I have just listened to a recording of the Mello event which took place on Monday evening. In the “Bash” section one of the companies presented was Intercede Group (IGP). This company sells security software and is based in Lutterworth, which is in Leicestershire in case you have never been there. Bearing in mind the company’s client list of banks, US Government bodies and companies such as Boeing and Wells Fargo you might think the location a bit odd.
I first purchased the shares in 2010 and I still hold them. But it became clear to me very quickly that this was a typical example of a company with great technology but unable to convert it to profits. The company was founded by Richard Parris who remained Executive Chairman for a very long time – until 2018 in fact when a new CEO took over. Losses have been turned into profits although revenue is still not great (£10 million last year).
I did visit the company’s AGM in Lutterworth a few times and at one meeting I discovered that the company’s operations director was actually Richard’s wife under a different surname. It’s always interesting what you can learn from attending AGMs! The problem was the dominance of the company by someone with a technology background rather than a sales or marketing background. At least that was what I perceived. The culture was I suspect a negative.
Oddly enough there was another company based in Lutterworth which I only recently learned about which had an analogous history. Great technology which became a world beater but where the owners never made much money out of it. This company was Power Jets Ltd which was the baby of Sir Frank Whittle – the inventor of the jet engine.
A recent biography of Whittle is called Jet Man. Its author is Duncan Campbell-Smith and it’s well worth reading. Whittle lost control of the invention and associated patents (being a serving RAF officer did not help) and his company was eventually nationalised. Rolls-Royce acquired some of the technology and it was also given to the USA for nothing. What should have been a great money-spinner for the UK and for Whittle after the war years was lost due to commercial incompetence.
There is apparently a memorial to Frank Whittle and a small museum in Lutterworth if you ever visit Intercede.
Will Intercede ever make real money? It’s a bit early to tell I think but I am certainly more confident in the new management than the old. A slight downside is the recent announcement that they are rewriting the LTIP to reduce the share price targets. I never like to see options rewritten but there may be some justification in this case and certainly the CEO, Klaas van der Leest, has achieved a remarkable turnaround. I’m even finally showing a decent return on my investment in the company.
Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://twitter.com/RogerWLawson )
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