Writes David Ison, Chief Executive Officer
In my previous four updates my key messages have inevitably been very heavily focused on the effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic. So whilst we certainly can’t say our industry is ‘out of the woods’ quite yet, in this edition it is particularly nice to be able to report on a number of things that are getting back to (the new) normal.
At the end of June 2022 our financial year drew to a close and, whilst it will take a few more weeks to finalise the figures, I am very pleased to be able to advise that we feel confident that we have achieved the operating profit we budgeted, and we will be very close to achieving what was an ambitious revenue target for the year as well. Additionally, the Group’s forward order book remains very strong for the year ahead and beyond.
I am also able to confirm that the budget for the new financial year, which naturally started on 1st July, was approved at the Group Board Meeting held in June, and sets us up for another productive year ahead, aiming to progress on last year’s achievements. In summary, we remain in very good shape despite some seriously challenging circumstances, and that is testament again to the talent and hard work put in by our unique and highly valued teams across the globe.
It is also particularly pleasing to be able to say that international passenger numbers have seen a significant increase at all our sites across the world. This appears to be a very positive sign of things to come. That said, the rapid rate of this return has resulted in many local issues, with shortages of airport and airline staff impacting so many services across all airport operations. Stories of delays and cancellations have dominated the news cycle across the world and no quick solution is expected. Many commentators are suggesting it will take at least six months to resolve these issues before regular levels of service return.
Having been cancelled or postponed no less than four times, the Passenger Terminal Expo (PTE) finally took place in Paris on 15th to 17th June. We exhibited at the event and were pleased to roll out our newly refreshed exhibition stand for the first time. Having waited so long for it (the last PTE was back in 2019 in London) it seemed everyone wanted to be there! It was the largest PTE show ever, with over 250+ companies exhibiting and seven simultaneous conference sessions running over the three days.
There were many international visitors too, particularly from the USA. Booths for next year’s show, which will be in Amsterdam, more or less sold out during the course of the show! The event was an excellent opportunity to meet up with customers and prospects in person, in some cases for the first time in more than 2 years!
In May we were able to hold the first in-person RoW Update Meeting and General Management Meeting (GMM) since 2019. The combined event was a great success and allowed the management team an opportunity to catch-up and, in some cases, meet in person for the first time. Our people benefited from the formal part of the event of course, particularly understanding more of the detail on various active and recent projects, but they also spent some time together socially – getting to know a bit more about colleagues as well as their sites and their responsibilities. As always, there were a number of important takeaways from the event which I know are being followed up on and, in some cases, incorporated into our future plans.
Combined RoW Update Meeting & General Management Meeting – The first since 2019!
In other news, we have made some meaningful changes to the roles and responsibilities within the senior management team recently. These adjustments are specifically designed to support the delivery of the future strategy of the ServiceTec Group and came into effect from 1st April 2022.
Laura Becker was promoted to Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the Americas. Laura will have responsibility for the Business Development team, new business, existing accounts and strategic partner retention.
Additionally, Richard Moody was promoted to Executive Vice President of EMEA, with full responsibility for the development of the region. To free up some of Richard’s time, Adriano Di Placido has taken over responsibility for Group Quality under Richard’s guidance and Carl Shallcross changes roles to Director of Managed Services EMEA.
Congratulations to all on these well-deserved new roles. The board and I feel confident that they are now well positioned to help the Group deliver on our ambitious targets in the years ahead.
In related news, Lynne Harrison has returned to the role of Group CFO with a particular focus on external financial relationships and commercial governance – areas of increasing importance to the Group. Lynne will also continue to head up the Americas region. Martin Thornhill continues in his roles as Director of Finance and Interim Group Finance Director, with his attention primarily remaining on the management accounts and the growing compliance obligations of our multinational Group.
And finally, I’d like to take this opportunity to extend a heartful thank you to everyone in the ServiceTec team. Your unrelenting hard work and unrivalled abilities have seen us get through an extremely difficult couple of years. It has been a time that none of us will ever forget. No doubt significant challenges remain ahead and the pandemic and its effects are not quite behind us yet, but as always I feel confident that our world class team will continue to deliver for our customers. It’s what we do.
David J Ison
Chief Executive Officer
