New Government

[KKOB]

I don't actually believe that she'll be making all the decisions about who's appointed to a position. She has a team of advisors who'll be doing what they believe is best for them and the rest of the government.

[Ovacikpeedoff]

Stuart, they do not want the company they want access to the software that we own. Once they get that then they will dump the company and employees.

Serving our customers in the EU under the current WTO rules would require us to pay a tariff of 22% . A cost that we would have to pass on.. So we will become uneconomical. Friendship and association are not the main driver it is costs. The beauty of the single market is that we can compete competitively without the burden of tariffs.

Our choice is not being selfish. We have 60+ people to consider. These are people with families and mortgages.

[Stuart T]

.... and it was ever thus.

But she's got the big boots on.

Their success will be her success - their failure won't be her failure.

[Highlander]

Can I just say how much I have enjoyed reading Ovacikpeedoff's post on this thread.

I find it fascinating to hear from someone "at the coal face" rather than from people in power who appear totally remote and/or from people who need not worry about the affects of Brexit.

 

[Scunner]

Reading OPO's posts here on the referendum actually made me think enough to change my mind on how to vote - I was looking at voting out and voted remain. Not that it did any good  

[Stuart T]

OPO -

My apologies for speaking without thinking and without fully understanding your position regarding the importance of your bespoke software.

That part of it is - I'm afraid - beyond my understanding.

It must be a remarkably valuable piece of software and I'm sure you have protected it as best you can.

60+ people with families and mortgages is a monumental burden to carry on the strength of that.

Ultimately, of course, you have to think of Number One.

As harsh as it seems, there are no friends in business.

(I know - Grandma - sucking eggs etc.).

A tough, tough time for you with maybe some difficult decisions to make.

All the best......

[Ovacikpeedoff]

Keith,

Just a bit of clarification on your Euro point. A number of our clients insist we invoice in Euros. This one client when we entered the contract the rate was 1.35 to the £. This rate obviously dictated the price we tendered at. So for example, we tendered at at a monthly charge of 13,500 euros to generate £10k in sterling.

Their FD was on the phone discussing renegotiating the contract that is due to expire next June. Because of the recent fall we were happy to continue for 3 years at the same price. He suggested that we might have to drop our price to 12000 Euros to reflect current rates. So in effect we would not be able to pass on any costs.that we will incur in running the business over the next 3 years.

The contract we have is not just maintenance it also includes any updates that are done free of charge.

[Stuart T]

OPO -

Your client will certainly not want to see you go out of business.

With a seemingly high rate of monthly support (10K monthly) for this one customer I can only hope that there is some room for manoeuvre on their side.

Buying forward on euros (as we formerly did with US dollars) can only be on a relatively short term.

That level of currency protection is wholly impracticable over a 3 year period.

You can only hope for a reasonably minded FD with a view to the long term.

[Ovacikpeedoff]

Stuart, Highlander and Keith,

Thanks for your comments. I t is much appreciated.

Stuart, it is not that remarkable. What it does do it allows smaller banks, building societies and credit unions to meet their reporting obligations without having to maintain a a full technology departmen that they could not afford.. Since 2008, there has been considerable changes in risk reporting and all our software does is put the figures in the right boxes and perform the risk calculations.

When we negotiate contracts we are talking probably a minimum of 3 years support. All this uncertainty just makes it impossible to actually calculate a fair value for our services. Planning is now like peeing in the wind and there is nowhere to get advice. Banks are as much in the dark as we are. You see all these figures being quoted for exchange rates by different banks and very rarely do they agree. All we have done is take all the main rates and work out an average.

Today, talking to a company in the same field as we are have the same problems.

[Ovacikpeedoff]

Stuart, we have been looking at hedging our exposures but as you can imaging the cost is extortionate as banks are unsure and as you said the time frame is too long.

What we are looking at is a little bit of a novel way of managing our exposures. We are trying to find another company that will have a similar problem as we have but the opposite way. We will then agree to exchange cash flows so we both will have little or no exposure.  We have one of our clients in France looking into it to finding a suitable partner.