Mel Ryan

Mel Ryan was a brash businessman from Birmingham who offered Ray Langton a slice of a deal worth £1m in sauna baths. He had an exclusive concession from the manufacturers for the north of England at £50 a time. The baths came from Newcastle in kit form and Ray was offered the job for Fairclough and Langton to assemble them. Ray's eyes saw pound signs and he noticed when meeting Mel at the The Carousel club that he had an eye for the ladies. Ray heard about Irma Barlow kidding some lads from the Mark Brittain Warehouse that she was French and offered her a night out with him and Mel if she could convince his erstwhile business partner that she was one of his Gallic cousins.

Irma took up the challenge and dolled herself up for another night at the Carousel however she was dumbstruck when Mel turned up with one of his girlfriends - French lass Francoise Dubois. Irma managed by hook and by crook not to give the game away that she was a Weatherfield lass but the evening took a direction that no one anticipated when Ray questioned Mel over his costs and charges and how a quality job could be done at the price he was offering. Mel confirmed that he wasn't interested in quality - just getting the money out of the customers and then scarpering. This raised a niggle of doubt in Ray's mind and he questioned Mel as to why his firm had been chosen. Mel replied honestly that it was because they had a reputation for shoddy workmanship. Ray saw red and threw a drink over Mel and a fight broke out which subsequently cost Ray £50 in damages to the club and a lost deal.