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I've got an image of your family huddled round a black and white tv set with you using your extensive engineering skills to tune the tv for a better picture.... :o)

More information regarding the new Ocado retail TV advertising campaign launching tomorrow that shaggers had referred to some days ago.

https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/chirpy-jingle-magical-van-feature-ocados-brand-relaunch-campaign/1715128

Great to hear. If you bump into Tim Steiner please drop a hint that another overseas contract would be nice. Thx

Didn't know that, impressive. Personally as an investor it is attractive to be part of a company that treats all of its employees well from top to bottom.

Ocados management team I believe are outstanding. Pushing boundaries, challenging themselves daily. Constantly seeking to offer the best to their customers, employees and shareholders.

That's a very good point shaggers. In all the talk about technology and robots Ocado still seem to place their staff first and foremost. There have been many tales on this board from ex employees who have participated in the generous share scheme that Ocado run for all employees. It has made a huge difference to them. Many retiring early or having a far more comfortable retirement than they imagined.

Ocado's rates of pay for delivery drivers are at the top end of the scale. Ocado paid a pandemic pay bonus to delivery drivers for an extended period. They also acquired covid tests for employees at a very early stage when the tests were extremely scarce.

If anyone regularly has an Ocado delivery and say an Asda delivery they will see the difference in how engaged the delivery drivers are in regards to customer service. Ocado drivers on the whole are more courteous, helpful and seem more happy and engaged with their job than other grocery delivery drivers. A big part of that is the fact that Ocado value them highly and reflect that in the pay, training and benefits they offer to employees.

Good methodology :o) Looking good so far today..

Ed_win, haven't seen a post from you in a while, was wondering if you were still on board with Ocado. Great buy at 1910p.

Buy n hold.

"everyone is predicting another crash"

Another hedged wild exaggeration....

Best of luck shareholders. There is plenty of life in this stock yet...

Fair enough hedged. The market strongly disagrees with your valuation. Let's see how things pan out from here. If you are very strong in your view of course you should make some cash out of it. Go heavily short and declare it on this board..

To add to my note there is also the issue of staff burn out. With the immense pandemic challenges that Ocado employees have faced and overcome to ask them to work even harder on a new overseas contract may have been thought of as too much and too risky. Recruiting and training new employees in another new overseas location during covid is also very complex.

I think they've looked at the eggs in their basket and thought let's look after and nurture these rather than laying more and increasing the strain which must have been near breaking point.

Ocado's financing has been managed exquisitely well. Raising £1bill in June 2020 was a masterstroke. Locking in low rates of financing at a time when demand was at its height and there were few worries over a new contract. Tim Steiner, being an ex bond market dealer at Goldman Sachs, knew how important it was to raise then.

Thanks all. I agree with you re a contract expectation this year shaggers. A large grocer in Italy or South Korea I view as most probable next contract signings. Countries with highest labour rates have been focussed on so far by Ocado in terms of international contracts as Ocado's solution results in largest cost saves in those geographies.

I believe the Ocado share price to be good value currently as it is discounting future expansion possibilities for the Ocado group.

If a new Ocado Solutions contract for a large grocer in a medium sized European country was announced then I can see a straight 15/20%+ added to the SP and then it would rise further. That contract in itself would be small but the realization and confirmation that Ocado was still in demand from others would drive a spike in the shares.

The last overseas contract, Aeon Japan, was signed in Nov 2019. I think the major reason for a delay in a new contract is the difficulties and strain the pandemic has placed on Ocado

I have followed Ocado for many years - listened to all the results releases, researched daily, read all the interviews, seen all the videos etc. The very strong impression I get of Ocado as a company is that when they have a task they want to do it well and meet / exceed expectations. I think this philosophy was heightened after the warehouse fire. Some mistakes were made there. Out of the fire came a strengthened company mindset to be complete and thorough in all they do.

The pandemic arrived in 2020. March 2020 was when it's reality was hitting the UK. It placed colossal strain on Ocado retail. Tim Steiner outlined that it was as if the website was under cyberattack. So many trying to access the site that the Ai pointed to a major threat. Covid has placed huge strains on supply chains, delivery drivers availability, website functionality etc etc. So though Covid has helped the profitability of Ocado retail Ocado have had to devote a lot of extra time and resource to meet the enormous demand complexities of migrating off Waitrose and bringing in Marks and Spencers in the middle of a major pandemic

Ocado know as an absolute priority they have to bed down the Marks & Spencers joint venture well. There is much focus internationally on the venture and it is their most complete shop window to the world, showing other grocers what sort of technology they could have in their country if they too partnered with Ocado.

Other Ocado solutions partnerships around the world in France (Casino), USA (Kroger), Australia (Coles) Canada (Sobeys) Sweden (ICA), Japan (Aeon) Spain (Bon Preu) UK (Morrison's) are critically important too. During the pandemic each of these partners would likely have placed considerable extra demand on Ocado. Asking them for additional tech help in facilitating click and collect for example - Kroger, Sobeys Morrisons and Casino have certainly used Ocado's tech for this purpose for the first time in 2020. ICA have used additional Ocado tech in dark store development aside from the CFC capacity they are building with Ocado.

Part 2 - continued....

The CFC builds around the world would have hit considerable covid obstacles. Supply chains for parts, travel bans, covid absences, lockdowns etc. To continue to develop these CFCs and build them out on time would have been a considerable strain but Ocado have managed this.

I think throughout the pandemic Ocado have prioritized meeting the additional needs of their existing customers over attracting new ones. They do this knowing that happy customers will breed further success. The overseas contracts are also a shop window for Ocado. If there were considerable CFC build delays etc then the fallout would be very damaging as other potential customers would seek alternative solutions. Media headlines of unhappy Ocado partnerships would be deeply damaging.

It can be frustrating from a shareholder view because us shareholders and the market loves new contract announcements however for the overall health and growth of the company I think Ocado have chosen a safety first approach to the pandemic. Meet the considerable demands from existing partners, keep in contact with potential new partners but not commit to new contracts until major covid obstacles are removed i.e. travel bans, lockdowns around the world, staff shortage issues. I believe in the months to come another new overseas contract will be signed.

The above represents simply represents my thoughts, as always do your own research.

Anyone have any comments on this?

MrHold

Best of luck on any new Ocado acquisitions you make. Trend and sentiment is against Ocado currently however this has reversed itself many times before. Best thing is, as you seem to have done, research this share to the maximum, every aspect. From that you will either gain confidence in this as an investment or start to question it. Personally I am still holding.

Same old spiel from Nuri. Trying to justify to himself why he didn't invest in Ocado shares when they were £3 just 4 years ago. Shares with no dividend confuse him.

Mark Carney currently charges between $50,000 and $100,000 if you want a speech from him for a virtual event.

I think Andrew Bailey will be pretty happy with himself having reached the top of his profession.

Bounce occuring currently. Personally I think this is another storm for long term holders to ride out. Short term trading currently is tough to predict either way.

And if you really are concerned get in touch with the joint owners of Ocado retail... M&S. If they came out publicly against it the plans would be dropped instantly..

Noone knows hedged. Encouraging to see the climb up at the end of Ocado's close. It will get oversold in time and reverse....

Ocado group has gained 550% in value in 4 years.