Our Philosophy
Basis to investment decisions
We like solid reliable industrial businesses; the ones that underpin our country’s essential productive or infrastructure sectors but go largely unnoticed. These are businesses that supply important, technical products and where there is visible, tangible proof of a good day’s work.
We avoid retail – because consumers are fickle; we avoid high-tech (because we are too old) and we avoid OEMs because we learnt the hard way that you have to be an expert in the field for a long time to add sufficient value. We aim for tangible industries that involve manufacture, servicing, design or logistics and where expert knowledge, the right equipment and the right stock is essential to meeting the customers needs.
Whilst we typically operate mature businesses, we would be interested in fresh opportunities if there is a natural synergy with our existing operations.
Our investment horizon is over a decade and, whilst we regularly appraise our businesses with fresh eyes (“would we buy it again now” is the king of boardroom questions), we choose to have no exit strategy as such for our businesses. Our staff, customers and suppliers enjoy the certainty that we aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, so they can rely on us in their own long-term plans. That’s important.
property
OKLEO group companies, where possible, are housed in buildings they own. In order to achieve this we often undertake construction projects or purchase suitable existing buildings
Our view on strategy & our slavish adherence to continuous improvement
CML operates the OKLEO group companies to a simple but effective strategic template, supported by a range of situation-specific guidance for ROI analysis, stock management, budgeting, restructuring, factory management etc.
We avoid ‘Head Office’ over-reach by staying lean and leaving every decision possible in the hands of the person closest to the coal face.
Our guiding principle is to clearly, consistently and persistently communicate the criteria by which decisions are made for the business – so that over time delegation can be maximized, staff grown in their roles and everyone in an organization knows why it functions the way it does.