Falling for the Secret Millionaire by Kate Hardy Page A

order.’
    She smiled. ‘Right. But seriously?’
    â€˜You’ve got two main rooms, both with projectors, yes?’
    â€˜Yes?’
    â€˜Do you know the capacity of the rooms?’
    â€˜There are three hundred and fifty seats in the lower room.’
    â€˜The upper room’s smaller. We’d need to measure it properly, but I’d guess we could fit seventy-five to a hundred.’ He looked thoughtful. ‘I really like your idea of taking the Electric Palace back to how it was when it was first built. You’ve got the ceiling upstairs, the parquet flooring and the amazing glass in the foyer. We need to look in the archives and ask on the Surrey Quays forum to see if anyone’s got any old newspapers or magazines, or anything that has pictures or sketches or a detailed description of how it was.’
    â€˜But originally it was a cinema and ice rink,’ she reminded him.
    â€˜I don’t think an ice rink would bring in enough footfall or spend,’ he said. ‘The next incarnation would work better—the cinema and the ballroom. But keep the Art Deco glass. That’s too stunning to lose.’
    â€˜You really want to turn the upstairs room back into the ballroom?’
    â€˜No. I think it’d work better as a multi-purpose room,’ he said. ‘If you didn’t have fixed seats, you could use it as a cinema; but you could also use it as a ballroom and a conference venue.’
    â€˜Conference venue?’ she asked.
    He knew he was probably speaking too soon, but it was the perfect solution. A way to work together, so he could help his friend and impress his father. ‘Conference venue,’ he confirmed. ‘The chairs you use for the cinema—they could be placed around the edge of the dance floor on ballroom nights, and they could be moved easily into whatever configuration you need for a conference, whether it was horseshoe or theatre-style. And if you use tables that fit together, they’d also work as occasional tables for the cinema and ballroom nights.’ He warmed to his theme. ‘Or for any club that wants to hire the room—you could still do the craft stuff. Offer people crafternoon tea.’
    â€˜Crafternoon tea?’ She looked mystified.
    â€˜A session of craft—whether it’s sewing or painting or pottery—followed by afternoon tea. Hence crafternoon tea,’ he explained.
    â€˜That’s the most terrible pun I’ve ever heard,’ she said. ‘Maybe. But would anyone really hire that room for a conference? I can’t see it.’
    â€˜You have a hotel next door,’ he said. ‘Which would hire the room as a main conference suite, and there could be breakout rooms for the conference next door.’
    â€˜What about refreshments and meals for the conference delegates?’
    â€˜Depends on your staff and facilities. That’s when we’d work together,’ he said. ‘We’d have to sort out costings and come up with something that was fair to both of us. I’m thinking out loud, here, but maybe you’d do the coffee and a buffet lunch, and I’d do the evening sit-down meal, because my kitchen has a bigger capacity than yours.’
    â€˜Right,’ she said.
    â€˜And then there’s downstairs,’ he said, ignoring the fact that she didn’t seem enthusiastic—once he’d worked out the costings and she could see it would benefit both of them, she’d come round. ‘We have the main cinema. We can restore the seats. As I said, I know specialist upholsterers who can do that.’
    â€˜The seats are old and uncomfortable. The multiplexes offer VIP seating. Maybe that’s the sort of thing I should put in.’
    He shook his head. ‘We can’t compete with the multiplexes, not with one full-time and one part-time screen. They have twenty or more screens and can offer staggered film times. We