Interested in: public affairs, underdogs, farming, the countryside, and happily married to Loretta. Proud to be Executive Chair of Volex, but all views my own.
The London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market isn’t just good for businesses, it's good for Britain.
In today's
@CityAM
, I make the case for why AIM still matters and why we need to fix it:
#VLX
#AIM
#Volex
Just finished a trip to learn first hand about SL’s suitability as a manufacturing location for electronics. Came away highly impressed by govt of
@PresRajapaksa
and its pandemic response as well as the businesses I met. SL is a true gem with a great future.
#GoSL
#SriLanka
Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis arrives in Corfu today and will visit Erimitis. Environmentally Erimitis is a total disaster, it takes Corfu back to 1970s style mass development and adds zero to the local economy. Mitsotakis is foolish to champion this project.
#SaveErimitis
#Corfu
Today in Lakonika I stumbled across the abandoned 100 room Hotel Lakonis. I googled it. Billed as “one of the most luxurious resorts in the Pelopponnese” it was supposed to be a “symbol of new economic might of Greece”. The developer still owes the banks millions!
#SaveErimitis
Honoured to welcome President-elect of Indonesia, General (Ret.) Prabowo Subianto, to Volex’s Batam manufacturing facility yesterday, as we marked the grand opening of the facility’s new expansion.
Delighted to experience the ceremony with the President-elect and so many of my
Extraordinary scenes from Corfu this evening to protest against the Erimitis development fiasco. PM Mitsotakis arrived at his ostentatious private party only to be met by thousands of locals trying to save this pristine coastline from destruction
#SaveErimitis
#Corfu
#Mitsotakis
Switzerland works. Trains run on time, roads are impeccably maintained, health service is excellent, central bank is awash with money, and there’s no need for nuclear weapons. Successful experiments in democracy do exist!
#UK
#Brexit
#EU
Putin is destroying everything Russia achieved in the last 30 years. Sanctions will remain now until he goes. He joins a club consisting of Chavez, Hussein, Mugabe, Kim and a select group of leaders who have destroyed their countries and the living standards of those within them.
Oh to be like Switzerland , a small country with no debt, bucket loads of cash, competent leadership, and self imposed military neutrality baked into its constitution. It has not participated in a foreign war since 1815.
#iraq
#afghanistan
#ukraine
#usa
#russia
"Big win for transparency! The release of JFK files is a significant step towards uncovering the truth. Now,
@realDonaldTrump
, it's time to shine a light on another long-shrouded mystery: UFOs! If you're committed to transparency, release all UFO-related documents & declassify
Swiss Army displaying usual, characteristic military discipline and organisation (FYI nobody killed). This is the road into Davos.
#davosavalanche
#Davos
#Klosters
AIM has been a good home for
@Volex
-we have grown from a £30m to a £500m mkt cap in 8 years and raised capital along the way.A London listing is still a great platform for ambitious companies but London's status as a global bourse is clearly under threat!
By product is water, as opposed to carbon monoxide. Power , range , everything is the same diesel. It is even quieter. It's mind boggling to me that this engineering achievement is not gaining more traction /recognition globally let alone in UK.
#UKmfg
#ClimateAction
Designed, developed and built in Britain: 150 engineers are working on JCB's £100 million programme to develop hydrogen combustion engines and more than 50 prototypes have already been manufactured at the British manufacturer's Derbyshire factory.
#UKmfg
🇬🇧
Censorship of any kind cannot be good. Western democracies appear to be entering a new phase. The next four years of American politics is going to be hellish. Strap in.
#democracy
Hopefully the Covid19 crisis has made it abundantly clear that independent nations need to be self sufficient in agriculture and food production. Farmers need special status, especially in the UK, an island nation.
#sheep
#farming
#agriculture
Domestic equity holdings among pension funds now account for just 4% of UK equities. This is a fact that cannot be allowed to continue if the UK is serious about nurturing the eco system that surrounds its domestic stock exchange.
#AIM
#FTSE
#LSE
#StockMarket
Just finished watching Tucker Carlson's interview with Putin. It garnered attention for providing a platform to the Russian president, offering insights into his perspective on various global issues. Critics argued (& I would agree) that the interview lacked rigorous questioning
Even if Donald Trump is at times economical with the truth I feel extremely uncomfortable with Twitter censoring his (& others) Tweets. They need to rethink this policy.
Today I traveled to Pune, India where I had the privilege of visiting my colleagues at inYantra, the business we acquired majority control of in 2022. I want to personally thank Srikanth Arcot, Sri Krishna Kartik, Avinash Puranik, Amit Varnak and our very talented CEO Nitin
Wholesale European gas prices are up more than 800 per cent in 2021, think about that for a second: it is a total abject failure of successive European leaders to correctly plan for future energy needs, whilst prioritizing “environmental policies” at unlimited cost.
#gasprices
COVID-19 will probably not lead to a root and branch re-evaluation of the relentless tide of globalisation we have seen in recent decades, but it is has certainly stymied it like nothing else since Communism.
Happy Easter to all!
Wishing joy and gratitude to everyone.
To my amazing
@Volex
team: your dedication inspires me daily. Let's keep succeeding together!
To customers, partners, investors and friends: Here's to more success ahead!
May this Easter be filled with love, laughter,
Fantastic to see JLR embracing an all-electric future by pledging to become a fully electric car manufacturer within 4 years – a significant statement of intent by the UK's largest automotive manufacturer.
#VLX
US Tech giant Nvidia is now more valuable than the entire FTSE 100. As at the London close, Nvidia’s market cap was $2,803.9bn vs FTSE 100 at $2,760.8bn
Every day that theUK government fails to institute blanket sanctions against Russian assets it allows them to be moved.These assets need to be seized, sold and funds used to pay for the rebuilding of Ukraine's devastated cities.Come on
@BorisJohnson
,you spineless man.
#Oligarchs
Excess Astra Zeneca vaccines sitting unused in Germany and France should be given without further delay to small European states not in the EU that want them and do not have the funds to buy from Moderna and Pfizer. Examples would be Albania and Montenegro.
Tesla's Cybertruck has 2.1 million reservations, worth around $150 billion in total revenue. Assuming 40% convert to orders, that's still over $50 billion. $TSLA
Global supply chains are now at the least pressured in history (!), according to the New York Fed’s supply chain pressure index in contrast to the widespread disruption in 2020-2022
#FTSE
#ftse100
As 2024 starts, I would like to wish all of our 12,000 Volex team members across the globe, together with their families, friends and loved ones, as well as our customers, partners, suppliers and investors, a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year.
#VLX
#UKMANUFACTURING
Does China want to become a pariah state and prioritize economic ties with a country who's economy is the size of Spain versus that of the the US and EU?
May Day today, chosen by socialists and communists to commemorate a bombing that took place at a labor demonstration in Chicago way back in 1886. We are edging closer to global socialism today than at any other point in my lifetime.
#MayDay2020
#MayDay
There’s one heartening aspect of 2020, and that is the range of breathtaking scientific achievements we saw. The development of not just one but several extremely effective vaccines against COVID-19, a previously completely unknown virus, in less than 12 months is extraordinary.
Scrip dividends can be beneficial for investors as they offer the option to receive additional shares instead of cash. This provides a way to reinvest in the company without incurring transaction costs, potentially increasing the investor’s overall stake over time. Additionally,
This is very sad and upsetting about Boris. Praying for a recovery. He’s a terrific leader, decent person and soon to be a father again.
#BorisJohnson
#Covid_19
“I don’t think anybody’s objecting to the Green Deal,” said Ratcliffe, but added that Brussels should not see the route to decarbonisation through deindustrialisation.
#saynotodeindustrialisation
“Berkshire bought $10 billion in US Treasuries last Monday. We bought $10 billion in Treasuries this Monday. And the only question for next Monday is whether we will buy $10 billion in 3-month or 6-month” T-bills, Buffett said on CNBC. “There are some things people shouldn’t
385m views (at the time of writing and rising) and a surprisingly good interview by
@TuckerCarlson
. No that is not a typo. When you listen to Javier Milei you understand why he is the front runner. There's a lot of stuff in here (on abortion, relations with China , the Pope) that
Sometiemes I wish I was an American citizen just so I could vote in US elections. As Bill A says below, if I could I would evaluate all three candidates on the ballot not just the two "incumbents." It is really worth spending 30 mins to watch the video below: people are
One of our most important civic obligations is participating in the political process and deciding whom to vote for in our upcoming presidential election. By now everyone seems to think that this election is a two-horse race, and many have complained about the options.
I think
AIM continues to provide a great platform for dynamic businesses looking to raise capital – just this week, I’ve supported Insig AI, a data science & machine learning solutions platform and SysGroup, which provides AI platform solutions and supporting managed IT services to the
The UK energy crisis is 30 years in the making and started with successive govts' failure to replace the country's nuclear reactor fleet installed in the post war era.That coupled with an obsessive focus on climate targets has meant UK has'nt had a proper energy plan for decades
One little understood side effect of Covid-19 is that air freight prices have exploded upwards leading to a resurgence of sea freight. This means lead times are much longer and global supply chains come under increased pressure.
If given the opportunity, I would choose to have the Moderna , Pfizer , AstraZeneca and SputnikV vaccines all at once. Vaccines work and are harmless even the Russian one.
Proud of my colleagues when seeing Volex enter the MSCI Global Small Cap Index today. We have a healthy market capitalization of £540 million ($762 million), virtually no debt, and a dynamic team. Team work is everything.
#VLX
#TeamUpForExcellence
#StockMarket
#StocksToWatch
'You can always amend a big plan, but you can never expand a little one. I don’t believe in little plans. I believe in plans big enough to meet a situation which we can’t possibly foresee now.' Harry S. Truman
On Christmas Day, I would like to send my warmest wishes to our teams around the world as well as our customers, suppliers, partners, and friends around the world for a Happy Holiday season! My sincere and heartfelt thanks to all of you who have helped to support Volex.
To many of us Easter is an opportunity to consume vast amounts of chocolate, but Easter is especially important for the elderly. They are the ones most affected by the virus and today many are alone at home. I am sorry if you are lonely or alone today.
#HappyEaster
Events going on in America may well usher in a very new politics after Nov 2020. Case-in-point: American cops are a law unto themselves. Nobody who saw the George Floyd MURDER on TV can rationalise how in a modern society can condone this.
#BlackLivesMatter
#AmericaOnFire
It is a positive development that Turkish President Erdogan has chosen Mehmet Simsek as his new treasury and finance minister, a strong proponent of conventional economics to shore up market confidence after elections. Simsek, who served as Turkey’s finance minister in the
A positive test result does not necessarily mean that an asymptomatic patient has the disease. Add in the interplay between a lower the prevalence of a disease compared to the false positive rate (FPR) of the test, and then you get huge inaccuracies in the results =s CHAOS......
Sazan Island ,
#vlore
#Albania
until 1987 one of the most heavily fortified places in Europe, and until 2017 completely off limits. Look carefully for multiple gun installations and concrete bunkers.
#visitalbania
Sanctioning and seizing Russian assets in EU and UK must start. Those assets can then be sold, proceeds contributed to a ‘reparations fund’ to pay for the rebuilding of Ukraine.
The UK needs to reverse its decision on fracking. Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures/decisions. Ridding EU dependence on Russian gas needs to be the No.1 policy objective.
#EnergyIndependence
#UkraineConflict
50 years after the Yom Kippur War, Israelis’ have learned that its leadership still don’t know how to take responsibility even after severe failures.
#israel
#netanyahu
#gaza
Jeremy Corbyn might go down in history as the worst leader of a U.K. political party, whether in opposition or in government, since the formation of the Union. It’s that bad.
"This offer for Currys does, however, highlight a wider problem with the UK equity market which no longer seems to fulfil its primary purpose of price discovery and efficient capital allocation. " Redwheel 14.9% shareholder in
#Currys
It's incredible to think today of Boris Yeltsin's maligned legacy: helping end communism, delivering a largely peaceful break up of the Soviet Union, fighting off a counter coup, repatriation of 1000s of Nuclear Weapons, offering freedom and hope to millions. Now look at Putin.
Having presented
#Volex
’s FY24 results to analysts yesterday, we’ve had some really great meetings with our institutional investors and are now looking forward to presenting to our loyal and supportive retail investors tomorrow via
@InvestorMeetCo
#ROCE
#CapitalEfficiency
“Tesla is an incredibly capable ship,” Musk said. “We’re not going to sink, but, even a great ship in a storm has challenges.” I'd echo that: Tesla is an exceptional company with exceptional mgmt. and the self - driving (autonomous) technology is world beating.
#TSLA
East Moudros & Portianos War Cemeteries on Limnos. Behind every grave there’s a story of a brave life sacrificed. Thanks to
@CWGC
for maintaining this and other sites so splendidly.
#limnos
#lemnos
#greece
#gallipoli