A Bretonian Corporate Odyssey

[Bowex]

Borderworld Exports, otherwise known as Bowex, operates using a highly efficient compartmentalised organisational structure. The system of departments was thoroughly overhauled by DO Sir William Burke upon his arrival in office in 779 A.S, in what was later to become known as "The Great Reform". Burke's vision was to eliminate the rampant bureaucracy and redundancy that was rife in the company, a vision that was for the most part successful. The departments were streamlined and separated, so job role and responsibilities were distinct and without overlap. Two of the four departments are currently active in space.

A Structural Analysis


The Trade Combine.

Bowex's Trade Combine is the single largest department inside the Bowex umbrella and is consequently the senior branch of the corporation. The Combine, as with the rest of the company, can trace its roots back to BE&T, prior to the construction of the gate networks. BE&T trade ships were responsible for hauling valuable minerals from mining sites, through deep space, back to the Bretonian heartland of New London. They were also the primary method by which settlers could be moved to the new colonies of Leeds and Cambridge. In particular, the Trade Combine played a pivotal roll in the 'forced resettlement to Leeds' policy of the early tyrannical princes. The Trade Combine underwent its first major upheaval immediately following the Great Merger of 310, when the entire Cambridge Shipping Omega fleet was integrated into the BE&T umbrella. The result of this was a more robust command structure and convoy system that could dominate trade between both Liberty and Rhienland.

In modern days, the Trade Combine operates in all three of Sirius' civilised houses, conducting lawful corporate operations and shuttling freight. Mundane operations include contractual deliveries to BAF, BMM and government installations. Ever since the nationalisation of 420, the Trade Combine has also increased its terrestrial presence on Bretonian planets, moving goods overland and through the maritime shipping lanes. Despite this, Bowex's expertise remains in spatial shipping, and is thus out-competed by localised planetside transportation firms. Employees in the Trade Combine can neatly be divided into two camps: Contract workers and independent contractors. Contract workers are fully employed by the corporation and work for wages under the direct command of the Bowex) umbrella hierarchy. Independent contractors are free to act as they see fit outside the corporate structure, often owning their own ships and crews. In effect, they are merely Bowex affiliated freelancers. This freedom comes at a price however, as these independents do not work for a wage - a personal misjudgement of the markets can lead to financial ruin, something that is not the case for contract workers due to their salaries; the company will foot their loss. These individuals retain their own trade profits consequently pass up on many of the advantages and job oppertunities full contract workers receive.

ExSec - Exploration and Security.

ExSec is an amalgamation of two ancient and venerable Bowex departments: the Interstellar Chartering Commission and BE&T Security Concerns. The Chartering Commission was originally founded as the primary focus of BE&T, surveying distant mining sites and searching for new systems in the name of the Kingdom of Bretonia. Dating back to the original Bretonian fighter class ship, the Bee-1 Explorer, Bowex pilots have been charting the stars and pushing back Bretonia's boundaries since time immemorial. BE&T Security Concerns has had an equally colourful history, being further subdivided into two sections: Escort Service and Personnel. The Escort Service has generally been concerned with convoy security using space superiority fighters, traditionally in an attempt to prevent Bretonian Buccaneers from looting BE&T shipments. After the Buccaneer's destruction and the consequential 100 year 'Golden Age' (589 - 674 A.S.), the Escort Service suffered a drastic reduction in manpower as the Board became complacent regarding security matters. This would later cost Bowex dearly, after a resurgence of criminal activity left the Service dreadfully underfunded for the job at hand. The Personnel subsection dealt with security on Bowex stations and installations planetside, a role that has changed very little in the 760 years of Bowex's existence.

Sir William Burke's reforms merged the two groups into a single department: ExSec. ExSec assets now deal with both the charting of Bretonian territory as well as the protection of Bowex shipping. In light of Kusari aggression in the Taus and Leeds, a clause was reactivated in the Royal Charter obliging Bowex ExSec agents to assist any BAF or BPA officer who requested their help. The last time ExSec pilots regularly took part in military engagements was during the Bretonian civil war, on the side of the BPN. This amendment met little to no objections from the board, who were still smarting from the loss of the corporation's previous HQ, Glasgow Outpost - revenge was a powerful motivator. Currently the ExSec wing is engaged in flights either to or from Omegas 59, 51, 53; Taus 25, 27, 69, 73; Lambda Chi and Lambda Rho, with arrivals in Lambda Chi expected 819 A.S., and the return flight from Omega 59 returning to Bretonia in 823 A.S. ExSec expeditions were also responsible for the initial Bretonian discovery and charting of the Omega 49 and Chester systems. ExSec pilots are nominally subordinate to Trade Combine captains, giving trade ships the discretion to direct their convoys.

Colonial Authority.
Bowex Services.

The Colonial Authority was also created by Burke's reforms, as an effort to combine and streamline a myriad of separate projects that had otherwise overlapped or fallen under a similar mandate to each other. The majority of these projects were pulled together from a collection the legacies that dated all the way back to the Heirs Re Group and BE&T. It also absorbed the much younger Bowex Station Management organisation, originally established to manage terrestrial holdings and Stokes Smelter before it was turned over to BMM. The separate sub-departments founded on behalf of the government as client offices for Planetform's various projects were also amalgamated. These missions included the Harris Project, starting in 450 A.S, Ayer in 747 A.S. and potentially Carlisle in future years. It would also begin tandem archaeological digs on Sprague with the Cambridge Research Institute in 683 A.S, and begin colonization of Port Jackson on Planet Gran Canaria in 817 A.S. The Authority'€™s precursors have historically maintained little more than a hibernation presence, merely depositing payments to Planetform and maintaining Bowex stations. However, this previously passive role appears to be coming to an end, with the current era being one of considerable turmoil for the division. Between the loss of Glasgow, Ayer's terraforming nearing completion and both Gran Canaria and Sprague being opened up for Bretonian colonization, the division has never been busier.

In contrast to the corporation's other departments, Bowex Services has led a relatively straight-forward and simple existence. Originally created as a liaison branch between Bowex and BMM, Services came into its own with the completion of Scarborough Shipyard in 624 A.S., designed to compliment Southampton Shipyard and Stokes Smelter. Crewing Scarborough entirely, Services is now comprised of a small army of technicians, scientist, docks workers and construction specialists who design and construct Bowex's latest shipping innovations, such as the Shire and Shetland class super transports. Services is also responsible for ensuring a constant flow of refined Super Alloy is exported from the station. Bowex's ability to produce its own ships has been a massive boon to the corporation, especially against corporate rivals Gateway, who must face the gratifyingly awkward prospect of politely requesting to purchase Bowex patented transports - for a well above average premium, of course. Services has found itself especially strained in recent years, due to the sudden workload placed on Scarborough by the war effort. With Southampton Shipyard reserved for military ship-building, the vast majority of civilian construction must now be routed through Scarborough, and thus Services.

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