Our Love Story: Hard to Guard Against the Sudden Love Strike-Chapter 440 - 419: Chairman Forrester’s Meeting

Simon Forrester glanced sidelong at Logan Lockwood, thinking: You think you’re something, I’ll change the password right away!

He didn’t say more, stood up, fastened the button on his suit jacket, and left Logan Lockwood’s office. Before closing the door, he shot a warning look at Harrison Rowe, as if saying — don’t cause trouble. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

After he left, Harrison Rowe wiped the sweat from his forehead: "President Langford, I’ll step out for now. If Mr. Chaucer can’t find me later, he’ll probably start on a rant again."

After Simon Forrester stepped down from his director position, he originally wanted to bring Harrison Rowe to Forrester Group, but considering how Aiden Chaucer only focuses on design and academic matters, never managing the design studio, while Logan Lockwood’s management style is always unrestrained, he thus let DK escape the loophole last time.

Such a sizable design studio, if left for Logan Lockwood to mess with, sooner or later there’ll be bigger issues. Thus, Simon Forrester left Harrison Rowe at the design studio to assist Aiden Chaucer and hired a new assistant himself.

The new assistant graduated from Saïd Business School, with abundant theoretical knowledge in corporate management, and possesses a gentle, quiet personality, works cautiously and seriously, with highly efficient performance. Overall, more stable than Harrison Rowe.

But Harrison Rowe excels at creative ideas. Of course, in the design field, Simon Forrester needs an assistant like Harrison Rowe, who is quick-witted, but when he becomes the Forrester Group’s chairman, he needs someone like the new assistant, who has high execution power and is tight-lipped.

Moreover, the new assistant has a name that Simon Forrester particularly favors, Gavin Gale.

The first time he saw this name, he thought, is this heaven-sent to overcome Nolan Kramer?

Gavin Gale, isn’t that just "defeating Nolan"?

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Before heading to work at Forrester Group, Simon Forrester first returned to the fourth floor to change the password, fearing Logan Lockwood might crazily sneak up while he’s gone.

Just as the car exited the design studio gates, Gavin Gale called: "Chairman Forrester, have you arrived at the company yet, the senior management meeting starts in ten minutes."

Simon Forrester paused: "What senior management meeting? How come I wasn’t aware?"

Over the phone, Gavin Gale respectfully replied: "You instructed me before the holiday to email all the executives."

Simon Forrester truly couldn’t remember why he notified about the meeting then, but he couldn’t say he forgot everything after a week in Azure Harbor with Sienna Thornton. So he instructed the assistant: "I’ll get to the company by around ten-thirty, have Mr. Jenner host it for half an hour first."

"Alright, Chairman Forrester."

After hanging up, Simon Forrester started recollecting on the way what the purpose was for notifying about today’s meeting before the holiday...

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When Simon Forrester entered the meeting room, Nolan Kramer and financial General Manager Faye Lucas were in a heated argument.

He listened quietly by the door, the issue seemed to revolve around the September disclosure about August’s business financial report, in which the accounts receivable turnover rate dropped a few percentage points compared to July. Nolan Kramer believed the report was flawed and wanted Faye Lucas to redo it, while Faye Lucas said the report passed the internal audit department’s review, confirming no issues with the data and couldn’t be changed.

The two held their ground, neither willing to yield.

Faye Lucas is highly principled, one of the few senior executives in the group not under Nolan Kramer’s control, which is one reason Simon Forrester promoted her to be financial general manager.

After a while, someone noticed Simon Forrester arrived, and quickly signaled Gavin Gale.

Gavin Gale immediately got up to open the door: "Chairman Forrester, you’ve arrived."

Simon Forrester strides inside.

On the main seat of the long table lay his laptop, notebook, pen, and a cup of coffee.

His jaw tense, he walked to the head of the conference table, unfastened his suit button, and sat down.

Nolan Kramer and Faye Lucas stopped their argument and looked over.

Simon Forrester glanced around at the executives present, then turned to Faye Lucas and Nolan Kramer: "Please continue."

Nolan Kramer already had a smile plastered on his face: "Since Chairman Forrester is here, I won’t say much more."

Faye Lucas remained silent, constantly staring at Simon Forrester.

Simon Forrester gestured to Gavin Gale, signaling him to start the projection.

Soon, a comparison chart of the financial reports for July and August appeared on the white screen.

Simon Forrester flipped through the materials in his hands, directly stating: "The accounts receivable turnover rate in August is lower than in July by several percentage points, indicating the company’s capital turnover and debt-paying ability are weaker compared to July. What’s the reason behind this?"

After speaking, he looked up, lightly gazing at Faye Lucas and Nolan Kramer.

Faye Lucas said: "Originally there were several accounts receivable due in August that weren’t collected, I have previously emailed to notify the business General Manager."

At this time, Gavin Gale turned the page on the projection data, listing in detail the companies with outstanding accounts and the amounts. Among them, the largest arrears amount came from Grant USA.

Simon Forrester looked at Nolan Kramer: "Mr. Jenner handles the business department, what does Mr. Jenner think?"

Nolan Kramer: "These are all export clients, as everyone knows, in Arcadia and Europe, many companies have summer vacations in August, this might be the main reason for the overdue accounts."

With Simon Forrester presiding, he didn’t dare question the report by Faye Lucas or ask her to change the data, thus he attributed the problem to client vacations.

Simon Forrester asked Faye Lucas: "It’s early October now, have these receivables come in?"

Faye Lucas shook her head.

"Mr. Jenner," Simon Forrester’s tone hardened slightly, "You are responsible for collecting those debts. If they aren’t collected in a week, I will let the legal department handle it."

Outstanding payments might sound like debts, but once escalated to legal proceedings, it becomes a breach of contract. If legal action is taken, it could offend clients. Offending clients would make things difficult for Nolan Kramer, who oversees the business department.

Nolan Kramer showed some frustration, tossing the pen on the table, creating a sharp sound.

Gavin Gale looked over, his gaze stern and prohibitive.

Nolan Kramer awkwardly turned away, assigning tasks to the business General Manager.

On the white screen, the financial report turned a few more pages, Simon Forrester glanced at the materials in his hand, asked: "In August, the consumption rate for the raw material carbon steel used in fasteners dropped nearly seven percentage points compared to July, what’s the reason?"

He looked toward Ryan Chase and the logistics General Manager responsible for manufacturing and production.

Ryan Chase remained silent.

Nolan Kramer chuckled: "Isn’t lower better? It shows that material wastage has improved."

Simon Forrester: "Am I supposed to celebrate secretly?"

Having said that, he looked at Ryan Chase, his voice sharp and cold: "A drop from July to August isn’t necessarily a good thing! It could mean July was too high! Where exactly did all those raw materials in July go, I give you three days to find out. Otherwise, I’ll initiate an internal audit on the production department!"

Ryan Chase and Nolan Kramer instantly turned pale.

Simon Forrester withdrew his gaze coldly, instructed Gavin Gale to record what he just said and send the meeting minutes to various departments later.

After that, he looked seriously at the executives present: "Does anyone have anything to report? If not, the meeting is adjourned."

Everyone said they had nothing to report, Simon Forrester packed up his things, and left.

Just after leaving the meeting room, Faye Lucas caught up: "Chairman Forrester."

Simon Forrester didn’t pause his steps, nor did he look at her, formally asking: "What’s the matter?"