I have always assumed it was pretty much assumed it was waste of time for small shareholders to bother contacting companies
Well, you have to provide good arguments and show that all parties will benefit. Then you have a chance IMO. It's going to be tough though to push the dividend policy through because they have a growth story going on. Btw, my suggestion for a dividend was passed on to the CEO 2 years ago by someone who visited the company, so it's nothing new. But maybe now is a better time than back then. We'll see.