Page 259 - James Caan - The Real Deal

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TV, no radio, no cars, only darkness. It made me realise how much
we take for granted.

Going back into the office the next day was a strange feeling. I had
just had my eyes opened to a whole new world and I was
immediately immersed in my old one. Advent had invested in
Alexander Mann because they thought they would get a good
return on their money, so the early years of their involvement were
spent growing the business so that they, and we, could increase the
value of our respective shareholdings.
Having an outside investor changed the atmosphere of Alexan-
der House; some of the fun had gone. We had become slightly
more corporate and it felt slightly less like my company. Things
really changed, however, in the summer of 2000 when our plans
for growth were dealt an enormous blow by the bursting of the
dotcom bubble. It sent the stock market into a slump, and our two
biggest sectors – IT and finance – were the hardest hit. Thankfully,
Alexander Mann was in a good position to ride out the storm, so
just as I had done with the recession in the early nineties we
battened down the hatches and prepared for a rough time. The
recruitment industry was still vulnerable to the wider economy,
and we knew we weren’t about to enjoy a good period of growth.
Then came September 11 2001 and the world changed for good.
Financial companies that had withstood the fallout from the
dotcom bubble bursting now fell apart, and share prices plum-
meted with the economic downturn that followed the attacks on
the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. I started to wonder if
it was time for a new challenge: it was going to be harder than
we’d anticipated and, I realised, possibly harder than I was
prepared to live through again. Besides, I was beginning to think I
was ready for a new challenge.
After mulling over my options for a couple of months I went to
talk to Advent and asked them if they wanted to buy my remaining

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