I would first like to welcome the directors,
players and supporters of Stevenage to
Brunton Park as we look forward to what we
think will be another entertaining game.
I’ve commented elsewhere in the programme on
the good news we had this week with our first team
manager, Keith Curle, signing his contract and I
know I speak on behalf of the board when I say that
we are all looking forward to working with him over
the next two years.
I know that most supporters would like to hear the
club’s point of view on the events which led up to
the recent story released by the Supporters’ Trust
[CUOSC] relating to investment opportunities.
The club has held meetings with members of the
CUOSC board in recent months and, on other
occasions, has met with representatives of the
organisation. We have been honest and open about
the plans the club has regarding future investment,
during discussions which we understood were
private and confidential, and we even went as far
as naming the local individual investors we had
spoken to.
At this point I would like to say that I have also
recently spoken to the person representing the
overseas investor who approached us last year.
Things have gone quiet from their end, even though
the option is still live at this moment in time, but I’ve
told them that we’re in a position where we need to
know where we stand as a club.
As I have said in the past I will name that individual,
when the time is right, but we want to ensure that
we have done everything we were asked to do
before we close down that avenue of interest. It
was, we believe, a genuine approach and we have
treated it as such every step of the way. They asked
for confidentiality, and we have adhered to that, but
there will come a point when we will need to draw a
line and tell our fans where that interest came from.
Back to the recent press release, and it was decided
prior to the festive period that we would meet with
CUOSC again in mid-January to update them on
any progress we had made with regard to local
investment. As a club, we wanted to be in a position
to issue shares to the potential investors so that we
could form a group of local business people who
would then be at the heart of the football club.
However, we received a request from CUOSC
chairman Norman Steel to schedule a meeting
for 23 December. We assumed this would be for
us to provide the update that had previously been
discussed, but he then informed us that the meeting
wasn’t with CUOSC. Rather it was to be with Norman
and two other local business people.
On the day of the meeting we were given details
of an investment plan similar to what had been
presented to the club previously. Potential investors
who were part of the plan were those we had first
named at our meetings with CUOSC earlier in the
year.
With regard to my shares in the Holding Company,
and the £1.6 million worth of loans I had put into the
company, I was told that talks would have to take
place over the coming months about how that would
be dealt with. It was indicated that I would be given
a small nominal amount for the shares and that I
would probably have to write off the £1.6 million
loan completely.
I have been a director of the club for almost 56 years
and I have always given 100% of loyal support,
through good times and bad, so it was a surprise for
me to receive an offer like this. Pioneer Foodservice
are also extremely proud, as a company, to sponsor
the East Stand at a cost of £50,000 per year. As
part of this section of talks John Nixon was left with
no indication as to how his £20,000 loan would
be approached. It was also unclear as to how the
£10,000 loan from Lord Clark, who does not have
any shares in the Holding Company, would be
handled.
We asked for details of the investor list but we
weren’t given any names. They did comment that
they understood that a verbal commitment was
different to actually getting receipt of the funds,
which is indeed often the case in these situations.
They also commented that they would run the club
within controlled budgets and they felt they could
get better players for smaller wages than we were
managing to achieve at present. They confirmed
that they intended to appoint a managing director
on a salary of £100,000 per annum. This is a move
I personally feel we do not need at this moment in
time as we have a board of directors to oversee the
decision making policy. I would also ask whether we
should spend £100k, plus costs of recruitment, on an
MD or should we instead give that money to the manager
to assist with player recruitment?
It’s worth pointing out that we have very capable
managers in place in all departments who are running
the day-to-day needs of the club in an extremely
professional and efficient manner. These people have
recently shown their worth by dealing with cup ties, the
playing of home games at away venues and the real
problems created by the floods.
It was put to us that part of the investment plan was for
CUOSC to raise £500,000 by the end of the 2016/17
season. We await the detail on how that would be
accomplished.
Also at this point it is worth noting that the club has been
financially secure for a good number of years. There have
been no financial worries at all and there has been no
hint of administration, or of any other sanctions required
by the football authorities. We are always looking for new
investment and will continue to do so.
I think the way forward now is for those investors who are
interested in investing in Carlisle United to come forward
and meet with us. I’m sure we could accommodate those
who would wish to become club directors.
What we do have is a complete understanding that we
need to have a succession plan in place going forward,
and we will continue to prepare for that, but it has to be
done through the correct processes of the boardroom.
We continue to work hard at securing new investment
and we welcome anyone who wants to engage with us to
discuss their plans further.
Enjoy the game,
Andrew Jenkins, Chairman