Autobiography of Nigel Gordon Nicholson Chapter 3
Chapter 3 1990 - 2000
So it was now the early 1990s. Not long after I had proposed to Linda in August 1989, we set up home together in Exeter, and married on my 40th birthday in January 1991. However, during this time, after a peak in values around 1989 / 1990, proerty prices started to tumble and it became very difficult to have any confidence in any property purchases or renovation. I could quote many examples, but to sum it up here is one. I paid £142,000 for my house in 1989, which was about the peak price paid at that time. It was a nice 4 bed detached house with double garage. Over the next few years with landscaping, new conservatory etc, it had cost me a total of say £150,000. Over the coming years, I was to see the property decline in value to around £100,000, possibly even less. Property values then started to recover, albeit slowly. I was eventually to sell the house in 2002, some 13 years after first owning it, for around £130,000, a loss of around £20,000. Property prices continued to recover after that, but as I had reinvested the money in other property, overall I was not to be any worse off.
Clearly, the early 1990s was not to prove a good time to try and make a living from property renovation or investment. However, a chance happening during my honeymoon in 1991 gave me a new opportunity. Linda and I had a honeymoon that lasted several weeks. As I had been to Bali a couple of times during my travels, I wanted to take Linda there. I had a close pal Stan who I had met in 1978, who offered Linda and me to stay in his flat next door. We could have it for a whole month, which worked out great. So, in summary, our itinerary was UK to Bali for several days, then on to Perth Australia for about a month. Our return journey was to Bangkok, Thailand for a few days, then back to UK. As it happens, the Gulf War was occurring at this time. Operation Desert Storm commenced in the early hours of the 17th January 1991, so given the couple hours time difference, the operation was taking place while we were at our evening wedding reception!
Due to the Gulf War, the airport at Abu Dhabi was suddenly not in use for civilian aircraft, so our Garuda flight, which used Abu Dhabi as a stop and refuelling point, was rescheduled. We flew with Canada Airlines to Singapore, and then on to Bali. However, by negotiation, we delayed the Singapore to Bali flight transfer so we had a few nights in Singapore. Similarly, on the way back, our flight to Uk from Bangkok was rescheduled to fly into Amsterdam. So elected to have a few nights there before the final short flight back into London.
Linda and I had 2 weeks in Bali, the main tourist island of Indonesia. At the time, Bali was a great place to stay if on a budget. Accommodation would only have been a few pounds a night and food incredibly cheap. Linda and I had days on the beach and also toured the island, booking accommodation as we went. While looking around markets and shops, many of the trinkets, bracelets and earrings etc seemed very cheap, I wondered if there was an opportunity there. bear in mind, the property recession was occurring, and I needed a regular income. I was considering going 'back on the tools' as a plumber. My bigger house meant a bigger mortgage and bills, I was newly married and expecting to plan children with Linda, in short, a lot more expenses loomed. So I bought various items as samples, and negotiated a 'business price' for items in volume. The samples stayed with us until we returned to UK a couple of months later. Overall our 2 months holiday was great, seeing the sights of Singapore, Bali, Perth, Bangkok and Amsterdam. We stayed with good friends Stan and Jean while in Perth, (using their flat next door as mentioned) so we were able to spend ample time with them and also have our own itinerary which allowed us a few days exploring the South West of Australia. We also visited many friends that I had met since my first visit there in 1976.
So it was late March 1991 when we arrived back in the UK, having missed a lot of the Uk winter. However, I was eating into my capital, and possibly using what profits I was making from my property interests at that time. So I had to decide on what course I would take. Although not a high priority, when I was out and about, I took the samples with me and showed a few traders, and the response was encouraging. So in September 1991, I took a flight to Bali, accompanied by a pal who wanted a trip away. Over the next 10 days I bought about 1,000 pairs of earrings, very light in weight to go in a large suitcase. I also bought some other heavier items e.g. ornaments etc and arranged sea freight. Looking back, some of the items were very much much a gamble. On return to UK, with my 1,000 pairs of earrings, I took them around to traders and sold a few hundred pairs. Then with a stroke of luck, someone took every pair off me. The profit was not a fortune, but enough to fund another flight to Bali and gave me confidence the idea had some merit. So I went back to Bali, this time arranging airfreight for about 100 kilos. I could only go for items that were very light in weight, as air freight was expensive, say US$5 a kilo. Of course, this was not all as simplistic as it sounds. I had to research how to obtain the best quality and best prices for items, how to export from Bali, using a shipper and freight agent, and also of course how to import into the UK via a customs agent. I had to study Indonesian to enable me to have at least a basic conversation. I had to look into advertising and started advertising in a trade magazine called 'The Trader'. This was before the days of online sales, the internet was still in its infancy, and my orders came via telephone, fax or in the post. I made up a brochure, very basic at that time but I improved it over the years. So my 'The Trader' advert gave me enquiries, I posted out a brochure, and with luck, orders came in. I am pleased to say that although the business called 'Bali Images' did not make a fortune, it did give me a living for many years. More on that later.
While operating this new business, Linda and I had, of course, planned a family. We had Marianna in June 1992 and Narissa in December 1994. Linda was no longer working, and expenses had gone up of course, so I was grateful the Bali Images business was working out.
In the first few years of the 90s, up until 1995, my business partner Paul and I did manage a couple of minor property deals, but they were for the long term, we did not do anything speculative i.e. buy and renovate for profit. During my early days in Bali Images, I met a pal called Mike. Mike was to become a very close and long-term friend. I met him at a computer fair, he was selling software. We had a very amenable chat about our various interest, this later resulted in him inviting me to his home in 1992, and we are now close pals over 25 years later.
As mentioned earlier, in 1978 I had worked in Australia as a used car salesman for a gent called Phil. Phil and I had become friends and we had kept in touch, in the early days by aerogramme and then by email. Phil visited the UK in 1996 and stayed with us. I was, of course, aware of Phil's business. He had moved from car sales more into car rental and had three branches, with over 150 cars. Out of the blue, he offered to sponsor me for a role as 'Operations Manager' to run the business. My role was varied and involved all the aspects of running the business, getting involved in fleet selection, size of fleet, best financing deals, marketing, advertising, and the biggest tasks of moving with the times and organising a functioning website and also a proper software program to utilise computers as opposed to the manual agreements they were using. Of course, there was a lot to consider, e.g. how long he could sponsor me for, I had 2 young children, and not least, a reasonably profitable importing business. He offered me good money but overall I would be no better off, with airfares to consider as well, but it was an opportunity to have some time in Western Australia. My initial reaction was no, it was too much upheaval. Then Mike, who had been a pal for a few years now, offered to help out. He would take all my stock into some sheds at the side of his property, and run the business in return for an income share. It suited him as he worked for home selling his computer software. So without boring you with too much detail, all the hurdles were overcome, including sponsorship into Australia. Linda and I and our two children left for Perth in June 1996, Narissa was 18 months old and Marianna was nearly 4. With the help of friends, we had arranged a house rental in South Perth. Australia was to be our main home until 2004. We did have a break back into the UK at the end of 1998 into early 1999. On the way back to Australia in early 1999 we stayed in Bali for about 2 months. We had a further trip back to the UK in early 2001, but we went back to Australia in June 2001 for the last stay in Perth before finally returning in April 2004. During this time in Perth I was still very active in the 'Bali Images' business and had frequent trips to Bali which is only 3.5 hours by air from Perth. Mike would meet me in Bali to buy stock. By the late 90s, Mike was a full partner, and we had initially rented a warehouse in Crediton, before purchasing a larger unit. By this time we were importing goods by the container and had expanded our imports to include containers from China and a limited amount from Thailand. At times it was a very busy trip, Thailand for 2 days, on to China 4-5 days, back to Bali for a week etc. In 1998 an Asian currency crash suddenly meant that our purchases were a lot cheaper so that gave us a 'kickstart' to increase our range of goods. The 'Bali Images' business continued to give both Mike and me an income until around 2010. By this time my property business interests were increasing so I offered to sell my share of the business to Mike, who ran the business until around 2012 when he was approaching 70. Mike sold out the business for a new life in France, having a very happy 5 or so years there before returning to UK to settle in the Isle of Wight in 2018. My close friendship with Mike began when I was looking for a bit of simple computer software to print address labels and has now endured over 26 years. Hardly a day or two go by without a telephone chat or email. Apart from business trips to Bali, China and Thailand, I have also been with Mike to Las Vegas on a couple of occasions to see a large computer and electronics show held annually in January. During our time working together, Mike and I had jointly purchased an 8,400 square feet warehouse in Crediton. We would have liked to keep it, but rental of commercial property was not doing well at the time Mike sold the business, and if we had not rented it out, we could have been faced with several thousands of pounds a year business rates, in addition to no rental income. So as a matter of prudence we sold the property. Mike now has a website about living in the Isle of Wight see IsleofWightLiving
By coincidence, at about the same time my family and I moved to Australia in 1996, my business partner Paul who was still working for BT, accepted promotion and worked for a while in Singapore, and then in Sydney Australia. Although living in Australia at the same time, we never actually met in Australia, although I did manage an overnight stay with him in Singapore during a trip back to UK.
As mentioned prior, around 1995 Paul and I had taken a decision to put our property in the hands of a letting agent, and they managed our properties for us, dealing with all aspects including everyday maintenance etc. For the years Paul and I both worked abroad, we went our own way and both of us acquired a few properties in our own names. That is how when looked at collectively, Paul owns a few properties, so do I, and there are various 'joint' properties. My agent helped me acquire a couple of properties, simply by keeping an eye on adverts and letting me know of anything of interest. I also had a couple of trips back to UK without my family, during which time I was active in looking for anything of interest. One property I am very proud of is a house in Old Tiverton Road, Exeter which I bought in 2000. It was an older property with shared bathrooms, kitchens, 2 stairwells, and large hallways so there was a lot of wasted space. It was difficult to renovate on a piece-meal basis. So after close evaluation of the costs, in 2005/2006 I raised the finance and had arranged for an architect to draw up plans and the property was fully refurbished to provide 8 self-contained flats, all with their own water, gas and electric supplies. There is a link to that particular property here.
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Chapter 1 - 1951-1985
Chapter 2 - 1986-1990
Chapter 3 - 1990-2000
Chapter 4 - 2000-2004
Chapter 5 - 2004 onwards
