Richard Drake

Richard Drake was a clothing wholesaler of a large firm and a potential client of Underworld. He had a fearsome reputation in the business and was one of the few people who unnerved Johnny Connor. He had a meeting with him in February 2017 which he confessed to trainee manager Alya Nazir made him nervous, saying he was as difficult to crack as a cue ball.

During the meeting, Drake insisted on making an impromptu visit to the factory as he always like to gauge a firm from seeing how their premises operated. He returned with Johnny and his own assistant Jemima Corey. Much to Johnny's anger, they found that no one was working their noses to the grindstone. The cause of this was Jenny Bradley, Johnny's fiance, who had wanted to make an impression on her intended and, after a conversation with cancer survivor Sally Metcalfe, had come up with the idea for a new design for a stylish mastectomy bra. Sally had brought in Emma, a member of her clinic's support group to inspect the item, and in turn she brought along several other women including Weatherfield Gazette journalist Rachel. Their positive conversation about the bra was in full flow when Johnny arrived with his two visitors, boasting about running a tight ship. Drake was all ready to vacate the "tea dance" but Jenny spoke up, saying that Johnny encouraged his staff to be innovative and the explained why the other visitors were there. Drake wasn't convinced and spoke sneeringly about the market being a "little niche" which Emma countered with the statistic that nearly 20,000 mastectomies were carried out every year and Rachel also told him of the press interest and the idea deserved a chance. Drake suddenly saw pound signs before his eyes and asked to discuss the matter further with Johnny. Delighted, he took Drake and Jemima into his office to start negotiations.