Member Info for Yorek

OSG, here you were actually suggesting the CEO and CFO had gone:

“Have the present CEO of THG Ingenuity Richard Ward and Chief Financial Officer Jon Parton resigned or been axed,”

Much like someone earlier in the year suggested the current THG Chairman was ill or indeed dead.

Neither Alistair Crane (Ingenuity Chairman), Richard Ward (Ingenuity CEO) nor Jon Parton (Ingenuity CFO) currently feature on the THG Board. So I'm not sure how they go awol, when they’re not currently in post……

Thewonderer, I think OB was jesting…..

I believe the Grocer article is offline sales. So shows the potential in the new strategy in my opinion.

Interesting also that Mondelez (Grenade) and Ferrero (Fulfil) feature in sports nutrition, but no Mars, Nestle etc

No dates I’m aware of Cong.

There was an interesting piece in The Grocer (UK) that was on Sports Nutrition, which listed MyProtein in 10th place instead of 14th place (previously) in the category top 20, with £6.2m sales which is allegedly £3m up on the prior year (96.5%)

I’m not going to waste my time entering into a debate on it OSG, as it’s pointless at this stage, especially with anyone who’s not elected to hold Ingenuity.

Interesting price movement today….. those who want Ingenuity only now selling? Shorts exiting? Who knows.

What’s the phrase?….Your money your choice, my money my choice.

That’s one interpretation…..there are others in my opinion …..

So, we’re post decision time. Any comments positive or negative regarding the Ingenuity demerger have very limited value now.

Unless anyone has sold, we’re all still in RemainCo, so it would be lovely to get back to discussing the actual RemainCo business, if that’s possible…..

The wording on HL suggests you needed to hold shares by close last night….

“Excited to be partnering with the best guys in the biz VANITY GROUP | Certified B Corp La Bottega S.p.A. with our flagship skincare brand Perricone MD.

Revered around the globe for our cutting-edge approach to skin health, hotel guests will now be able to indulge in two luxury collections inspired by the hero ingredients found in Perricone MD’s advanced skincare and formulated with up to 98% natural ingredients:

Vitamin B5 & Vitamin E – designed to deliver ultimate hydration and super skin nourishment.

Chia Oil & Vitamin C – deeply nourishing and with high antioxidant power.

These luxurious amenities are now available for top-tier hotels globally, setting a new standard for wellness-focused travel experiences, and comes in sustainable formats.

Excited to see this partnership come to life in some of the world’s finest properties! ✈️

Thanks as always to the Vanity Group team Paul Tsalikis Alex Jaumot Lumbera Naomi Rheinberger

Find out more here: https://lnkd.in/eH7Zy4EW”

This article says that Frasers have got approval for their 275 acre facility in Ansty, which includes 5 warehouses over 3.3 million square feet (each warehouse larger than the local village apparently). So, not sure what their interest in Ingenuity would be? Apart from a stop gap (like H&B) while they build their own facility.

Thoughts?

https://www.retail-week.com/frasers-group/frasers-has-won-approval-for-its-mega-hq-plans-despite-concerns/7047762.article?utm_source=Morning_Briefing_NL_REG_Retail_Week&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2024-12-13

Thanks jgallagh, appreciated

To me, the HL guidance suggests that the only account that there are issues with holding shares is the ISA, so I am assuming a SIPP holding is possible.

Jgallagh, would you be happy to share your thoughts on the situation? I would be very interested to hear your view, but understand if you don’t want to share.

“Any company considering this option needs to be big enough to justify investment, economies of scale are crucial to make the numbers add up”

I think this underpins one of the mental challenges I have with Ingenuity nowadays. I have mentioned before that the need to target larger customers, who are capable of investing in their own solution, seems counterintuitive. I understood it better when they targeted smaller brands that weren’t big enough to do it themselves and were prepared to pay for the reach/service, but clearly that wasn’t viable.

The other issue I have is that nowadays, I feel like shopping from a marketplace, where I can buy multiple brands, with 1 spend target to get free delivery and 1 delivery schedule, to be preferable to ordering from multiple sites. As an example, I have recently ordered from MyProtein, H&B and OralB in the same week, all delivered by Ingenuity….but I can’t cross shop to get one delivery. I was listening to a large retailer speak about their process/platform last week and they said this type of marketplace is increasingly what customers are seeking.

Iain said that they would draw on the contacts of the key investors to replace the management if they are believed to be under performing….

I’m not saying it is THG, but Iain’s comments certainly put MyProtein in the frame in my opinion….

"Kelso Group Holdings, the activist investor, is said to have submitted a takeover approach for a sizeable part of NCC Group, The London-listed cybersecurity business."

I’m confused….

Why can’t Kelso be going after part of NCC Group and Selkirk be going after a division of THG?

Iain said that Selkirk is not a SPAC and that the current owner of their target will maintain 51%….

WHAT'S NEXT FOR KROGER?

Brittain Ladd | 11 Dec 2024

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/whats-next-kroger-brittain-ladd-6q9ac

Shared via LinkedIn

Interesting extract on Ocado:

“The Ocado Option

There is a merger hiding in plain sight of McMullen and Kroger -- the Ocado Group. Ocado leverages robotics and a smart logistics platform to fulfill online groceries and other retail products via automated warehouses.

Ocado and Kroger entered into an agreement in May 2018, whereby Kroger agreed to buy a 5% stake in Ocado. I was working as a consultant at Kroger during this time. I had recommended to Kroger to acquire the entire company but Kroger declined.

I also recommended to Kroger to replace the existing Kroger IT systems (which are incredibly bad based on discussions with consultants trying to improve the systems) and replace them with the end-to-end Ocado Smart Logistics Platform and front end. The Ocado partners that are using Ocado's end-to-end platform are performing very well. Kroger chose to maintain their IT systems.

Kroger contracted Ocado to open up to 20 automated warehouses. However, only eight have been opened. Kroger paused opening more CFCs to ensure they "have a clear path on the ones that they have," according to McMullen.

Walmart, Amazon, and other grocery retailers have embraced the use of automation for fulfilling groceries. Kroger can't afford to wait when it comes to automation.

In my professional opinion, Kroger must do the following: Acquire Ocado, and run it as a separate company.

Rodney McMullen was named CEO in 2014. McMullen has worked at Kroger since 1978. There isn't a single executive at Kroger who I believe has the skills and vision to take Kroger to the next level. Kroger needs a new CEO. Period.

I believe that Kroger should name Ocado's founder and CEO Tim Steiner, to be the next CEO of Kroger. Kroger's shareholders should insist that Tim be named CEO. Tim will bring a completely different mindset that will accelerate Kroger's growth and performance. In addition, Steiner will insist on converting Kroger to the full suite of Ocado's platform significantly reducing costs and complexity at Kroger. Steiner will also accelerate Kroger's use of AI.

Tony Hoggett should also be considered for the CEO role at Kroger. Hoggett would also be an interesting replacement for Steiner at Ocado.”

One other point of interest is that he said that unless you have “over a couple of billion dollar” valuation you are off the radar in 🇺🇸

Ingenuity has some way to go then…..

I agree with whoever said that they’re not targeting ingenuity. They are after undervalued “cash generative profitable businesses”. Due to the financing plan, he said they can’t look at loss making tech companies…..