Volvere Share Discussion Threads

[cockerhoop] 05/1/2024 13:14

Yep, they lost their main listings in Morrisons. The No Chicken Chip Shop Curry Pies were actually pretty good. Disappointing as there could have been some really nice hidden value in the brand. Obviously Indulgence failing meant the Naughty Vegan Cheesecakes also hit the buffers undermining the range.

[zoolook] 05/1/2024 12:31

I think the last time the “Naughty Vegan” brand was mentioned in an RNS was in the 2022 finals: “A number of products manufactured by us won awards in 2021, not least the BBC Good Food Christmas Taste Awards 2021, in which our product won the Best Vegan Main category. Naughty Vegan, the Group's own vegan brand, won The Grocer's Best Vegan Party Food Award for its No Piggy in the Middle sausage rolls. Whilst we continue to develop Naughty Vegan, we have a limited budget for brand development, which means that progress is inevitably slow”

I’m guessing the brand hasn’t taken off enough to warrant a mention. If so this is a shame as a successful brand obviously has value to prospective purchasers over and above that of a pure contract manufacturer. Maybe as a contract manufacturer they lacked the ‘appetite̵7; and brand development expertise to invest nor the customer demand for it to grow fast of its own accord.

[eezymunny] 05/1/2024 08:51

elsa, what you're saying seems like saying "vegan stuff isn't selling well so Tesco is a poor investment". Companies make and sell what's in demand. It changes all the time.

[zangdook] 05/1/2024 08:21

Do you suppose the reduction in demand for vegan food means that vegans are choosing not to eat? Maybe they've gone over to the dark side.

[elsa7878] 05/1/2024 08:12

And if the demand was there would they not be producing as many pies as possible already. You only switch when you have the orders.

Where's that education minister.........

[eezymunny] 05/1/2024 08:00

Exactly Zangdook

Elsa is being simplistic. Products come and go...

[zangdook] 05/1/2024 07:50

Shire make pies and pasties. They don't look vegan to me. If the vegan range doesn't sell they can ramp up the meaty side.

[elsa7878] 02/1/2024 17:29

But vegan ranges have seen large falls in sales.....Are these guys bucking the trend?

[rivaldo] 02/1/2024 15:38

HNY to all here.

Both Aldi and Lidl have today reported their best ever Christmas sales. Which hopefully augurs well for Shire Foods:

[zoolook] 14/12/2023 11:05

Needless to say I’m more than satisfied that Nick Lander is not as work shy as I am.

[cockerhoop] 13/12/2023 17:39

I did chuckle that you (of all people) suggested he's unlikely to want to retire at 57 ;-)

[zoolook] 13/12/2023 15:27

I’ve been doing a bit of speculating too about where we go from here. The company’s future is to all intents and purposes solely in Nick Lander’s hands now. So what are his options and likely alternatives?

My only contact with him once on an investor zoom call. Most of the questions were fielded by Jonathan. The nature of their partnership was that Jonathan was mainly focussed on the deals and Nick was mainly focussed on executing the turnarounds. Although Nick trained as an Accountant he then went on to run Manufacturing businesses compared to his brother who looks to have only held city jobs.

On the zoom call it was obvious that he was very excited by the opportunities at Shire and in particular with the ‘Naughty Vegan’ brand (I got the impression that he is a vegan). He’s only 57 so unlikely to want to retire yet.

Will he seek someone to replace Jonathan? That seems unlikely as he was irreplaceable insofar as they had a unique relationship (“Jonathan was not only my business partner for more than 23 years but also my brother and best friend”). Also I’m not sure how a new Investment Director would add much as Nick AFAIK has always been fully involved with identifying and assessing acquisitions.

The only Board change following Jonathan’s death is the addition of Michael Tzirki as an NED who is the MD of Shire. The Chairman’s comment was: “He has been a trusted colleague within the Group for many years, often supporting the executive directors in considering acquisition targets and I know he will provide useful continuing input as we execute our forward strategy.”Not sure what to read into this appointment other than maybe signalling a stronger intent to chase further acquisitions in the food sector.

On the subject of acquisitions Nick had this to say in September’s interim results
“We have continued to review an encouraging level of investment proposals throughout the period. However, there has been a distinct shortage of potential transactions that we considered to be worthy of potential investment. Such opportunities have not presented themselves, which had been somewhat frustrating for both Jonathan and me. Whilst these things are a matter of judgement, we have invested only when we believed we had a reasonable prospect of delivering an improved, sustainable performance and we will continue to assess opportunities in this context.
I would like to thank shareholders for the support over many years afforded to Jonathan and me and to reassure them that my focus will continue to be on growing the value of our investment in Shire Foods, which I have chaired for more than 12 years. An increasing, cash-generative performance from Shire will be pivotal to enhancing shareholder value in Volvere. Whilst we will continue to seek investment opportunities pursuant to our investing strategy, maximising shareholder returns remains at the forefront of the Board’s strategy”

Volvere has lost its way in terms of fulfilling its stated purpose. The investment strategy is they pick up distressed businesses, turn them around and flip them back into the market for good profit. This hasn’t happened for several years. Shire is still on the books after 12 years of ownership and Volvere is sitting on a mountain of unspent cash because what the market in distressed businesses is offering doesn’t meet their investment criteria. It’s laudable that they had the conviction to stick to their guns but increasingly it looks like a lost cause and a review of their strategy is overdue.

I seem to recall that Buffett wound up an early investment fund because the market wasn’t offering investments that met its value criteria and there’s a strong argument that Volvere should do the same perhaps with Nick buying out Shire as he seems to like it and prospective buyers aren’t falling over themselves.

[zangdook] 06/12/2023 10:06

Do you have an estimate of how much such a distribution might be?

[rivaldo] 05/12/2023 11:36

Buying at 1250p and now 1300p this morning.

Maybe some speculating that Shire will now be sold and VLE wound up with assets being distributed to shareholders. Of course could equally be betting that Shire coninues its excellent and consistent performance in recent years.

[rivaldo] 14/11/2023 08:55

Crucible Clarity Fund Plc have been buying and now own 5.21% of VLE, or 121,228 shares - up from a prior 3.06%:



They declared with 3% in Oct'22, so this is their first addition since then.

I note that the two properties for sale appear to have disappeared from the "for sale" listings above, which is hopefully a good sign that completion has happened or is about to happen.

I've also updated the major shareholders list in the thread header post (comprising around 54% of the shares).

[sue1alan] 21/10/2023 10:52

The two surplus properties in Colchester are under offer. Source: agent Fenn Wright.

[rivaldo] 10/10/2023 11:43

In case anyone missed last night's late RNS, VLE made a substantial £116,000 buyback of 10,000 shares:

[rivaldo] 01/10/2023 07:25

Lovely obituary for Jonathan Lander:



Brief extract:

"With an initial capital of around £3million, Volvere would buy businesses in distress and turn them around.

The Lander brothers had a real passion for people-businesses, where Jonathan’s incisive mind could unnerve and inspire staff in equal measure. The successes over the next 20 years would see more than £34million returned to shareholders. Tears were often shed when Volvere sold an investment and staff knew a special period of ownership was coming to an end."

[jaf111] 22/9/2023 12:37

A small buyback…..fingers crossed this is the first of many….

[eezymunny] 20/9/2023 17:18

DBAY acquiring FIF for:

TNAV + (8.7 * post tax profit forecast), using those metrics values Shire at 12 + (8.7 * 2) = 29.4m quid. Add 20m for VLE cash and VLE valued at c. 21 quid a share. PMSL.

I can wait...

[rivaldo] 20/9/2023 14:55

DBAY's bid for Finsbury Foods today appears to value it at a P/E of around 10.3, and may have to be raised to win the vote. Maybe a read-through for Shire?

Different part of the food sector though being cakes, bread etc, so perhaps not. A shame Indulgence wasn't quite so successful....