Sorry for the new thread but if you've read my posts before you...

Sorry for the new thread but if you've read my posts before you know why.

It looks to me like the price has taken a hit on the news this morning. I've done my gardening, had my anxiety attack and decided that however much I feel deeply for Nick and his family I need to get a bit rational. And so do people currently holding shares in this great company. Business and personal affairs do need to be separated if decisions are not to be made on emotional grounds, or be based on unfounded assumptions.

Nick's personality is larger than life - certainly much larger than his physical build and I can only start to imagine how he would be feeling right now. But:

He has always worked on the premise that he has to build a team that is not dependent on him. We have seen that unfold in the newsletters and in the nature of the communications coming from him and his team. We have seen it in the quality of people he has hired. This is a team of people who know what they are doing. We have seen it in the way the team have "skin in the game" . Whatever people might feel about the remuneration strategies they tie key people fairly and squarely to the company.

Pinto and I spoke to Dirk this morning and while he is style wise very different from Nick, I also felt that the culture and values and direction is strongly embedded. I realised that although Nick is strongly entrepreneurial and driven he has not suffered from the disease of many entrepeneurs - hanging on too tightly. In fact I would go further and suggest that he has created a culture of intrapeneurship. If you haven't heard of the term it refers to a company which allows people to exercise initiative and innovation in respect of business opportunities. So what is in place is a cascade of opportunities and plans that will lead to extraordinary growth.

I understand more clearly than I had before just how big those opportunities are. I also understand that the 4C results are of little concern right now - they aren't a matter of the money not being there but of the customers deciding they want more delivered in a different way. I also understand that these opportunities are not down to Nick but to his team. He has done a fine job of being a CEO - he has allowed others to grow and flourish and to take up the cudgels. You know the question - what would happen if x person fell under a bus. Well I am saying that Nick has done a better job of succession planning than most businesses who have complicated talent management plans. this is best practice in action.

So I am sad, sadder than you might possibly imagine but that is personal for Nick. I'm also sad that it appears some punters have panicked today - without the slightest idea of how much risk might come from Nick slipping into a period of grieving. But I am not sad about the state AJX is in

cheers
get back on the bike, rejoin the race and don't give up just because there was a bump in the road

parsifal