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www.parrypeoplemovers.com
n e w s An Occasional Newsletter from Parry People Movers Ltd
(PPML) and Pre-Metro Operations (PMOL) Issue No. 67 January 2014
1 n e w s
Parry People Movers Ltd, Overend Road, Cradley Heath, West Midlands, B64 7DD, UK. Tel: +44 (0)1384 569553 Fax: +44 (0)1384 637753 Email: [email protected]
On November 8th
2013 Typhoon
Haiyan made
landfall across the
central areas of the
Philippines
archipelago striking
the east coast with
wind speeds
exceeding 200 mph. The typhoon caused
a powerful ocean surge which swept
away hundreds of thousands of flimsily
constructed dwellings and shops, and
also more solidly built schools
constructed on the flat land just above
sea level. The death toll is currently
estimated at over 6,000 with unrecorded
numbers of serious injuries probably in
excess of 100,000. The devastation was
in many ways similar to that inflicted on
Northern Sumatra (Aceh) and a large
area of coastal territory in five South and
South East Asian countries by the 2004
Tsunami and during the flooding of
Gaza Province of Mozambique 2 years
earlier, Parry Associates had announced
the possibility of altering the way that
buildings might be constructed and their
proposal was taken up by the Wesleyan
Methodist Church in Mozambique and
a series of ’High School’ classrooms
on stilts were built, the first ‘Storm-
Shelters’. These created the basis for
the Parry ‘High and Dry’ building
system, that is now being used in three
flood prone areas of Africa.
In November, viewers of ITV main
evening news saw terrible scenes of
destruction from the Philippines around
the city of Tacloban where there had
been a complete lack of preparedness for
the storm. Families were torn apart by
the death and injuries to bread winners
and carers. On November 19th, an ITV
journalist Angus Walker reported on a
rare cause for celebration, a Parry
innovation had been put to the test and
proved its worth. 300 villagers of
Cangumbang, 11 miles South of the
City, were discovered tidying up the
local roads and residential plots having
come through the Typhoon without a
single injury or fatality.
All credit is due to a young American
aid worker, Elsa Thomasma, who had
become convinced of the concept of
building a storm shelter on high
columns so that water-driven debris
could pass below the living
accommodation. With amazing
persuasion and foresight, Elsa raised
$40,000 in order to build the
Cangumbang Village storm shelter,
which was completed in early 2013, 6
months before the storm.
On Nov 8th, when news reached
Cangumbang that outlying islands had
been experiencing wind of extraordinary
ferocity and sea levels had begun rising,
the well-drilled community ran for the
High and Dry style structure in order to
take shelter from the storm. As was
intended, the inundation carrying
floating debris passed beneath the
Refuge. Though on the roof, sheets,
though properly nailed down, were
blown away but the essential frame and
block walls stood up to the wind and
everyone inside came out unscathed.
Also in this Issue...
PHILIPPINES VILLAGE CELEBRATES ‘MIRACLE’
STORM
SHELTER
The Directors of Parry People Movers Ltd were delighted to learn on the last day of
December 2013 that the company had been able to meet the requirements of the
earlier conditional offer letter and the Technology Strategy Board’s grant offer to the
company and other participants is now unconditional. The intention of this project is
to complete a test bed railcar work on which had already begun by JPM Parry &
Associates Ltd prior to that company being put into receivership in July 2013.
The R&D project is seen as vital to the future of PPM as it makes it possible to offer
the larger 100+ passenger railcar which will open many doors to the market.
Astonishing Boom in Regional Rail
Commuting, P4
Don Valley Project Taking Shape, P5
Business Model for Cradley Heath
Site, P6
Malaysian Interest Renewed, P5
Five Men in a Boat Reduce to Two, P7
http://www.itv.com/news/2013-11-19/
philippines-village-celebrates-miracle-
storm-shelter/
Ocean surge coupled with typhoon winds destroyed everything
except for the storm shelter
American volunteer, Elsa Thomasma, who
showed that actions speak louder
GRANT TRANSFERRED TO PPM ENABLING WORK TO
RESUME ON THE CLASS 139/2 RAILCAR PROJECT
SHORT TERMISTS VERSUS LONG TERMISTS
The battle lines are drawn.
In 2004 the East Asian Tsunami
devastated a whole region but in that
seismic-activity-prone part of the
planet where cyclones and typhoons
also occur quite frequently the aid
agencies barely noticed the quiet
achievement two years earlier of the
Mozambique ‘High Schools’, (large
classrooms elevated on stilts) giving
communities in Gaza Province
somewhere to take refuge whenever
the Limpopo river bursts its banks.
Parry Associates (as was) put its
resources into devising affordable
‘High and Dry’ (two or more storey
construction) for poorer
communities, but the take up by the
aid agencies of the innovative
technology, up until 2013 that is, has
been barely a trickle. The disaster-
response part of the aid industry with
its plane loads of tents, blankets and
bottled water is focussed on the
drama of pulling disaster victims out
of the rubble, erecting ‘cities’ of
tents, then moving on Short term
action—problem sorted? No! Part of
the millions of pounds made
available by public goodwill should
go into helping vulnerable
communities build in such a way as
to be more resilient. The assumption
is that the Western public like a good
disaster, so averting disaster does not
pull in cheques. And the cheques are
what matters, to the relief agencies.
A Prime Time TV News story
broadcast on November 19th 2013
described how an Aid volunteer’s
initiative building a storm shelter in
the village of Cangumbang in
Philippines saved hundreds of people
from death or injury. And now it
looks like many more ‘High and
Dry’ shelters of this kind will be
built. Success at last!
What would a Short Term Thinker’s
opinion be about this story and other
parallel activities in the ‘Parry’
record. Consider the 20 year
development of the cost saving
people mover railcars and the current
new form of ultra-lightweight
concrete – discovered in 2009 but
only becoming ready for the market
5 years later?‘Not for us!’ (they
might say). ‘We want a return on
our money this year – not several
years down the road!’
Clearly innovation plays a vital part
in the generation of wealth and every
element of modern life; food,
clothing, shelter, transport, medicine
has taken the form that it is in today
as a result of countless thousands of
innovations and discoveries. But the
regulation and policing of business
demands that everything shall be
measured, and counted on a one year
basis and the inventions and
discoveries that come to maturity in
5, 10 or 20 years, instead of being
expected to have become
progressively more valuable, are
‘depreciated’ made to be worth less
by the hidebound accountancy
conventions. It was the same
miscalculation of value that brought
the forces of destruction down on
one of Britain’s more innovative
small companies, (Parry Associates).
In an unguarded moment, the
Official Receivers’ man in the
Midlands described JPA as ‘a good
little company’ whose only fault was
to have been ‘too innovative’. Short
termists sell all the corn and don’t
keep seed to plant next years crop.
When a company is wound up the
lawyers arrive to join the bankers and
accountants, to get in on
the act. There are parallels with a
shipwreck when a vessel crossing the
high seas sinks, causing loss of life
and property (see page 7). When
such an event happens, the feeding
frenzy of professionals offering to
save the day or produce a good
outcome is quite an experience.
Liquidation appears to be a process
which seems to be inimical to the
long term interests of a company
which, in the short term, is in dire
straits. Because current practice
seems to require that short term gains
have to be made by as quick as
possible disposal of readily available
assets, including cash and IP, future
recovery and hence the satisfaction
of creditors, is jeopardised. This
obsession with acquiring instant cash
is as short-sighted as holders of
investment capital that avoid R & D
like the plague but instead go in
search of 'cash cows' that can deliver
immediate rewards. There needs to
be a reversal of this attitude. If
someone took the time to search out
among the ‘business failures’
examples of where the proprietors
were far sighted and long term in
their planning, but brought to their
knees by short term cash grabbers it
could turn out to be more like a
crime wave rather than responsible
handling of assets.
Sensible nations have found ways of
protecting and nurturing innovation
but we, the British, continue a
process of self destruction while
short termist professionals in charge
of the process behave as predators.
This foolishness has to stop.
If having looked at the contents of
this newsletter, you feel minded to
join me in the fight back against the
short termists, please send me an
email or a note on paper. John Parry
MBE.
2 n e w s
Comment by John Parry
3 n e w s
Potential backers of Intermediate
Technology Innovation (ITI), a new
company formed to take forward R&D
work temporarily stalled, have been
asked to decide which of the many
themes to prioritise. The spectacular life-
preserving achievement of
Philippines storm shelter
delivered the answer ‘on a plate’.
Thanks to the perception of an
ITV reporter in November, many
more AID officials are now
aware that something can be done
which is reasonably simple and
affordable to avoid widespread
injury and loss of life in disaster
prone areas of the developing
world. This is as a result of the
well publicised success of the
'miracle' storm shelter of
Cangumbang village. But the
concept has to be evolved to
avoid the elements of the shelter
itself which incurred damage,
particularly the roof. The rate
and ease of construction also has
to be improved by introducing a
form of 'system building'
bringing into the design a large
proportion of pre-cast (separately
produced) elements. This can be
fully localised so that the component
manufacturing is under the control of the
small local contractors that erect the
shelters. ITI has the means to deliver this
concept, adapting from earlier work
carried out in by JPM Parry & Associates
in Mozambique, Benin, Tanzania and at
the local UK base in Cradley Heath.
The already established High and Dry
construction system addresses the
climate change issues of rising sea levels
and changing patterns of precipitation
exacerbating flood risk. It provides a
cheap and simple means of raising living
accommodation above ground surface
level. A new system of roof construction
is needed to cope with very high winds.
A new concept, 'WFQR' (Wind, Flood,
Quake Resilience) is made possible as a
result of a success in applying a
discovery of means of aerating concrete
by incorporating particles of expanded
polystyrene. A low cost roof building
system using lightweight reinforced
concrete is being developed which will
withstand typhoon-strength winds. By
reducing the weight of a reinforced
concrete frame building to less than half
conventional practice, it is possible to
also greatly increase resilience to
earthquakes.
The material science aspects of the work,
including on concrete formulations, are
being undertaken by the Civil
Engineering Faculty of Wolverhampton
University, under the Directors of Prof
Jamal Khatib.
The plan form for greatest storm
resilience would ideally be round.
However instead of having separate,
special-purpose buildings, it makes sense
for a new form of dwelling house to
evolve which incorporates disaster-
resilient features. To accommodate
furniture, sinks and other domestic
artefacts, walls are better flat rather than
curved - so the selected compromise
shape is hexagonal.
Several dozen design and development
themes for the Intermediate Technology
R&D facility are appropriate to present
AID policies. After WFQR there are two
further priority projects, one in the water
sector, the other in transport:-
Evaporation Reduction to Conserve
Scarce Fresh Water
Especially in hot dry climates, a reservoir
full of fresh water harvested during the
rains is subjected to rapid evaporation. A
hectare of water surface
can evaporate away
20,000 tonnes of water
in a year. It is for the
first time a practical
proposition to create
substantial areas of
cover at a very low cost
so that evaporation does
not take place in the
area thus covered. The
cover can be supported
by slim posts at 1 metre
spacing, or by using an
especially lightweight
form of concrete,
making panels which
float on the surface of
the water.
Renewable Energy
Transportation
A narrow gauge railway
comprising the early
version of the People
Mover concept based on low voltage
electric traction was originated by Parry
Associates in the early 1990s. This has
become highly relevant to the transport
aspirations for poorer regions of the
world where refined petroleum having
had to be transported huge distances, is
so expensive as to be unaffordable for
most people. The falling prices of
photovoltaic-generated electricity is
making this the preferred means for
providing domestic light and power. A
rail-based transport system is the logical
step to providing a non-petroleum based
means of moving goods and people.
In all three cases, the technical
development is quite well advanced and,
via conventional marketing or modern
media methods, it should be possible to
identify contracting firms who would be
willing to buy licences to apply these
technologies in countries where they are
applicable. Business Model, P6.
THREE-ASPECT DISASTER-RESISTANT BUILDING SYSTEM PROPOSED AS
LEAD PROJECT FOR THE NEW IT INNOVATIONS COMPANY
Raised
on
stilts, flood
water p
asses thro
ugh
A flat roof is used instead of conventional sheets
or tiles with a thin shell of concrete making
up a central ‘dome’ feature
The ‘WFQR’ (wind, flood, quake, resilient) Dwelling
4 n e w s
A BOOM IN PASSENGER NUMBERS COMMUTING BY RAIL INTO REGIONAL CENTRES OF
GREAT BRITAIN INDICATES THAT THE CASE EXISTS FOR HAVING A FAR GREATER
NUMBER OF BRANCH LINES CARRYING PASSENGERS
Calls for reinstatement of services on railway branch lines began almost immediately following the post World War 2
programme of closures. Although the motivation was frequently nostalgic (people wanting to still have a station and rail
services without actually needing to make use of these), other factors, initially of minor consideration, have been building up
to a ‘crescendo’ of demands. This is because in more recent years passengers have been returning to local railways.
Railway use has been transformed from having been associated with a bygone age to
being integral with modern lifestyles. Being close to a boarding point of a line with
frequent services connecting into the general network brings with it:-
1. An increase in the market value of houses
2. Greater prospect of available land being used for development
3. Reduced levels of local road traffic
4. Retail opportunities within or adjacent to the station
5. Civic enhancement as a result of being ‘on the rail map’
For users of the railway, especially when commuting, there are additional collateral benefits to using this mode instead of the
alternative of driving to work.
The journey is generally quicker than by road - frequently half the time
By not having to drive, other activities such as reading or using modern communication devices are possible
On arrival there is no need to find somewhere to park
By not having a car mainly used for the journey to work, it is often possible to possess one less car
To the continued exasperation of the roads lobby and some parts of government, the simple solution of people not travelling to
work by car but using buses instead has not found favour with commuters. The exception to this is Greater London in districts
not served by the Underground. Light rail or suburban rail. So severe are the costs imposed on entering and parking within the
Congestion Charge Zones commuters have greatly increased the use of bus services. Elsewhere, bus passenger numbers have
‘flat lined’ or reduced, unless supported by special measures such as the building of ‘bus railways’.
The statistics relating to a big sample of the regional commuter growth in rail patronage in West Midlands and South
Yorkshire since a base year of 2004 have been considerably greater than what has happened on most long distance services.
*Information based on passenger use at the following local commuter stations, as compiled by the DfT:-
Sheffield Area: Worksop, Shireoaks, Kiveton Park, Kiveton Bridge, Woodhouse, Darnall, Hope, Bramford, Hathersage, Grindleford, Dore & Totley, Penistone, Silkstone Common, Dodworth, Barnsley, Wombwell, Elsecar, Chapeltown
Nottingham Area: Radcliff, Bingham, Aslockton, Elton & Orston, Carlton, Burton Joyce, Lowdham, Thurgarton, Bleasby, Fiskeston, Rolleston
West Midlands Area: Tysley, Acocks Green, Olton, Solihull, Widney Manor, Dorridge, Warwick Parkway, Canley, Tile Hill, Berkswell, Hampton in Arden, Marston Green, Lea Hall, Stechford, Adderley Park, Kidderminster, Blakedown, Hagley, Stourbridge Junction, Lye, Cradley Heath, Old Hill, Rowley Regis, Langley Green, Smethwick Galton Bridge
From the above can be deduced that where local commuters can gain access to railways serving regional centres, there is a strong
upward trend and where there are frequent services, such as on three of the lines that run into Birmingham, the growth—162% is
astonishing. The inevitable conclusion from this survey is that where a suitably-located railway line is in place but not used to carry
passengers, this measure is likely to be valuable and beneficial, particularly where frequent services can be provided.
Delivering value to the locality
5 n e w s
UK MARKET FOR NEW RAIL PASSENGER SERVICES ON EXISTING LINES
As readers of earlier issues of these
newsletters may recall, D’TRAM, a team
of experienced civil engineers have, since
2009, been investing in their own
innovative approach to tramway
construction intended both for the capital,
Kuala Lumpar and also regional centres.
Malaysia, unlike many newly independent
nations in the post WWII period, valued
and continued investing in its railways.
The former steam-hauled Kereta Api
Tanah Melayu which I rode on as a
research student in the late 1950s has now
become a modern electrified system. Two
of PPMs long term associates, Brecknell
Willis & Co, rail engineers and Clayton
Equipment, specialist locomotive builders,
having been playing a key part in that
modernisation work in Malaysia. The
same firms are keen to become involved
with PPM in work on urban light rail
systems, Malaysia’s political leaders are
generally convinced that off road public
transport is the only practicable solution to
the increasing urban traffic congestion.
The D’TRAM innovation, like many of the
best ideas, turns a problem (to avoid flash
flooding during heavy tropical deluges
requires deep road side storm drains to
clear the water) into a solution,
constructing a transit system over the top
of the storm drains. Having in 2010-11
undertaken a worldwide review of
available light rail vehicle technologies,
D’TRAM’s engineers decided that the
PPM specification best matched their
infrastructure concept. Political issues in
Malaysia tend either to boost or dampen
down engineering progress with both
national and state administrations able to
press the ‘stop’ or ‘go’ buttons. In
November, after a year of ‘no news’, PPM
were contacted again by D’TRAM with
the information that the climate had
become favourable and the project should
be back on the move, by February 2014.
Among several projects for which
D’TRAM is considered as a contender, the
emphasis is on large capacity vehicles and
so the bogie development leading to
vehicles able to carry between 100 and 200
passengers is as important for Malaysia as
it is for the UK. With one exception; the
prosperous northern state of Penang has a
most interesting transport heritage
including running, until closure in 1935,
open sided San Francisco trolley style
trams. That decision is now regretted.
Penang could well take the lead in a clutch
of Malaysian light rail projects. Design
attention is being given into how to adapt
the current 2 axle Class 139 railcar to suit
a historic outline tramcar to delight visitors
to George Town on Penang Island.
COUNTERPARTS ANNOUNCE FRESH
PROPOSALS FOR MALAYSIA
- John Parry Reports
DON VALLEY RAILWAY PROJECT
Growth in the use of railways for
commuting into regional centres has
applied unexpected pressure on the
availability of diesel trains, which has
opened up an opportunity for the
PPM 100-120 lightweight regional
railcars, when ready to be offered for
sale. A smaller, parallel market has
presented itself, local initiatives
emerging which relate to towns such
as Bewdley, Medstead, Wisbeech,
Brierley Hill, Folkestone, Oswestry
and Stocksbridge near Sheffield.
These are places where a railway
exists but is only used for freight or
mainly weekend heritage visitors or is
‘mothballed’ and able to be brought
back into use.
There are train services from Huddersfield from the North West
side of Sheffield via Penistone. From there to Sheffield costs
about £7 for a very indirect journey, taking three quarters of an
hour. Services only run hourly and these factors combined result
in only just over 100,000 passengers using the station in a year.
The adjacent town of Stocksbridge in Yorkshire is 10 miles to the
North West of Sheffield. To make an existing freight line serving
a steel works available for passenger services would render it
possible to complete the journey in about 20 minutes and with a
‘passing point’ at about halfway along the line, two trains could
operate a half hourly service. A halt at Deepcar would be a
convenient boarding point for Penistone passengers.
Adding the population of Penistone, 11,000 to Stockbridge,
18,000 and Outibridge 2000, creates a watershed population of
over 30,000, source of a reasonable flow of commuter traffic
into Sheffield.
The new Don Valley Railway is a volunteer –led organisation
supported by highly capable and experienced members. They
have taken a close interest in the PPM-railcar based Stourbridge
Branch, making several visits to the line and are seeking Parry
People Movers and PMOL’s collaboration in developing a
business model for a PPM railcar operation on the Don Valley
line, applying the knowledge acquired at Stourbridge. Ready for passenger services, the freight line from Sheffield
to Stockbridge
The town of Stocksbridge, lying in the scenic
Upper Don Valley.
6 n e w s
The site at Cradley Heath can be
presented as a unique Intermediate
Technology 'showcase' of building
systems devised for international aid
agencies - official bodies, such as the
Department for International
Development and for international
NGO's. As prototype construction
exercises they anticipated what
subsequently became the basis for
significant levels of construction activity
in several regions of Africa, South and
South East Asia, the Caribbean and Latin
America. Linked by a narrow gauge
railway on site which itself pioneers
technology now in service on Britain's
rail network, the showcase, as well as a
training facility of interest to industry and
academia, will comprise a potential
visitor centre.
A plan is emerging for exploiting this site
commercially and to be an 'incubator' of
micro-enterprises within a prevailing
theme of livelihood creation and
environmental and economic
sustainability, together with a centre for
Research and Development. More than
one business entity will be involved. On
the transport side, Parry People Movers
will provide an 'anchor' of responsible
administration of the 1 Hectare site while
conducting its business promoting the
Class 139 railcars and associated
technical services to a Stourbridge
operation and to new projects under
development.
1. Lead occupant: PPM Ltd using 50% of
the office accommodation and 25% of the
works. Activities - development and
marketing of the PPM 'brand' transport
consulting + management services to
other companies including to some on the
same site.
2. No 2 occupant: Parry Environmental/
Long Life Cars. Providing motor trade/
garage facilities for skilled mechanics
serving their own customers. PE to also
undertake technical consulting and
training: emphasis on prolonging the life
of well-designed older cars
3. No 3 occupant: Intermediate
Technology innovation/IT Workshops
ITI to promote itself as a lead source of
innovative concepts for International
Development sector: agencies working in
water, construction, transport, energy and
disaster preparedness.
4. No 4 occupant: Micro-enterprise
Centre, both host and incubator to small
traders involved in sustainable activities,
e.g. Repair and recycling
ITI prospectus of R&D themes leading up
to commercial licence deals -reinforced
concrete beam railway and ‘Carpet
Track’ and WFQR storm shelter building
system (manufacturing and construction
franchises) UK New Product List
(Stabilite-based Products):-
The short financial summary below
provides a budget for the various business
entities operating from the Cradley Heath
site. The starting point on both the
construction and transportation sides will
be provision of equity capital. This can
be put alongside asset-backed loans and
any public sector grant money that is
available.
The successor R&D business is
structured around a presently dormant
company, Intermediate Technology
Workshops Ltd., is to be the principal
custodian of the International
Development assets and will devise new
methods and materials to be put out to
licence the organisations that work in that
field.
A third entity, Long Life Cars Ltd., an
associate company of PPM Ltd., will rent
out vehicle maintenance facilities such as
a '4 post' ramp and pit and be host to
several micro enterprises whose
businesses are based on keeping older
cars and light vans on the road LLC will
obtain good quality used parts for supply
to motor traders that are also supporting
older vehicles, mainly overseas.
TRANSPORT ENGINEERING CIVIL ENGINEERING £.000s £.000s
Royalty on railcar sets Royalty on equipment sales 540 70
Design project Royalty on building products 45 20
Consultancy work Training fees 60 10
Rents & Tech Support Open day ticket income &
product sales
54 20
699 120
BUSINESS MODEL FOR CRADLEY HEATH SITE AS AN INNOVATION AND MICRO-ENTERPRISE CENTRE
Portable planters
Lightweight bricks
Garden mushrooms
Walk-on-Water panels
Pattern-imprinted slabs
Fast-floor system
Lightweight insulating
tiles and wall panels
Chibolya school, Zambia built with technical help from Cradley Heath
Development of hexagonal ‘Parry’ roof for
school classrooms and annexes
The Intermediate Technology Innovation company will be launched shortly as a company under ‘Community Interest’ category and an initial
panel of Members/Trustees/Directors is being recruited. Please contact John Parry at PPM to learn more about this.
Parry Innovation Pamphlet on our website - www.parrypeoplemovers.com > Press Room > Leaflets & Brochures > Innovations Catalogue
7 n e w s
Five Men In a Boat - A Salut ary Tale f or Today
A yacht belonging to a multi millionaire
sailing in a remote area of the Pacific
from Santiago in Chile to Tahiti sank
suddenly having struck a large floating
object. This was a sea container washed
overboard from a cargo ship thought to
have contained a large quantity of
expanded polystyrene bowls and beakers
destined for fast food restaurants.
Though waterlogged, the container was
still afloat, but had been barely visible.
Everyone on the yacht drowned except
for five men who had been on deck and
were thrown clear, together with a small
dinghy. The five consisted of, the Mate,
who was a navigator, a deckhand, who
was a good oarsman, an
accountant, a barrister
and a plump banker. In
the morning, they
discovered, hidden by
the millionaire owner
who was to meet the
yacht on arrival in
Tahiti, two heavy hold-
alls one full of gold
bullion, the other sealed
packs of bank notes in
three different currencies. ‘In addition to
the predicament we are in’ said the Mate
‘we now have the bloody responsibility
of looking after the boss’s cash!’
The sea was choppy and water coming
over the sides of the dinghy, almost as
fast as it could be baled out and the Mate
said that one or other of the hold-alls
must be dumped. The two crew
members then noticed that the lawyer,
accountant and banker had gone to one
end of the boat and were talking quietly.
The Mate demanded to know what they
were discussing. The accountant said
that if some of the treasure could be
saved there seemed to be a good chance
the two crew members would get a
handsome reward. ‘Or a job for life!’
said the deckhand optimistically. Using
his knowledge of finance, the accountant
offered to put a few hours into
calculating the individual value of the
two hold-alls so as to advise the crew
which one to throw over the side. The
lawyer then mentioned that there was a
risk that the millionaire whose money it
was that had been dumped would sue the
crew to compensate for his loss.
However, being legally skilled, the
lawyer offered to make a careful record
of why the decision had had to be taken
and this could be used in their defence.
Of course to do this would take several
hours and he would need to charge for
his time as well. The Mate said ‘all well
and good but what if the sea gets even
rougher and both heavy hold-alls have to
be dumped so there will be no possibility
of a reward given to the crew?’ The
reply by both the accountant and the
lawyer was that as professional men they
would not be sharing in the profits and
so would still have to charge for their
time which in that event would
presumably come out of the crew-mens’
wages.
This neat move, emerging from the
collusion between the two professionals,
meant that they would be still earning
fees whilst sitting in a boat which was
being rowed and steered by their
‘clients’! The snag was that before the
professional work could begin, both the
accountant and lawyer needed to know
that they would be certain to get their
fees paid. The plump banker then spoke
up. He said he could draw up documents
for the Mate and the deckhand to sign by
which his bank would provide a loan to
the crewmen to guarantee that the lawyer
and accountant would get their fees.
However, this would be on the basis that
the bank, which would consider the
’venture’ to be high risk, would need to
cover its exposure by having their homes
on shore pledged as security. Such
security was vital because the bank’s
policy would not allow it to participate
in the equity of an enterprise of this sort.
The Mate and the deckhand exchanged
glances and then put both the lawyer and
the accountant over the side (the
decision to do so taken on purely
financial grounds). Later, when the three
remaining men ran out of food, they ate
the banker, applying the reasonable
parameters of a) who was least important
for the navigation and handling the oars
and b) who was the best source of life
saving nutrition. When the two seamen
finally reached Tahiti and handed the
valuables over to the multi-millionaire,
because they had been through such an
ordeal, he had been advised that they
would no longer be fit for work and so
he had to pay them off. Also, under the
terms of their Contracts of Employment,
they were responsible not only for the
safety of the yacht (which was
thankfully insured) but also for delivery
of all valuables carried on board.
Therefore, on legal advice they were not
entitled to any reward either.
The fictitious anecdote has
close parallels with real
situations where
professionals involved in
legal and financial
services are both averse to
risk but unscrupulously
greedy for reward and will
take advantage of the
vulnerability of others
caught up in perilous
situations. This involves a short term
focus which puts in jeopardy a fair and
reasonable outcome making people act
for themselves, completely disregarding
the interests of others.
It also illustrates following the advice of
professionals, multi-millionaires can
avoid paying a penny more for anything
than they have to—which is how they
become filthy rich in the first place. For
professionals, the lesson that needs to be
learned is that if all you care about is
securing your fee, the eventuality may
reveal itself far more painful than what
you might lose by being fair minded and
taking account the interests of others.
And if the men in the boat had
cooperated and thought out innovative
solutions, they might have tied the hold-
alls to the floating sea container and the
three professionals could have learned
how to catch fish.
8 n e w s
Parry News compiled and produced by John Parry, Natalie Bryant, Paul Davis, Jane Taylor, Will Jarman & Margaret Macey.
TECHNOLOGY FORESIGHT
The deliberations of the Transport
Sector Panel of Technology
Foresight, reporting to the Cabinet
Office (ISBN 0114301166) 20 years
ago, turned out to be remarkably
accurate in several respects.
Urban centres were expected to
implement measures to reduce
the impact of air polluting forms
of traffic. They have done,
examples London and
Nottingham..
Car manufacturing would
expand with foreign company -
owned plants in the UK
making increased use of
domestic engineering supply
chain firms. Today, this is a
notable success story led by
TATA/JLR and several
Japanese firms.
Flywheel energy storage
systems would be incorporated
into vehicles. Now an
established fact at the
Stourbridge line.
New categories of lightweight,
energy efficient trains would
come into use on the Network.
This prospect is now becoming reality,
boosted by a major government funded
R&D initiative, the ‘Radical Train’ project.
One element of the Foresight Panel
predictions which has not yet come about is
the increased emphasis on STOL (short take
off and landing) aircraft, but even this could
change as a result of four emerging factors:-
1. Escalating costs of building cross country
rail lines due to planning issues, suggests non-rail
alternatives should to be looked into.
2. Improved battery electric storage capability leading
to the first instances of success by electric cars competing against petroleum-fuelled models.
3. Widespread military use of new silent ’drones’, some electrically powered, in surveillance and combat roles.
4. Renewed interest in Russian developed ’Ground Effect’ (ekranoplan) flight which enables a craft, with a very
low use of engine power, to skim like a seabird just above the surface of land, ice or water.
The illustrations above show a development concept via which battery electric power STOL aircraft, the range of
which is greatly extended by using during take off power assisted launch systems, might provide near silent, non
polluting travel between urban centres using ‘micro-airports’, no larger than 16 hectares in area.
NEARLY SILENT, CITY CENTRE TO CITY CENTRE TRAVEL IN UNDER AN HOUR MAY BECOME
POSSIBLE WITHOUT GOING BY RAIL
Small Ekranoplan as seen on BBC 2’s Top Gear programme, with
presenter James May on board flying over a frozen lake in Russia.
Horizontal rotors with heavy circular
rims, here shown, open but, while on
the ground, normally concealed under
sliding covers. The rotors are spun up
electrically using power supplied from
the tug. When released, the craft will
rise to its normal altitude mainly
powered by stored kinetic energy,
i.e. functioning as flywheels
Instead of
boarding
passengers in the
open, because the
STOL aircraft will
be electrically-
powered they can
operate out of
station-style
weather-proof
buildings.
A very powerful, high speed tug designed with the help of F1
engineers will bring the craft up to a speed of 65mph when it
lifts off. Then airborne but still attached accelerates to 200mph
at which point it releases and climbs to begin its flight.
Pulling alongside platforms, the ‘docking’ procedure
will be far simpler than a normal airport