AGM titbits26 Jun 2018 14:55
In no particular order (and happy to be corrected if my scribbled notes below do not reflect other's memories of the meeting. I’ve also probably missed loads out. I’ll add later if I think of anything further):
- Seemed confident on Iran, but said it will take time (though they did mention EU's political timetable of confirming 'support' in place by August as important to some of their suppliers).
- Nonetheless, they said they are changing some suppliers in response to sanctions and that they have this is in hand.
- Importantly, they mentioned insurance (air side insurance of £100m needed as standard for their activities) and banking finance as two areas where discussions were ongoing following Trump's announcement, albeit I got the impression they were confident that these would be resolved in due course (they mentioned that German Director has been busy and is in dialogue with German financial institutions).
- Not all of the supply chain needs to be in place day 1 for the contract to begin. There was mention that there is a c. 2 year program after initial implementation to invest in and get the airport equipment ‘up to standard’ before the contract then ‘ticks along’.
- All 59 other airports need similar investment – and so there is opportunity there (and a great added ‘carrot’ to get the current contract up and running).
- TB stated that WSG’s contracted activities are not in themselves subject to sanction. I got the impression that insurance and finance really are the two big areas that need to be sorted……
- No UKEF available as this needs to be done through a UK bank. WSG are seeking finance via Germany.
- There is no long stop date for exchange of implementation letters under the contract (i.e. no impending deadline before the contract falls away….). Iran want implementation ASAP, but are understanding and helpful with regard to the process that WSG are now going through. They are willing to wait.
- Cash starts to flow into WSG’s bank account 4 months after implementation (ergo c. 6 months after exchange of letters).