flooded most of Northumberland and now they have to pretend they're in the leisure business.' But once they're a quoted com- pany, surely competition will keep them in line?' You mean, if people don't like their bath-water in Gateshead — costs too much, too many spiders in it — they'll shut the taps off and order it from Leeds?' I suppose in the end they'll go and live in Leeds'. 'In the end, maybe, but we're supposed to be coming to market in November.'
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