Monday 6th September 2021, 6.00pm – 9.30pm
Programme for the evening
6.00 pm Mello welcome and news
6.10 pm David Stredder interviews renowned private investor John Lee
6.40 pm Company Presentation National Milk Records
7.10 pm Graham Neary presents his new Monopoly Investor venture
7.30 pm Company Presentation Marshall Motors
8.10 pm Book reviews by Rebecca Stewart and Paul de Gruchy
8.25 pm Company Presentation Savannah Resources
8.55 pm Mello BASH
Lord John Lee – Private investor and Financial Times columnist
John Lee is an active private investor, and became the UK’s first Isa millionaire in 2003. He is the author of How to Make a Million… Slowly, and the children’s book “Yummi Yoghurt — A First Taste of Stock Market Investment”.
John Lee was born in 1942 and educated at William Hulme’s Grammar School in Manchester. He entered the House of Lords in 2006 and sits on the Liberal Democrat benches. He is Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Tourism Group. Lord Lee is a company director, investor and financial journalist. He is the Chairman of Wellington Market Plc and a non-executive Director of Emerson Developments (Holdings).
David Stredder will interview John to find out his thoughts on the financial markets this autumn.
Company Presentation – Marshall Motor Holdings plc (MMH)
Marshall Motor Group is the 7th largest motor dealer group in the UK (Source: Automotive Management – November 2020). Since 2008, 161 franchise have been added and 42 non-core or loss making operations have left the portfolio. The Group operates 116 franchise dealerships representing 22 different brand partners in 29 different counties across England. Our strategy is for continuing growth in our retail business organically and through acquisitions.
The Group has excellent relationships with its brand partners. Our technology focus allows management to control working capital and the day-to-day running of the business.
Daksh Gupta, Chief Executive Officer
Daksh has over 28 years’ experience in the automotive retail sector and joined the Company in 2008 as its Chief Executive Officer. Daksh was a Franchise Director for Inchcape for seven years where he was responsible for the Volkswagen, Audi and Mercedes-Benz brands. Daksh also served as Chief Operating Officer of Accident Exchange Group PLC and prior to joining the Group was Group Managing Director for Ridgeway Group. Daksh was a director of Marshall of Cambridge (Holdings) limited until 2nd April 2015 and is vice chairman of the UK automotive industry charity, BEN. Daksh is also a Patron of the Automotive Thirty Percent Club.
Richard Blumberger, Chief Financial Officer
Richard has a wealth of experience gained from senior finance roles with major UK public companies. Before joining the Company, Richard was Director of Group Finance at Mitie Group plc and previously held senior finance roles at Engie (formerly GDF Suez) and Balfour Beatty plc. He has a strong understanding of multi-site businesses and a track record of strategic planning, profit enhancement and extensive M&A experience. Richard was appointed to the Board as Chief Financial Officer in January 2019.
Company Presentation – National Milk Records (NMRP)
National Milk Records (NMRP) is the leading supplier of management information to the UK dairy supply chain. Through a team of self-employed milk-recorders, it collects and tests milk samples for approximately 50% of the UK’s two million cows. In addition, its laboratories provide payment testing and disease testing services for Britain’s milk processors. NMR has a joint-venture laboratory in the Republic of Ireland providing similar services to farmers and processors across the whole of Ireland. Another division of the Group is a livestock traceability business, Nordic Star, which services the UK dairy and beef sectors. NMR is at the forefront of introducing Genomics technology for testing females in the UK dairy herd.
Andy Warne – Managing Director
Andy Warne is the Managing Director of National Milk Records. He joined NMR as the Managing Director in 2002 and at the same time joined the Milk Pension Fund acting as a Trustee. He acted as the Chairman of the Milk Pension Fund between 2009 and 2013. Andy’s previous managerial roles include being the European Managing Director of TNT Container Logistics and the Managing Director of Arca Systems UK. Andy graduated with a BSC in Applied Biology. Whilst at NMR Andy has managed the process by which the business has restructured to focus on its core competence in milk recording and built a new business offering based on payment testing.
Mark Frankcom – Finance Director
Mark joined NMR in 2016 as Finance Director. After significant reorganisation associated with the exit from the Milk Pension Fund, including refinancing and balance sheet restructure via a capital reduction and hive-up, Mark has brought greater financial management and acuity to the requirements of running the refinanced business. These include improved forecasting and reporting, and the use of KPI reporting via a Balance Scorecard. Mark brings significant experience including time as a Director of Finance at Milk Link, having senior responsibility for financial stewardship and restructuring during a time of critical changes in the dairy industry.
Monopoly Investor (formerly Cube.Investments) Graham Neary
Graham is a regular analyst for Stockopedia as well as an investor with a strong performance track record and wide-ranging financial marketplace experience.
More recently, Graham has acted as an independent financial consultant serving a portfolio of high-quality institutional clients in addition to a wide variety of demanding private clients.
Company Presentation – Savannah Resources (SAV)
Savannah Resources is an AIM listed mineral resource development company headquartered in UK with projects in Portugal and Mozambique. The Company’s flagship asset is the wholly owned Mina do Barroso Lithium Project in northern Portugal. This project provides Savannah with the opportunity to become an integral part of Europe’s new ‘lithium value chain’ which is fundamental to the European Commission’s target of making the EU a net-zero carbon economy due to the role lithium-ion batteries are playing in the e-mobility revolution (electric vehicles) and energy transition. Alongside the development and operation of Mina do Barroso, Savannah is looking to add to its lithium portfolio to establish a significant, long term, European-focused lithium business. Savannah places significant emphasis on ESG principles and is committed to becoming a responsible producer of critical raw materials.
David Archer, Chief Executive
David is a non-practising Barrister of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, holds a B.Ec and is a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. He has had wide experience in the mining industry for over 30 years, with specific expertise in the development and operation of copper/gold projects. David has held executive and non-executive roles in a number of listed companies and has been actively involved in the international resources industry. He was the Senior Independent Director of Anglo Pacific Group Plc from 2014 to 2019. He is the former Managing Director and Deputy Chairman of Savage Resources Limited, Managing Director of Hillgrove Resources Limited, Executive Chairman of PowerTel Limited and Chairman of Hostworks Group Limited. He was a director of Eastern Star Gas Limited from 2006 to 2009.
Book Reviews from both Paul De Gruchy, a Director at ShareSoc, and renowned Private Investor, Rebecca Stewart
Professional private investor Rebecca Stewart, aka @Reb40 AstonGirl, reviews her latest book “The man who solved the market” by Gregory Zuckerman.
ShareSoc Director Paul De Gruchy reviews “Fooled by randomness” by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.
If you have a book you would like to review, please contact Gracia at gracia@melloevents.com
The Mello BASH (Buy, Avoid, Sell & Hold)
The MelloBASH features a mix of Fund Managers and Private Investors including Kevin Taylor, Alan Charlton, Paul Scott, Edward Roskill and Jack Brumby. They will be giving their verdicts together with the audience on listed companies selected by you…our Mello delegates. Donations will be made to their chosen charities to show our appreciation of their excellent research and diligent coverage of the selected companies. Do let us know which companies you’d like analysed in future MelloMonday BASH panels by emailing georgina@melloevents.com.
Kevin is a full-time professional Investor and a part-time business consultant. He began his City career in 1993, training as an actuary with a focus on defined benefit pension schemes. In 1997 he moved over to Investment Banking, joining a structured finance team that developed bespoke financial solutions, and provided debt finance, for large corporates. Kevin has always been a keen small cap investor looking after his family’s portfolios and trading on both the long and the short side of markets. He is one of the more sceptical panel members and likes to see proof that demonstrates management’s claims before investing in a management team.
After starting life as a milkman and ending up paralysed after a motorbike accident @ 19 years old, Richard started investing in 1982. Mainly punting penny shares and buying unit trusts all went quite well until the 1987 Black Monday Crash where he lost a third of his investments. Undeterred he returned to investing several years later and had good success in the tech boom, selling out early before most of the tech rout. Thereafter, he started investing and trading, mainly in small caps finding many multi-baggers and much greater success. He now runs a very restricted private chatroom 270 or so members where members discuss the stock news of the day and stock merits and opinions, together with chat and banter re life, gardening, photography and more.
I’m looking for compounding investments
I started off in Leisure – a part of the market I still love, but an area where stocks can appear “cheap” for years without going anywhere. It made me realise that valuation is only one part of the puzzle.
Now I sift through a much broader universe of stocks in search of small, high quality operators with large addressable markets, strong and maintainable margins, and clear share price catalysts.
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