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Nate chuckled. “I was army for ten years. Spent most of it as an MP. I’ve been out for years, but I still can’t shake the look. Jules said you were some type of consultant, here to help Coastal get back on track financially. What do you want to see first?”
“I’m here to assess ways that Coastal can improve operations. Part of that means understanding where the company is currently, to know where we’re starting from. Talk to me about Harbourview. As assistant manager I would think you see the issues daily.”
The glance Nate gave him seemed innocuous, but Nik caught the appraisal in his eyes. Nate had an excellent poker face, but he was taking Nik’s measure as much as Nik was assessing him.
“How much do you know about Coastal’s recent history?”
“I know about the money laundering, if that’s what you’re asking. I also read something about the hostage situation last fall. All of it has meant the loss of customers, lower revenues, and criminal prosecution for some of the former executives,” Nik said. The long string of bad luck at Harbourview was what had made WYCK decide they were ripe for a takeover. His job now was to make sure there were no more nasty surprises that would hurt the company.
“All true. There’s more, although I don’t know all the details. We lost an expansion deal that would have allowed us to take over some casinos in Ontario, but that was way above my pay grade. All of the bad press hurt Coastal, and a lot of people either lost their jobs or left the company after the corruption was exposed. The lack of leadership has led to some real problems.”
Nate’s military background came through in every word, his summary of events sounding more like a situation report than anything else. But the last line was what caught Nik’s attention.
Lack of leadership?Was Jules not performing adequately? His first impression of Jules the CEO was that she was organized and professional. His appearance had rattled her, but she’d recovered quickly and understood his purpose faster than many other executives he’d had to deal with over the years. The thought that he’d been wrong in his assessment, that he might have to let her go after this was all over, disturbed him. But he couldn’t let his personal feelings influence the deal. This was the type of information he needed to make decisions about purchasing the company. “What type of problems?”
Nate frowned. “Coastal lost most of their executive team because they were actively involved in laundering money. The CEO, the VP of operations, the VP of security and surveillance. Then the general manager of Harbourview quit. Even though Jules and Meg Wallis, our former assistant manager, did their best, they didn’t have enough support to keep the company on an even keel. For months, the board of directors wouldn’t promote anyone to backfill the empty positions. Jules finally authorized Meg to temporarily promote me into this job back in September. Meg was awarded the GM role permanently, and my promotion was made permanent as well, which meant that Harbourview was back at full strength. But Coastal has other casinos, and the board still hasn’t hired a new executive team to support Jules. She can’t do everything on her own. I’ve helped her out with some of the security issues, because that was my background. Our surveillance manager has helped, and so has Meg, but it means we’re all being pulled in too many directions, and things are slipping through the cracks. Jules needs more help,” Nate said earnestly.
Everything Nate told him reinforced his thoughts when he’d noticed all the empty offices this morning. Why hadn’t the board worked to replace those positions? If the board had done it in an attempt to attract a takeover bid, it was working. If they had some other motive? As long as it didn’t screw up his deal, once WYCK took over, none of it would matter anymore.
“That’s one of the reasons I’m here. What can you tell me about the strategy meeting Jules is in right now? She said it was for a charity event?”
“It’s a final planning meeting for tomorrow night’s auction.” Pride radiated off Nate.
Charity auction? “What’s so important about a charity auction? Isn’t it a glorified fundraising event? Good press, maybe, but not a significant strategic event.” Jules had said it was important for Harbourview’s future, but Nik couldn’t see how this could move the needle for the casino.
“This is a very special auction. Let me show you.” Nate led Nik towards the centre of the casino, where the customer service desk was located. A line of people snaked around the desk, all waiting to access one of several kiosks.
Nik watched as people took their turns, all swiping their rewards cards and waiting for the kiosks to print out vouchers.
“It seems busy for a Thursday morning. How is this related to the auction?”
“This is a modified bachelor auction. We’re calling it the Dream Date Charity Auction, and it’s our Valentine’s event for this year. Tomorrow night, eight local businesspeople are auctioning themselves off, along with a unique service that only they can provide. Paired with each volunteer is a dream date. Local businesses have donated some incredible prizes. We have a week in Whistler, including skiing or golf; we have a week at a fly-in fishing lodge. A catered six-course dinner for twenty with custom, handcrafted desserts and local wines. Private legal advice from one of the top firms in Canada. A professional sports package that would make any fan drool. There’s more, but you get the idea. Tickets were sold out weeks ago. But in order to make sure the auction was a draw for people who couldn’t afford tickets, we set up a contest too. Anyone who uses any of Harbourview’s amenities gets a ticket into a draw for their own Dream Date package. Lineups have been steady for weeks, but this week has been very busy because people have to redeem their tickets before the auction ends tomorrow night.”
A major charity event integrated with a giveaway open to the public? It wasn’t unheard of, but was it working?
“What have the results been like?”
Nate grinned. “Response has been excellent. It’s been hard to determine exactly how much of the increase in business was because of the auction, and how much was simply ongoing pandemic recovery, but we’ve tracked everything, and it looks like the auction drove at least ten to twenty percent of the growth. Revenues for December and January were almost back to normal levels in every gaming area of the casino except high-limit tables. There, with the loss of the money that was being laundered, we’re still down. But at least we know every dollar coming in now is clean money.”
The underlying anger in Nate’s voice was unmistakable. Nik filed that bit of information away in case he needed it later. He followed as Nate led him through the casino, curious about the auction plan. WYCK owned other casinos. If it worked, was this something that could be replicated elsewhere?
“Who came up with the idea for the auction? Jules?”
“The idea? Meg, our GM, came up with the idea, but the execution has been a team effort. Jules took the lead on reaching out to community businesses to donate the Dream Date events. All of the packages are worth thousands of dollars; some are worth tens of thousands. I don’t know how many favours she had to cash in, but if this auction isn’t successful, it won’t be her fault. Les Carpenter, our head of surveillance, does a lot of charity work in the community, and she found the perfect charity to work with: the local women’s shelter. We brought back a communications and marketing expert, Sam Bennett, to handle all the promotion for the event. Sam worked for us before she launched her own consulting firm last year. Meg and I handled all the venue details, making sure everything tomorrow night will be perfect. It was my idea to add the draw to make the event accessible to everyone, not just Vancouver’s elite. Finding willing volunteers to be auctioned was a team effort too. Everyone on the team was involved in making sure this event will be unforgettable.”
Nate’s gestures grew animated as he described the upcoming event, breaking through his original cool exterior. Nik followed as Nate led him up a wide circular staircase and halted outside large double doors that opened onto a promenade overlooking the casino floor. Nate swiped a key card, and the door swung open to reveal a grand ballroom filled with busy employees. The back of the room held a stage and a podium, and dozens of circular tables surrounded a grand piano filling an open spot in the middle of the room.
Nik surveyed the area and did some quick mental math. “I estimate about five hundred seats? How much were tickets?”
Nate nodded. “Five hundred and twenty seats, at five hundred dollars a ticket. Half the ticket price goes directly to the shelter. Harbourview is doing everything at cost, so once we have the final bills for food, labour, entertainment, and decor, any residual funds will also go to the charity. Most of the vendors are providing their services at a discounted rate in exchange for free publicity and a tax receipt. The entire community is getting behind this event. We need this event to be flawless and to make an impression.”
Nik gave his escort a curious look. “Why is it so important? Harbourview must have held events like this in the past.”
“We have. We’ve hosted the annual Children’s Hospital Gala for the last decade, and some other high-profile events too. But the money laundering scandal changed that. Most of our marquee clients moved their events to other venues, and wedding and conference booking have dried up. Gaming makes up only fifty percent of our revenues, with the rest coming from all our other amenities: the hotels, the spa, conferences and events, food and beverage venues. The pandemic hurt us, but the scandal made recovery far harder. Sponsoring a high-profile, successful event will bring many of those customers back. We need to make Harbourviewtheplace to hold your events again.”
“I thought you said earlier numbers in all departments were back to prepandemic levels?” The more Nate said, the more Nik needed to dig into Harbourview’s financial statements. If their recovery was not progressing as fast as analysts thought, WYCK might have an opportunity to buy the entire company for less than they were hoping. Negotiating a lower price would be a win for WYCK, and for him. It would also add extra time to the buyout process—and more time around Jules was not something he’d complain about.
Nate shook his head. “I said that gaming numbers were back in all areas except high-limit tables, and that’s true. And this promotion has helped push all other amenities except large venue bookings like weddings, conferences, galas. The problem is that these were a surprisingly large portion of Harbourview’s revenues. Events drive hotel bookings and catering numbers—and even gaming revenue is positively impacted by big events. We need to restore this part of the business if we want to return to where we were before everything fell apart.”
