for more information about stanelco click on the links.

driver's research page link
http://www.moneyam.com/InvestorsRoom/posts.php?tid=7681#lastread
website link
http://www.stanelco.co.uk/index.htm

Oily,
I cant compete with the incisiveness of Eric et al, but I hope Tom Bulford knows what he is talking about (for a change).
I don't think he'll be having to upgrade his calculator in the near future, but I was wondering (very quietly to myself) whether this has anything to do with our friends at WM.
WM have a well known philosophy, of teaming up with a company who have an innovative product or technology, and seeding them to be able to go from back street chancers to a supplier big enough to deal with quickly.
Don't get me wrong. WM are as capitalist as they come, not liberal charities at all, but if they have done the cost benefit analysis for Starpol, and find it in their favour, they will mentor SEO, and even provide financing arrangements and finance specialists, as well as operational consultants to make it happen as swiftly as is possible.
Could it be that WM have analysed the top flight staff and said the FD was not of the calibre necessary? Is it possible he will not be the last to be pushed, in order that people of the right ilk can be sourced and put in place? Perhaps even to the point where WM feel they have people at the helm who think the WM way?
Flight of fancy? Maybe.
If I were WM, and I wanted something badly, and I had their clout. If the supplier I was dealing with was a tiddler, but a tiddler with a patent, I would want to ensure any commitment I made to the tiddler was going to produce the goods. Especially if I had watched the tiddler fail with a much smaller contract. It would be in my interests.
I don't do bean counting, Oily. I can hardly count and I certainly don't understand balance sheets, but i am a businessman, and I know what companies have done to me when i was smaller than they and I know what I do now.
Probably all only exists in my twisted imagination, but it is not beyond the realms of possibility.
Alan

Well done, kim and alan. Sorry about the pneumonia: bad enough as a child. I wonder if others who know WM agree with Alan's reading. If its correct it is very positive. My own concern about their lack of investment in bringing product to market could then be answered: its unlikely to be answered positively by the present management because I don't feel they have the experience - OK, optical cables but they had a very defined market, small customer base and large orders. I am much more comfortable about 12 months from now but I suspect that we will have more travail in the short term. SEO seem like a child in a man's world so they need an uncle Wilber Mentor.
Eric

Thanks Eric, don't want to go through that again, still...had lots of sympathy from the missus!! I agree with you Alan, 'uncle WM' is going to have a huge influence on SEO's future and, lets face it, they are real hard nuts; SEO would have gone in their trash can last year if WM could not see a good, even outstanding future collaberation. Not ramping SEO and still feel Starpol and related products will outstrip Greenseal which, hopefully is well under way now.
kim

Eric,
Just to clear a point up. I have no direct experience of dealing with WM (other than buying some cornflakes there), but I do have experience of large, multinatinal companies providing finance, location, materials sourcing, contracting and even recruiting assistance to very small (Once new start!!!) businesses in exchange for promises of key account status / key supplier status or exclusivity.
It was, until recently, absolutely the norm in financial service sectors, though much diminished through tough legislation, and still is the norm in many other areas.
But just to re-iterate, I have no direct experience of WM. There site though, does refer to supplier partners and mentoring of suppliers.
Alan

I think it is interesting to look at SEO from a risk standpoint. I am not risk averse (obviously) but I do believe in assessing risk. One way is upside to downside potential: I have talked about this before and haven't changed basically from a 5:1 ratio with a 1 year potential of 30p against 12p. But even with 30p, the raod there could be rocks, could be painful for some of the management team, could be shocks for holders in terms of dpressing news. This is a measure of lack of confidence in the maanagement team, not as innovators, but for commercial nous. The other way is to compare investment opportunities. I have mentioned before that I have three companies in my CFD fund: AZM, ASC and SEO. All, IMO, are 2-baggers on a one to two year view and 3-5 baggers on a 5 year view. AZM are now low risk, having got three out of four drugs thorugh to Phase III. ASC are low risk with a niche position, which will be hard to emulate, in a rapidly growing market. Both not far off being no-brainers taking a medium term view; any share can fluctuate in the shorter term depending on whether the market feels they have become over-valued or not. SEO could be the biggest success of all. But they could also mess up badly as, to some extent, they have in the last year. But this is where Uncle WM could be important. I am talking about stability and competence and that could be injected, or encouraged, by an appropriate mentor. I suggest we have stumbled (OK, I stumbled, you guys knew) on something vitally important. SEO strike me as over-confident to the extent of naivete; lets have a dose of realism, leading in turn to a proper level of investment. Are we being listened to?

Eric

Its like putting a cat amongst the pigeons posting on this board.

It doesn't take much to stir you lot from your slumbers does it. I did it with my moan about the website and now about the lack of exchanges.

I seemed to have got a more rapid response to my posts than Blinger - good riddance to the idiot - received.

Anyway its good to know that you are all alive still. Kim, I had plural pnuemonia in '79 and its a seriously debilitating experience. Now I haven't had a cold for 2 years 11 months. Amazing what a very healthy diet and teaching yoga does for the body.

Alan, I seem to have heard that WalMart, once they form a strong business relationship with a company - especially if they are a "tiddler" do tend to work very closely to ensure that they succeed; it is after all in their interests if the product/service they are supplying to WalMart will improve their business and customer/public relations.

Please let any announcements of significant developments come after 6th April. Must get as many of these shares into next year's SIPP to keep Gordon's greedy and greasy paws off my future retirement.

The oily one.

Good posts again all.

hot to my heart , to read intelligent and reality based viewppoint .
Thank you Eric

Oily,
Theres a really convoluted joke in here somewhere about Kim and Your bronchial health, and cats among the pigeons on here, and bird flu. But I can't be bothered looking for it and I don't think you'd thank me for it anyway.
Alan

Eric

I agree with you about SEO appearing to being over confident to a point of being naiive. Lets hope WM help them to smell the coffee and bring them down to ground and then point them in the right direction.

Just thinking back to the interview that Ian Balchin did in the US, he sounded so much like a boffin who had little clear idea as to how to commercialise the products. We need streetwise sales people with real business savvy.

The oily one.

Go on Alan risk your life with it! I'll be gentle whilst snuffing you out, promise.

The oily one

I think we are underestimating the experience that Howard White, Ian Balchin and Philip Lovegrove have. Wal-Mart, Coca Cola and McDonalds (through Perseco) Do not entertain amateurs. It is not easy for a relatively unknown company in the field, the size of Stanelco to even get a meeting with companies of their size let alone be in full commercial trials. Even EKI commented on the "professionalism" of the board in the purchase of Biotec. I think we should step back and look how far this company has come in a relatively short amount of time. In little over a year this comapny has gone from a near basket case to a market leading packaging company in full commercial trials with 1 if not more of the largest companies in the world. At this moment the board has my vote.

Well done, Biscuit. We were fast approaching a consensus which was not that complimentary but still recognising the strengths that they do have. Without changing the views expressed, I accept some terrific achievements: (i) their R/F research, the selction of a target market, their focus, after one or two false starts on the supermarkert majors (rather than suppliers or agencies) (ii) their licensing oriented business model; (iii) the pursuit and capture of Biotec; (iv) their focussing on the major opportunities both in product and market terms. Enouigh said, for the moment about the negativities and risk factors.
Eric

Biscuit - 17 Mar 2006 19:30 - 15672 of 15673
a market leading packaging company

Is there no market leading packaging company that makes a profit?

Oh yes! My first day outdoors since 1st March and were did m'good lady take me? Shopping! To Sainsbury!! Anyway, was able to mutter "The packaging isn't as good as ASDA's" in earshot of the manager, who I have no doubt is still on the phone with Head Office at this minute! 'Fraid I didn't buy much in the way of healthy food Oily! Good to hear that you have not had any lasting effect from your experience.

I had a trawl through the NAAFI website, after which I have this silly idea that Mr Clive Warner is a VERY useful addition to the SEO family:-

"Clive Warner BSc FCA, Finance Director

Joined the Board as Finance Director in May 2002 and is also responsible for IT. A Chartered Accountant, his financial experience was gained in the retail and leisure sectors with Sears, Woolworth and UCI Cinemas.

In Germany NAAFI has some of its most sophisticated offers for customers. The stores here can be small Express stores located right next to the places servicemen live and work with long opening hours and convenient items like milk and boot polish (as well as beer and videos for the long evenings). Or they could be one of our Max stores where we stock all the food and home items you might need, and in addition we bring over 2 000 Tesco own brand products from breadsticks to sausages into Germany. We make sure we have lots of special offers that change frequently to keep you coming back again and again!

Did you know that on average each British soldier in Germany is getting through a pack of Tesco sausages per week?"

Could we see a link to Tesco one day? An entirely new set of Websites too?

Won't be offended by a joke Al!
kim

Eric,

You say 'This is a measure of lack of confidence in the management team, not as innovators, but for commercial nous. '

Surely this is a case of investors (i.e. you and some others) thinking in time scales different to the management team. That is, being impatient.

We are at a stage where, IMO, all that remains is for the T's to be crossed and the i's dotted. If this happens and contracts are signed with WM, McDonalds or whoever, and the ASDA conversions finally meet expectations, as I believe they will, will you not then be praising the management for their commercial nous?

It's purely a question of time. If the deals come off, I believe the ability of the management team will be completely vindicated. It will be an incredible achievement. Please dont write them off yet!

P.S. Blinger/seq/stainco has now been given the push from FYB, so expect him to surface here shortly in a new guise!

Kim
Countdown to the deal with Tesco's.

http://www.timeanddate.com/counters/customcounter.html?day=1&month=12&year=2020&hour=&min=&sec=&p0=0

That's a good 'un! A pity that Clive Warner will be retired by then Driver!
kim

I hope you aren't relying on that to be your retirement day Driver, the government will have made retirement age 95 by then!!
kim

I come back to my initial point about the management, that is they need to concentrate on pushing the existing contract through with ASDA.

Without signifigant improvement in these numbers the city will lose confidence in this shares and my fears are that we will be then looking at 10p per share.

It is fine for them to be talking to WM and MCdonalds, but they need to show that not only can they win these contracts but convert them into profit making ventures.

It has been mentioned about the low hanging fruit being the priority at the moment, but i feel that we are in real danger of that low hanging fruit being rotten by the time it is delivered to the shops. This is why it is important that all the minor things surround this company are as professional as possible, and is hence why the website atracts so much attention.

I remain a long term holder at the moment, however if there are more delays with the Greenseal contract, I will review my position, as I believe patience is running low on this particular contract. To many broken promises will have a negative impact on the share price.

We have various RNS from the company on a wide range of topics, Greenseal, Starpol, Frogpac, Petalpack and the cigarette filters - they really need to convert one of these to give the city confidence. This is not a lack of patience, just a realism that if you keep giving good news followed by nothing substaintal to back it up, people will write you off as a serious player in the market. Its a bit like the centre forward who joins your club promising that he can score 20 goals a season, after 20 matches without a goal you bin him.

To stretch an analogy, would you really bin the centre forward??
If he was a star player who really could score 20 a season, I might look at whether the midfield was providing him with a decent service, whether the coaching staff were training him well, whether the manager was using the right tactics. Then, maybe, sack the bugger.
The analogy actually fits quite well.
In my daydream scenario earlier about WM mentoring SEO, WM are a wily old coach who has spotted a world class, but young and inexperienced striker in Starpol (Not Greenseal, for my money).
They know that with the right coaching, tactics and support, he is the next big money star. Just as Wayne Rooney playing for Frickley Athletic would score more goals and be worth a few grand, but playing for Man Utd and scoring less is worth 30mill +, WM are taking Starpol from the Sunday league to the Premier League, where it will take a while for this "striker" to adjust, and find the net. But it will be worth it.
The further I got in, the worse the analogy got, but you get my meaning.
I believe WM have spotted a rare talent, recognised it, and will now groom it for their own ends.
The realism applies to realising that in 12 months a company has gone from a good but unproven idea to possibly the 2 biggest corporate clients in the world wanting to buy their product. Realism is realising that it is a bit like FIFA (here we go with football again) asking my local pub football team to organise a World Cup for 2007!!!
I still say that if you had been offered todays position with SEO 12 months ago (WM, Asda, McDonalds, Coca Cola) you would have taken it gladly.
How our expectations change so quickly. Unless there is terrible news, I am going nowhere. SEO will organise that world cup, they will groom that striker, he will get 20 goals a season. Team tactics and coaching staff may have to make way, but it will happen.
Rome wasn't built in a day. Milton Keynes was. Give me Rome over Milton Keynes every time.
Alan