Sheffield

"As far as Heatley recalls, during the construction phase he and Sheffield never had a ‘what-are-we-going-to-do-if-the-money-runs-out-before-we-finish’ conversation. Just as with the Foxton subdivision, Heatley never considered failure to be a possible outcome. ‘It sounds nuts, I know, but we just blindly went on,’ he says."

"Looking back, Heatley considers the mini-golf course to have been one of the biggest risks of his life. It also proved the old adage that when you have nothing you risk everything, because there is so little to lose. Sheffield feels the same way. ‘We clearly didn’t have enough money to complete it so it was an extremely ill-founded venture, really. It was done on a dollar, a hope and a prayer.’"

"The threat of the float being kiboshed never became public but it caused two weeks of great anxiety behind the scenes amid furious letter-writing by both parties’ lawyers. Heatley was affronted on behalf of his friends. Although he and Sheffield were just getting established, Tapper and George’s reputations were impeccable. But the official held a powerful position and because the market already knew that the float was imminent, if Rainbow’s partners could not persuade him that the company’s forecasts were genuine, the float would have to be cancelled. If that happened, the partners’ names might forever be tainted by the association."