According to John Sullivan, he got the idea for the script from his father's favourite pub called "The Duke of Devonshire". The man who ran it was even called "Boycie". The place suffered from terrible business, but the owner explained it was "Ethnic English", thus the idea was implanted in Sullivan's mind.
Del's vision was slightly different in a dream Rodney had fifteen years later. Del mentioned he had a vision that he would be standing on a penthouse balcony with initials of "Trotter Independent Traders" above his head. In Rodney's dream in Heroes and Villains (1996), the penthouse Del has in the future is called "Trotter Towers".