Picture Post. CSR Book and educational project latest.

My project has a CSR charity book.
All royalty payments go directly to ROKPA

The initial draft of the book was written in Red Palm hostel. Sofie (originally from Alor Star) and Tilo (Leipzig) were both associated with Red Palm. Here we are in the Pavillion, KL.

Tilo's dad Claus did the illustrations for the book.
Here we are celebrating Tilos wedding to Curtney (in Leipzig).

 

To read the story behind the story please click Here.

My most recent attempt to get the project off the ground was a letter to the new Chairman of Proton.

Here I am shaking his hand at ASLI Automotive conference in 2010. Tun Mahathir was the Keynote speaker.
I presented my project on stage with his Son, and Tengku Mahaleel.

I am happy to say, I have lost some weight since this photo!

I'm off later, to attend a spin class. My local GYM4ALL gave me a free membership, they were so impressed with my efforts.

I still have the upmost confidence that the MUM project will kick off sooner rather than later.

The importance of King Makers.

CEO's... How do they get their jobs?
Good question!
Contacts, Experience (track record), academic qualifications...

If the position is an academic one, then academic qualifications are very important. I volunteered in a local college, and some of the employees had kept records of all their qualifications since leaving school.

In my experience, Fords as a permanent employee, and a few contract houses servicing General Motors, SEAT (VW), Lotus (Proton), and Mercedes Benz. I have found that all three have a bearing, however, having someone backing you is most important.

You often see teams of Management ( Premier League Managers take their team, Number two, goalkeeeping coach etc) moving together.

I recently wrote a blog about Geely buying Emerald Automotive. Many of the CEO's team have worked with him previously in Lotus/Hawtal Whiting.

This is not unusual. Stick with people you know (and trust). Or sometimes, better the devil you know!

When you look to get funding, a prospective funder will always ask to see the Management team, and its (money making) track record. Obviously, they will also want to look at the business plan!

Me, I have a vision, I know who I want to partner with. Presently, I am a bit of a lone ranger with no funding. I need a backer, with influence, who will trust me to get the right team when the project kicks off.

Any influencial 'King makers' out there who wants to take a risk on me?  I would like to think so. And with the right support, I feel their decision will be vindicated.

Lastly, I have a CSR branch to my plan. Thanks to a few friends and family, I have published a Childrens book. All royalty payments go to charity.

To buy the book and read the story behind the story, please click this link:

Two of my book team, Sue, who's commendation appears on the back cover is fighting an ongoing battle with MS, and Dee my friend and Yoga teacher is slowly recovering from a bad fall. My very best wishes go out to both of them.

Caterham. Funding a project... Even successful businessmen get this wrong.

Today, I see that Caterham F1 has been sold.

I'm not an F1 insider, and I don't know Tony Fernandes. I have worked for Lotus engineering as a contractor in Malaysia.
I have added a few links and quotes after my thoughts so you can see where I'm coming from.

Tony is a very successful businessman. I assume he (or a team of professionals) does a business plan before entering a new business. He has access to accountants, and industry professionals.

IMO, Tony entered F1 in the hope of using it to promote his other business interests. Air Asia is the Ryan Air of Asia, and Tony had shown an interest in becoming involved with Group Lotus (Cars, Engineering services, blah blah).

In 2010 F1 proposed a cost cap of £40million.

The cost cap never happened. Tony ended up buying Caterham cars, and renaming his team.

The cost for all this was high. The return was obviously (at least in F1 terms) disappointing.

So does this make Tony an incompetent? No, very obviously not. However, Caterham F1 obviously hasn't met his expectations.

I have annoyed many people with my Motorsport Uni plan. Would it cost a lot?  Would it make money... Yes... and I think so...

Do I have the track record of Tony?... Absolutely not.

However, this project has been my baby for many years. I refuse to give up on it. Given the resources, and I'm confident I can deliver.

My plan has some parallels with Tony's.

I would like to get involved with Group Lotus. I would like to get involved with Motorsport.

Instead of using it (Motorsport) as a promotional tool, I would like to use it to support an educational project.

I was told by many people in Group Lotus that they NEVER make money with 'Training'.

Maybe they could just become vendors.

Phoenix University in the USA, presently has about 1/3million students. It has a healthy revenue stream, and is run at a profit. (The polar opposite of Group Lotus)

The University would have to be ethically run and monitored in order to be approved and its clients able to access government grants. Failure to meet government criteria effectively kills the revenue stream.

Article about Phoenix University.

DRB-Hicom now own Lotus. They have an approved University. The are not scared of entering the 'Training' arena.

This project has the potential to be global. Governments world wide finance and support education.

I hope that the new Chairman and CEO of Group Lotus look at my proposal with fresh eyes.

It could be vehicle that drives Lotus and its partners to new commercially sustainable heights.

I'd like to be a success. I'd like this project to be a success. Given the funding and support, I'm sure that this project can be a real game changer.

DRB-Hicom should give this serious consideration. Nothing is guaranteed in this life (other than death), but I honestly believe this could be one of the best investments you could make.

Education is a core business for DRB Hicom.




The Telegraph (UK) made this statement.

Fernandes had originally been seeking around £350million, but it is thought that Formula One's slowest team was sold for around one-tenth of that price. Sources suggested that an offer also fell through after the Monaco Grand Prix, when the team were dealt a severe blow by Marussia's ninth place.

 Tony Fernandes

SKY SPORTS made this statement:

Back then, they were known as Team Lotus and if Fernandes was already starting to take a dim view of the sport, those feelings would have intensified when he became embroiled in a court battle for the right to use the Lotus name.  
Rather farcically, two teams bore the Norfolk marque's name in 2011 after Fernandes' plans to buy Lotus outright were thwarted when owners Proton instead appointed Dany Bahar, formerly a marketing boss at Red Bull and Ferrari, to take charge.

The Guardian wrote:

After four and a half years on the Formula One grid without a point to their name, and after spending more than £250m on the organisation, Fernandes has sold Caterham to a consortium of Swiss and Middle Eastern investors.

In 2009 Formula1.com wrote:

Formula One racing’s governing body, the FIA, has revised its budget cap plans for 2010. Teams signing up for the optional cap must limit their spending to £40 million per year (£10 million higher than originally proposed) in exchange for greater technical freedom. This will not include driver salaries or, for 2010 only, engine costs.

Thirteen teams will be accepted for next year’s championship and all must apply by May 29, 2009, stating whether they wish to compete under the budget cap or not. New constructors will be eligible for a participation fee and assistance with travel expenses from commercial rights holder Formula One Management.

My local garage no longer has any Proton stock.

As people may know, I worked for Lotus in Malaysia.
For much of that time I was working on site at Proton's R&D centre. So I was interested to see the garage around the corner from my house has taken down all it's Proton paraphenalia.

I asked the man in the customer service area what was happening. He said Proton had no stock, and was coy about whether they would be selling any Proton cars in the future.

I read an aticle that Proton sold just cars in the UK in 2012.

Last year, Proton reportedly sold just 208 cars in the UK, a poor figure for a mass-market manufacturer and a measure of the challenge faced by the new models.

Read more: Three new Proton models set for the UK | Carbuyer http://www.carbuyer.co.uk/news/136650/three-new-proton-models-set-for-the-uk#ixzz33raGqkVz
Follow us: @CarbuyerUK on Twitter | CarbuyerUK on Facebook

Proton still makes cars. It has newer products. They don't appear to be reaching the UK.

Proton has trouble competing in its home market. It doesn't appear to be competing at all in the UK.

As I have based my proposal on using DRB-Hicom related hardware, this is not optimal. DRB-Hicom owns Lotus Cars and has agreements in place with Westfield and other manufacturers. So its not the end of the world.

Proton have a new Chairman, and Lotus have a new CEO. So maybe things will take a turn for the better soon.

In the meantime, I'm enjoying the great British Summer, and keeping fit. Also, after many years abroad its nice to spend some quality time with my Father, who is now in his 80's.

Life is good!

Geely buy Emerald Automotive, and sign an agreement with Proton and by extension Lotus.

I see that Geely and Proton have an agreement in place for co-operation.
The following is taken from a Bernama article.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the national carmaker and Geely were now in discussion stage after signing an agreement of interest on April 22, 2014, witnessed by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Once again here is a picture of me and Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamed.

Dr. Mahathir is now the Chairman of both Proton and Lotus.
I periodically, remind Dr. Mahathir of my pet project. I would love to get it off the ground.
So I need to bring in investors. His assistance would be most appreciated!
Geely recently bought Emerald Automotive.

I have met some of their executives. They are ex Lotus employees.
The head honcho, AndyTempest, was for a period the CEO of Hawtal Whiting, I was introduced to him briefly by a gentleman called Bill Harrison. I knew Bill well from my time at Ford and met him a few times socially out of work. IMO a nice bloke. He was Director of Engineering (HW) at the time.

I met with both David Tait and Glyn Owen in Malaysia, whilst working for Lotus. David Taitt was there when I left Malaysia. He was invited to my leaving 'Do'. He didn't come as he was under the impression I didn't like him. I have no idea why he would think that.

Lotus tried to buy Hawtal Whiting when David Taitt was head of Lotus Engineering. Rumour (and that is all it was) had it that by obtaining Hawtal Whiting, Lotus also got Andy Tempest. Andy had previously held a senior position in Lotus.

Hawtal Whiting was sold to Wagen who have now ceased trading to the best of my knowledge.

However, Andy, David, Glyn (and Chris Hiett) are all now Geely employees.

Perhaps they will be working with Lotus again in the future... Who knows? I certainly don't!

Tun Mahathir, new boss of Lotus and Proton

I see from the Malaysian press that Lotus and Proton have a new Chairman.

I met him personally at ASLI Automotive conference 2010.

I presented my proposal on stage with his Son and Tengku Mahaleel.

Hopefully, his new appointment will be a plus for Proton and Lotus. It would be nice if he adopted my proposal.
Both Lotus and Proton need to do something different. My proposal is different. And in my biased opinion it would be highly successful.

Just what the Doctor ordered so to speak!

HIRE ME.

Football and Motorsport are businesses, why study at a functioning ground or circuit?

The above video features on my webpage.

UCFB now adverts nationally on SKY sports TV (UK). They obviously have a functioning business with a healthy marketing budget!
My proposal has a parallel philosophy. However, where UCFB concentrate on the business side of things, I feel Motorsport has the opportunity to teach anything from business to law to engineering to sports science to ...

Initially, when I presented the proposal, setting up a campus at a working track, I thought the possibility of being first was a selling point (silly me!).

Now that someone else has started doing it in football, and appear to be succeeding! Perhaps people will see that I am not a complete nutter!

I am not an accountant, however, if you can achieve high numbers of online clients mixed in with you on campus clients I am sure it can work financially.

I don't have figures for a break even point, nor initial funding requirements (sure to be high) however, a long established USA online learning institute (Phoenix) has about 1/2 million students, and has a turnover in the billions. It has on occasion operated on above 10% profit margins. Its clients can afford its fee's because the (USA) government will supply loans for its courses.

I am sure this is the case in many countries. Obviously, this means you have to be a real University based in the country obtaining the student grants.

As campuses are track based at physical locations this in itself requires investment.

However, there are companies out there with Motorsport divisions, producing sports cars who have education as part of their "core" businesses.

They could potentially benefit greatly from this.