It's good to have another person on here with an eye out for the...

It's good to have another person on here with an eye out for the potential risks (stayer, you have company). All good points that you make on both the positives and negatives.

Re the risks associated with 'commoditised industry with low margins', I take some comfort from the last two annual reports:

"The steps we continue to take to improve productivity should enable us to maintain our operating margins in what will remain a very challenging domestic market, where all significant sales are won through a competitive tender/quote process." (2016 annual report)

I would add that SRH is an innovative company and its track record with innovation has impressed me. Innovation helps counter commoditisation and the associated low margins.

The 2017 annual report suggests innovation and other productivity-enhancing measures are delivering in this regard:

The Company's ongoing financial turnaround in 2017 resulted from continuing to manage the performance of the business, including maintaining margins…

Re 'improvements in underlying road safety due to technological change' I think you're referring to driverless cars? I agree this is probably slow burn but at the same time technological change has a habit of surprising everyone with its speed. On the other hand, governments have a habit of catering to irrational community fears (and why not, it's in their interests to do so, ie. it helps them 'justify' their ever-expanding reach) so I suspect they will be slow to adapt (reduce) their regulatory regimes even in the face of underlying safety improvements.

All your positives I'm in complete agreement with. Great insights.