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Yesterday’s Newsletter gave the sorry history of my investment in Havelock Europa (LSE:HVE), in which I blame myself for not properly investigating the quality of the managers.
This posting reproduces many of the bulletin board comments made by people who come into contact with the managers on a regular basis, mostly current or ex-employees. After reading you’ll see why I took them as the final straw, leading me to sell the shares.
•You have departmental directors who collectively been responsible for the loss of major Blue chip clients. Lloyds, BOS, RBS, Halifax, TSB, Virgin Money, Tesco, Co-op pharmacy, M&S contracting, Boots, House of Fraser, Several corporate offices part of Lloyds property. The biggest loss in margin at Aviva stadium Dublin. Lets not forget the management system thats 1 year late. The operations director was more than most responsible. Yet not one has been made accountable. All on Large salaries with bonuses. No wonder Truthful Tommy [an employee who posts on Bulletin Boards] is upset. He must look out of his window and see all those expensive top of the range cars. Porsche, BMW, Audi, Range Rover, and put his hands on his head in despair.
•You’re correct in your research about the Buying Director being a total arrogant person he is not the only one. God only can answer the question of why he is the estimating director. Paid off very experienced estimators and will lose many more. But you also have a Operations, Project, construction, director who has changed job titles nearly as many times as clients lost. It would seem that HVE are a company with problems, and its not just the lack of orders.
•We have a estimating department whos motivation is a rock bottom, dis-functional and working well below capacity. We have a Project department / delivery department were half the PMs / DM cant read drawings, cant work to a programme never mind produce one. Do not understand specifications or a bill of quantities. The other half spend all week away from the office, and all finish at noon on a Friday. We have a site supervisors on zero hour contracts, who to be frank could not give a monkeys about Havelock, and are incapable of doing the job. In the words of Tom Hanks in Apollo 13 Havelock we have a problem.
•I would never compromise my position or source. But at the last staff reduction the majority of PM staff that left had more than nearly 75 years service behind them. The majority took voluntary redundancy. My sources tell me that the directors at delivery stage had been told of the impending crises, of Lloyds pulling the plug on the account. It is was there for all to see.
•I was at a employee meeting when a well respective senior project manager who has since took voluntary redundancy. Stood up and told the currant CEO that Havelock were incapable of buying a plastic builders bucket. That sites had to pay cash for materials, and that most materials had been bought from B&Q. The director of buying then becomes the estimating director. I was………..To read the rest of this article, and more like it, subscribe to my premium newsletter Deep Value Shares – click here http://newsletters.advfn.com/deepvalueshares/subscribe-1
