Member Info for DevonianExile

Spec reads to me as full time and permanent. Just a guess but to get someone with that skill and experience set you have to be offering well north of £60K.

Interesting spec - looking for someone with strong sector experience plus the Spanish bit. Role posted on the 4th September- so reasonable to assume that some wheels are turning. Quite often similar sized companies will try to plug in a project type role on an interim basis - so going for an experienced permanent is in my view a big positive.

I think we all accept that AIM shareholders are a broad church - and have pretty broad extremes on the scale of belief. Eg Stockie is a passionate believer and HF and Vince at best agnostic. But at least they all research the basics and offer a considered view - plus understand the risk and reward profiles on shares like this one. And I guess they are all genuine holders - although no doubt not averse to the occasional trade.

But then we have the likes of TheSwan1 and the-adams.

So "TheSwan1" rocks up on 18th August and quickly posts 6 times in 4 days. Saying broadly nothing apart "don't do it". So who were you before August 18th? And what triggered your sudden rush to save the rest of us from Armageddon? Utterly pathetic.

"the-adams" is even more interesting. So 156 posts to date - and as far as I can see entirely negative about QED. Joins LSE in July 2017 and after 6 months of shyness then has a prolific early phase of hectic posting negatively - until he/she mysteriously disappears in August 2018. Then - a full 7 years later - up from the grave you come in May 2025!. Clearly invigorated by your 7 year rest you then post almost daily trying to save the rest of us from eternal damnation. Again who are you? With my psychoanalyst hat on you are either a) a bitter and twisted ex holder - perhaps posting elsewhere under a different name b) been in clink for 7 years, c) a caring soul desperate to save the rest of us from financial ruin, or d) on a shorting mission again? Fascinating stuff really - but certainly not normal behaviour.

Apologies to everyone else - it has been a quiet night, family out and nothing much on TV

As one who has copious amounts of patience on this share I take this update in my stride. High reward and high risk always go hand in hand but nothing here detracts from my view on the direction of travel.

A positive MAN report will be hugely significant assuming it is positive

And MSC internal workings will be the interface between the technical, commercial, risk and legal teams. Anyone who has ever worked on these interfaces will recall huge dollops of treacle and constant questions being raised by all and sundry. Probably not helped by summer holidays.

Nice top up from self this AM. Probably enough now.

Have to agree that a new CEO is most likely after contracts are signed. Why would a fully qualified and experienced candidate take the risk until there is some clear water?

Re AM I think one or two comments are very wide of the mark. If you check out his background he has strong credentials re turnaround , restructuring and growth. If you look at ONDO he has been the key driver over the last 3-4 years, and has over £10 million of capital in the business (2.7 % of the stock). So why did he resign - the Chairman’s comments are glowing)?

Hopefully to give more time to get QED over the line and then see a new CEO arrive to take us through the commercial growth phase.

Final comment - I do not see him as lacking in charisma. What I do see is a very astute and accomplished businessman- hopefully seeing QED as another challenge to mark his career.

Totally disagree. The spec (I sincerely hope) will be to find someone who has demonstrated the ability to take a £70 million company to at least £500 million and hopefully more. They will need to have demonstrated serious skills in securing financing and in top level commercial contracts. Plus all the other stuff that CEOs do.

The target pool may include other AIM or similar businesses but I suggest more likely either someone in a senior divisional role in a corporate or perhaps someone in one of the consultancy groups. Whatever - QED will have to persuade them to give up all sorts of incentives for the risk and opportunity that QED provides.

Someone of that stature will not come cheaply- and whilst some may be on 3 month contracts I would suggest the majority will be on more. Again - if we don’t go for quality we might as well not bother.

HF - just shows how little you know about how it all works. Yet you endlessly pontificate as if you are some kind of guru with infinite wisdom.

A CEO appointment will take a minimum of 3 months - and if the contract is anywhere near typical more like 6 months. I would expect any serious candidate- assuming they are currently employed- to be on an absolute minimum of 6 months notice. Plus they are likely to have due bonus’s and stock options that will affect timing of notice and/or some sort of joining bonus. No current senior person is going to forfeit all that without good reason.

Plus - if with a competitor a further set of complications arise. If you want a quick appointment you will inevitably end up with second best - or even third best. And how you will wince on and on if that happens

Yep - that was a pretty bold Linked In statement by Phil Hill. Amidst all the fuss and counter arguments regarding JM's exercise of options and partial sale the key one for me was the PH exercise option. He only took out the costs of the exercise and now has well over 3 million shares owned. He is right at the centre of whatever is progressing and at his assumed salary level any success will be potentially life changing. Can't think of a better motivation to get things delivered.

Yep - JM I am guessing now owns around 12 million shares and PH around 3.5 million. Taxes on the gain would have been 40% plus costs (from my recall am pretty sure this is treated as income and not a capital gain).

And I managed to up my holding last week by around 25% at what I hope were ok prices

Now for more patience - as said by my many here the reward to risk here is substantial and oodles of considered patience is an essential ingredient. As my last 10 years has undoubtedly proven - but direction of travel is still good for me.

I think there was a brief technical issue around 10 this morning. I bought at 3.88 just before 10 but a few minutes later someone paid 4.40 for a similar amount. Very odd - the share price shot up for a few minutes then back down again.

There are clear rules around when and how an exercise of options can be communicated, and the Nomad will have dictated what can and can’t be said. And I would assume the current contract position is irrelevant – the company has been clear about what it expects to happen in the coming months.

So JM will – after costs - end up with I guess over 12 million shares, and PH I guess around 3 million.

PM is the one I would muse at most re the psychology. Less than 4 years’ service and I assume in his 40s with family. Well paid I guess, but not spectacularly, and arguably he is the person who is at the very heart of the contract deliberations. He will be acutely aware of both upside and downside risks. He probably has a once in a lifetime opportunity to create significant wealth - and he has now chosen to exercise his share options and become a significant holder.

Not a guarantee - but a good enough indicator for me

Just to add another perspective SemRed - and I also see this positively.......

Andy holds 4.6 million shares (ref RNS 24/1/25)

Jason did hold 6 million shares. After the exercise he will hold 14 million - less shares sold to cover costs

Phil - who will be paid far less - did hold just over 300,000 shares. After the exercise he will hold nearly 4 million - again less shares sold to cover costs

Personally I like the senior team to carry exposure in the same way that we do - albeit accepting that shares bought through options will always be on very beneficial terms. The exercise ensures that the key people carry the exposure that we do - and if they make a lot of money so do I.

The optics never look good as there is never a good time to do this stuff - but at the end of the day AM, JM and PH will collectively have exposure to a holding of around 20 million shares - and Jason and Phil will have significantly upped their personal risk.

I may decide to add if the SP continues to drift.

Yep - 6 months or more common for the individual and usually around 12 months to the individual. All negotiable of course - but like the contracts we await it needs all parties to agree.

Separately I think the PR work JM is doing to promote the company and the technology is essential. Arguing that it should come once contracts are signed is completely nonsensical - and this is all about continual drip feed into the market. A bit like launching a new brand - it needs a big and determined push. Difference here is the complexity and number of moving parts.

I am quite happy with today - RNS plus AM comments. Have always said it is all about direction of travel, and that remains unchanged. As does the size of the prize. A by product of today was that I achieved my target holding slightly earlier than expected and at slightly lower cost - so all in all a positive outcome.

This Adams poster intrigues me (but only slightly). Post frenetically for a short while in 2018. Then disappears and reappears 7 years later in May 2025. Another frenetic burst with over 20 today. Only ever posts on QED. Bizarre behaviour by any standards, perhaps he served a seven year term for some misdemeanour???

I’ll say upfront that I think JM has done a fantastic job in getting us this far – and that the change in role seems to make sense regards timing, direction and of managing a very broad agenda. I do not share HF's view at all.

However - for most of us management of risk in shares like this is paramount, and I am sure many of us have privately considered the downside – ie that the decision is perhaps an advance warning that at projects are seriously delayed or even worse.

If it helps my take is still very much on the positive take, largely based on the CEO search itself. Spinnaker are promoting a serious growth opportunity requiring extensive skill sets – and they have advertised this both openly and “discretely” - ie without using the Quadrise name. (See https://spinnaker-global.com/job/93601-chief-executive-officer-uk-93601)

I would suggest that if we were experiencing serious challenges on the projects the Spinnaker approach would be using different words – you don’t invite interest from serious players only to then tell them that the business is in the mire (in which case you would use very different words and paint a different picture). So an opening phrase that says: “Ready to Lead the Next Energy Revolution? A bold, innovative company at the forefront of maritime and industrial energy is searching for a visionary CEO—based in the UK—to lead it into its next phase of transformative growth” suggests to me that behind the scenes things are progressing as stated and the change of role is for all the right reasons.

Of course a communication in the next week or so would help us all to settle any nerves – even if some aspects of the timetable do get a little stretched.

I did muse in February whether or not this might be a dependency for our deal. No way of knowing really but Jason is clearly close to it. This statement in February caught my eye: “By combining the strengths of two global players, Seascale Energy aims to set a new standard for marine fuel procurement by delivering considerable cost efficiencies, transparency, and access to sustainable fuel innovations.”

If you think about Panama and Singapore then it is not difficult to imagine a series of inter dependencies.

Just thinking a little more about yesterday’s announcement – and we all seemed to think this decision was in the main driven internally. And obviously the final call would have been by the BoD.

However I think there may be another angle. Both MSC and Cargill will have set up some sort of oversight “board” as part of the governance for the pending contracts. They will be made up of technical and commercial managers – with probably a pretty senior person acting as chair. All the usual legal, risk and compliance angles will be a part of due process.

From my own experience one issue – when dealing with a smaller partner on what could be an important and expensive project – is to guarantee as much as possible sustainability and continuity. I can easily imagine that a pre-requisite is a) that Jason remains as the main and prime contact and b) that QED guarantee that their focus on these contracts will not become diluted by other activities.

If you accept this context then yesterday’s announcement not only makes perfect sense – but in fact could well be a precursor to formalising the remaining contracts. I even suspect that the Far East initiative has been put on hold simply because the band width issue had to be addressed first.

If I am right I think the next 3-4 weeks could get very interesting

Have to say this is a wise move by the Board. I suspect Ian Foster has had a lot to do with this – pushing the team to think about the future and what will be needed. Plus AM is also a very experienced Chairman and Non-Exec. The future agenda includes further partnerships, our emerging financial structure, ownership models etc etc. And of course asking questions about how we can best manage the current agenda.

Nothing that detracts in any way from JM’s skill set – the circumstances and nature of the challenge have simply progressed to another level. Interpreting this as a demotion is quite simply wrong – it is a function of the growing complexity and changing needs within a challenger organisation

If it were me I would simply “red ring” JM’s salary – a very acceptable way to ensure a smooth transition – and reward him in as many share options as I possibly could.

Well done the board – and well done Jason on getting us thus far. Hopefully the next few months will see you deliver the critical milestones that we all crave.

Interesting. So if I was going to stick my neck out on May 14th I would want to be assured that something solid was in the public domain before then. Otherwise why bother

Just saying

Quite like and appreciate their use of Linked In. Apart from the wider audience it is a way of maintaining contact with shareholders whilst the behind scenes activities grind on. Sort of saying don’t worry - we are still working our way through it