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FOH Accounts and AGM


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10 hours ago, Coco said:

I will be voting against Donald Cumming's re-election.

 

Partly as an opportunity to protest against the FoH Board's unnecessary delay in taking ownership of the club.

 

And partly to remove him from the HMFC Board as FoH representative.  He has been on the Board during a disastrous period of performance and governance.  He has been party to the disastrous performance by the executive management (mostly Levein) which led to demotion.  He has failed to constrain the overspending on capital projects by the Executives.  And he was the legal expert on the Board while the club lost its way in every legal avenue last year.

 

Get a grip FFS.

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3 minutes ago, chrystaf said:

Get a grip FFS.

I was intrigued by Coco's post but I'm more intrigued by yours. I assume you can debunk what was said.

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33 minutes ago, JamboAl said:

Put your name forward

You could only put your name forward this year if you had a law degree or were a accountant. Not that you need to be willing to put yourself forward to have an opinion on the performance of the current Board. 

 

18 minutes ago, Peakybunnet said:

Is Mr. Cheshire a Hearts Supporter? Couldn't see any mention in the brief Bio I read. 

According to his Twitter profile he is a "Big Jam Tarts fan".

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1 minute ago, Saint Jambo said:

According to his Twitter profile he is a "Big Jam Tarts fan".

Good to hear. Be interested to see where his season ticket seat has been for the last 8 years. 

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7 minutes ago, Peakybunnet said:

Good to hear. Be interested to see where his season ticket seat has been for the last 8 years. 

Why? 😄

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Some interesting stuff in the FOH review of the year's activities contained in the Notice of Meeting and Chairman's Report. To save people having to go to the FOH website, open a PDF and wade through the technical meeting stuff, I've copied it below, using the spoiler function to hide the text under each heading so that it doesn't become a massive post making the thread hard to read. Before that a couple of things from the more technical meeting stuff.

 

Members’ questions

If you have any questions on the business of the AGM, I invite you to send it to us by e-mail at [email protected]. If you can ensure that the question reaches us by close of business on 24 January, we will endeavour to reply before the cut-off date for proxy appointments on 26 January, and if the questions are of general interest, we will circulate a summary of responses to members.

 

Bio of Board candidates

- Paul Cheshire: Paul (39) is a partner in PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Born in Dumfries, he graduated from Edinburgh University, and qualified as a CA in 2007. He has over 16 years of experience providing accounting and audit services to a wide variety of business clients in Scotland, including sports organisations. He is based in the Edinburgh office of PwC and lives in Linlithgow.

- Donald Cumming: Donald joined the board of the Foundation in 2014. He is a consultant and former partner in the Edinburgh office of the corporate law firm CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP.

 

Stuart Wallace's Review of the Foundation's Activities

I would like to start by wishing everyone a Happy New Year and a healthy 2021. We are by necessity departing from tradition this year in that our AGM must be a closed meeting, hence rather than an AGM address I am providing a report.

 

Covid-19 and Club funding

Spoiler

2020 will no doubt be remembered as the year of the global Covid-19 pandemic, with most countries, many households and countless individuals hit hard by its consequences. Despite that backdrop, the commitment of our members to Foundation of Hearts remains incredibly robust. The global pandemic saw the cessation of onfield matters and in turn many months of rancour and dispute. I remain as steadfast in my view today as I was then, that the treatment meted out by the Scottish Football Authorities lacked imagination, lacked a desire to find common ground and lacked any form of integrity. Much has been said on this topic, hence I will say no more for now, other than, as a fans’ group, we will always feel incredibly let down.

 

What we did see as a result of the pandemic and the treatment of the Club was a quite unprecedented surge in membership levels, such that the number of members hit a new high. During the last year our average number of members was 7,873, although it is worth noting that our peak was just short of 8,500 members. Given that rise in membership levels and the amount of one-off donations received, we were able to pass record amounts of funding to the Club. Our highest monthly contribution to the Club is now a rather elegant £151,000, with the total amount pledged by Hearts fans to Foundation of Hearts as of today in excess of £11,000,000, a spectacular achievement.

 

Annual accounts

Spoiler

Along with this document, you will find a copy of our annual accounts for the year ending 30 June 2020. You’ll see from the accounts that during the financial year we achieved the significant milestone of acquiring full participation in the Bidco senior loan as well as providing a further £602,500 of working capital to the Club. Total donations for the year amounted to £1,458,263 which was broadly in line with our takings in the prior financial period. I should emphasise that the membership increase mentioned previously started in spring 2020 and is therefore not fully reflected in this result.

 

You’ll also see from the accounts that we continue to run a lean operation from a cost perspective in line with our ethos that every pledge is precious. Our largest costs in the financial year were the direct debit charges we pay to our payment providers GoCardless and Paypal at around 1% of our total pledge value. Other than that, our cost base primarily consists of a small number of marketing fees, costs of delivering our plot ceremonies as well as bookkeeping and accountancy fees. I should mention that nobody involved in the Foundation, from the Directors to our incredible volunteers, take any form of compensation – they invest their time and energy only out of their love for this football club.

 

Member events

Spoiler

Our ever-popular plot ceremonies have fallen victim to the pandemic with the stadium being closed to mass gatherings. Rest assured we aim to recommence these with a full programme of events as soon as we are able. Whilst we were able to hold a number of evening membership club events (for example the 1956 club) to award certificates in the fans bar, again this has ceased during the current lockdown. We will restart these events as soon as we are able to as we are keen to recognise the incredible achievements of our members. Once again these events would not happen were it not for the volunteers who assist us, and we are grateful to them and also to the ‘legends’ who help support these events.

 

Reward points continue to accumulate for every £ that is pledged thus taking members through the various membership levels. We will have a backlog of events, but we will get there, in time. I should note we are also working on the development of a member app which will allow members to manage their pledge, view rewards and make one off payments from their mobile phone. We anticipate delivery of the app in the first half of this calendar year.

 

Governance

Spoiler

During the last year we dealt with an important matter of governance. At last year’s AGM we were challenged around whether the 90% super-majority required in the event of a proposed disposal of any part of the Foundation’s future shareholding was set too high.

 

Following an informal polling of members’ views earlier in the year, we convened a general meeting in December to give members an opportunity to decide between retaining the existing 90% super-majority or changing it to 75%. Due to pandemic restrictions, it was necessary to hold the meeting as a closed meeting but members were able to cast their votes in advance. The result of the vote, which attracted a 29% turnout, was that the special resolution to change the super-majority fell marginally short of the 75% majority which it required in order to be passed. This means that any proposed disposal of our majority shareholding will in future require a super-majority of 90% voting in favour of that disposal. My thanks to all who took part in this democratic exercise, not least Eric Clelland who made the written case for 75% and Alex Mackie our founding chairman who made the case for 90%. We are grateful for their time and support.

 

I should mention that as things stand today, I see no immediate prospect of the question arising any time soon around the disposal of some or all our majority shareholding. Our journey to being majority shareholder has been hard won and we have no desire to relinquish that position any time soon. That said, we are aware that our governance model is built to deal with matters arising not just in the next few years but in the next 25 years and beyond. We have no way of knowing if circumstances will change or whether external investment in return for equity will ever be desirable, hence it is important we build a structure that can deal with such issues.

 

Transfer of ownership

Spoiler

Our focus is now on effecting the transfer of the majority shareholding in Heart of Midlothian Football Club to Foundation of Hearts on behalf of our incredible supporters. Our journey has not been helped by the pandemic, by the treatment of the Club and having our focus turned to these matters as the pandemic unfolded. We are now clear that we would like to see the ownership transfer take place around the end of this season. We would like to share the event with our members, hence the return of fans to Tynecastle Park is important to us, and it has a nice symmetry to see the Club return to the Scottish Premiership around the same time, hopefully.

 

We are now engaged with the Club board and Bidco in arranging the detailed steps that are required to effect the transfer, both legally and financially. I will stay in touch as our work progresses, but I want you, our members, to know that we are working tirelessly to put the football club into your hands, as promised.

 

Thank you

Spoiler

I should close by reminding everyone how positive the above update is given the global backdrop, we never cease to be amazed and humbled by you the Hearts supporters, thank you.

 

I would also like to express a few thanks on behalf of Foundation of Hearts to those members who assist us quietly in the background in their own time. To Brian Muir, Russell Baird, Stephen Brown and those others who have been in touch more recently to offer their support. You know who you are, thank you. To all those at the football club who support us strongly with our online content and matchday presence, specifically Gary Locke, Cat McCallum, Sven and Phil, again thank you. Also, to Iain Macleod who was of incredible assistance to us this year on technology matters. Iain has now stepped back from his duties to take a well earned rest, we’re grateful for all the support and counsel he offered.

 

Finally, to Barry McGonagle. Barry is one of the quiet men of the Foundation board, he is our financial guru and has at times helped us navigate our way through some incredibly complex accounting issues. Barry is stepping down by rotation having spent 6 years on our board. He was Finance Director with one of Scotland’s most successful tech companies, but a career move means we must now thank Barry and wish him every good fortune with that move. We are grateful for his camaraderie, his good humour and his wise counsel, thank you Barry. Barry’s decision means that we will have a new Director on the Foundation of Hearts board, which is covered in our AGM notice.

 

I wish you all the very best of health and good fortune in 2021 and a return of our beloved football club to the top table of Scottish football, where we have always belonged.

Stuart R Wallace

Chairman, Foundation of Hearts

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4 minutes ago, Peakybunnet said:

 

Dave 20 years later you are still the master of one word posts. 🏆

Why use 50 when one will do? 😄

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For those that take the "too long; didn't read" view of the Chair's report, my main take away points would be:

 

SUMMARY

- Questions: You can email questions to the FOH Board up to 24 January. If the questions are of general interest they will circulate a summary to all members.

- Membership figures and financials: Average membership for year is 7,873, with peak of just under 8,500. Upturn in membership started in spring 2020 with financial year ending in June 2020, so the yearly financial figures don't fully reflect that membership increase. Record high amount transferred to club. Highest monthly contribution to club £151k. Total donations in year £1.46m, about the same as previous financial year. Total donated to FOH is now over £11m!  

- Reward events: These events will restart when restrictions allow.

- Mobile App: They plan to launch a mobile app in the first half of this year which will allow members to manage their pledge, see their reward points and make one-off donations.

- No potential sale of club by FOH: In relation to the rejected proposal to change the threshold for FOH to sell the club, Stuart says he sees "no immediate prospect of the question arising any time soon around the disposal of some or all our majority shareholding. Our journey to being majority shareholder has been hard won and we have no desire to relinquish that position any time soon."  

- Transfer of shares from Ann Budge to FOH: Indication that transfer will be completed when fans allowed back in Tynecastle. Reason for delay given are distraction of pandemic and resultant treatment of club, and now desire to 'share the event with our members'.

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Francis Albert
39 minutes ago, Saint Jambo said:

For those that take the "too long; didn't read" view of the Chair's report, my main take away points would be:

 

SUMMARY

- Questions: You can email questions to the FOH Board up to 24 January. If the questions are of general interest they will circulate a summary to all members.

- Membership figures and financials: Average membership for year is 7,873, with peak of just under 8,500. Upturn in membership started in spring 2020 with financial year ending in June 2020, so the yearly financial figures don't fully reflect that membership increase. Record high amount transferred to club. Highest monthly contribution to club £151k. Total donations in year £1.46m, about the same as previous financial year. Total donated to FOH is now over £11m!  

- Reward events: These events will restart when restrictions allow.

- Mobile App: They plan to launch a mobile app in the first half of this year which will allow members to manage their pledge, see their reward points and make one-off donations.

- No potential sale of club by FOH: In relation to the rejected proposal to change the threshold for FOH to sell the club, Stuart says he sees "no immediate prospect of the question arising any time soon around the disposal of some or all our majority shareholding. Our journey to being majority shareholder has been hard won and we have no desire to relinquish that position any time soon."  

- Transfer of shares from Ann Budge to FOH: Indication that transfer will be completed when fans allowed back in Tynecastle. Reason for delay given are distraction of pandemic and resultant treatment of club, and now desire to 'share the event with our members'.

That last point is pathetic. There is no credible reason for the delay. What has it got to do with the distraction of the pandemic? Or treatment of the club? Or desire0 to share the event with our members? FoH should simply get on and deliver what we pledged for all those years and millions of pounds ago.

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24 minutes ago, Francis Albert said:

That last point is pathetic. There is no credible reason for the delay. What has it got to do with the distraction of the pandemic? Or treatment of the club? Or desire0 to share the event with our members? FoH should simply get on and deliver what we pledged for all those years and millions of pounds ago.

It’s expected to happen around the end of the season according to Stuart’s report. 

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2 hours ago, Saint Jambo said:

Some interesting stuff in the FOH review of the year's activities contained in the Notice of Meeting and Chairman's Report. To save people having to go to the FOH website, open a PDF and wade through the technical meeting stuff, I've copied it below, using the spoiler function to hide the text under each heading so that it doesn't become a massive post making the thread hard to read. Before that a couple of things from the more technical meeting stuff.

 

Members’ questions

If you have any questions on the business of the AGM, I invite you to send it to us by e-mail at [email protected]. If you can ensure that the question reaches us by close of business on 24 January, we will endeavour to reply before the cut-off date for proxy appointments on 26 January, and if the questions are of general interest, we will circulate a summary of responses to members.

 

Bio of Board candidates

- Paul Cheshire: Paul (39) is a partner in PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Born in Dumfries, he graduated from Edinburgh University, and qualified as a CA in 2007. He has over 16 years of experience providing accounting and audit services to a wide variety of business clients in Scotland, including sports organisations. He is based in the Edinburgh office of PwC and lives in Linlithgow.

- Donald Cumming: Donald joined the board of the Foundation in 2014. He is a consultant and former partner in the Edinburgh office of the corporate law firm CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP.

 

Stuart Wallace's Review of the Foundation's Activities

I would like to start by wishing everyone a Happy New Year and a healthy 2021. We are by necessity departing from tradition this year in that our AGM must be a closed meeting, hence rather than an AGM address I am providing a report.

 

Covid-19 and Club funding

  Reveal hidden contents

2020 will no doubt be remembered as the year of the global Covid-19 pandemic, with most countries, many households and countless individuals hit hard by its consequences. Despite that backdrop, the commitment of our members to Foundation of Hearts remains incredibly robust. The global pandemic saw the cessation of onfield matters and in turn many months of rancour and dispute. I remain as steadfast in my view today as I was then, that the treatment meted out by the Scottish Football Authorities lacked imagination, lacked a desire to find common ground and lacked any form of integrity. Much has been said on this topic, hence I will say no more for now, other than, as a fans’ group, we will always feel incredibly let down.

 

What we did see as a result of the pandemic and the treatment of the Club was a quite unprecedented surge in membership levels, such that the number of members hit a new high. During the last year our average number of members was 7,873, although it is worth noting that our peak was just short of 8,500 members. Given that rise in membership levels and the amount of one-off donations received, we were able to pass record amounts of funding to the Club. Our highest monthly contribution to the Club is now a rather elegant £151,000, with the total amount pledged by Hearts fans to Foundation of Hearts as of today in excess of £11,000,000, a spectacular achievement.

 

Annual accounts

  Reveal hidden contents

Along with this document, you will find a copy of our annual accounts for the year ending 30 June 2020. You’ll see from the accounts that during the financial year we achieved the significant milestone of acquiring full participation in the Bidco senior loan as well as providing a further £602,500 of working capital to the Club. Total donations for the year amounted to £1,458,263 which was broadly in line with our takings in the prior financial period. I should emphasise that the membership increase mentioned previously started in spring 2020 and is therefore not fully reflected in this result.

 

You’ll also see from the accounts that we continue to run a lean operation from a cost perspective in line with our ethos that every pledge is precious. Our largest costs in the financial year were the direct debit charges we pay to our payment providers GoCardless and Paypal at around 1% of our total pledge value. Other than that, our cost base primarily consists of a small number of marketing fees, costs of delivering our plot ceremonies as well as bookkeeping and accountancy fees. I should mention that nobody involved in the Foundation, from the Directors to our incredible volunteers, take any form of compensation – they invest their time and energy only out of their love for this football club.

 

Member events

  Reveal hidden contents

Our ever-popular plot ceremonies have fallen victim to the pandemic with the stadium being closed to mass gatherings. Rest assured we aim to recommence these with a full programme of events as soon as we are able. Whilst we were able to hold a number of evening membership club events (for example the 1956 club) to award certificates in the fans bar, again this has ceased during the current lockdown. We will restart these events as soon as we are able to as we are keen to recognise the incredible achievements of our members. Once again these events would not happen were it not for the volunteers who assist us, and we are grateful to them and also to the ‘legends’ who help support these events.

 

Reward points continue to accumulate for every £ that is pledged thus taking members through the various membership levels. We will have a backlog of events, but we will get there, in time. I should note we are also working on the development of a member app which will allow members to manage their pledge, view rewards and make one off payments from their mobile phone. We anticipate delivery of the app in the first half of this calendar year.

 

Governance

  Reveal hidden contents

During the last year we dealt with an important matter of governance. At last year’s AGM we were challenged around whether the 90% super-majority required in the event of a proposed disposal of any part of the Foundation’s future shareholding was set too high.

 

Following an informal polling of members’ views earlier in the year, we convened a general meeting in December to give members an opportunity to decide between retaining the existing 90% super-majority or changing it to 75%. Due to pandemic restrictions, it was necessary to hold the meeting as a closed meeting but members were able to cast their votes in advance. The result of the vote, which attracted a 29% turnout, was that the special resolution to change the super-majority fell marginally short of the 75% majority which it required in order to be passed. This means that any proposed disposal of our majority shareholding will in future require a super-majority of 90% voting in favour of that disposal. My thanks to all who took part in this democratic exercise, not least Eric Clelland who made the written case for 75% and Alex Mackie our founding chairman who made the case for 90%. We are grateful for their time and support.

 

I should mention that as things stand today, I see no immediate prospect of the question arising any time soon around the disposal of some or all our majority shareholding. Our journey to being majority shareholder has been hard won and we have no desire to relinquish that position any time soon. That said, we are aware that our governance model is built to deal with matters arising not just in the next few years but in the next 25 years and beyond. We have no way of knowing if circumstances will change or whether external investment in return for equity will ever be desirable, hence it is important we build a structure that can deal with such issues.

 

Transfer of ownership

  Reveal hidden contents

Our focus is now on effecting the transfer of the majority shareholding in Heart of Midlothian Football Club to Foundation of Hearts on behalf of our incredible supporters. Our journey has not been helped by the pandemic, by the treatment of the Club and having our focus turned to these matters as the pandemic unfolded. We are now clear that we would like to see the ownership transfer take place around the end of this season. We would like to share the event with our members, hence the return of fans to Tynecastle Park is important to us, and it has a nice symmetry to see the Club return to the Scottish Premiership around the same time, hopefully.

 

We are now engaged with the Club board and Bidco in arranging the detailed steps that are required to effect the transfer, both legally and financially. I will stay in touch as our work progresses, but I want you, our members, to know that we are working tirelessly to put the football club into your hands, as promised.

 

Thank you

  Reveal hidden contents

I should close by reminding everyone how positive the above update is given the global backdrop, we never cease to be amazed and humbled by you the Hearts supporters, thank you.

 

I would also like to express a few thanks on behalf of Foundation of Hearts to those members who assist us quietly in the background in their own time. To Brian Muir, Russell Baird, Stephen Brown and those others who have been in touch more recently to offer their support. You know who you are, thank you. To all those at the football club who support us strongly with our online content and matchday presence, specifically Gary Locke, Cat McCallum, Sven and Phil, again thank you. Also, to Iain Macleod who was of incredible assistance to us this year on technology matters. Iain has now stepped back from his duties to take a well earned rest, we’re grateful for all the support and counsel he offered.

 

Finally, to Barry McGonagle. Barry is one of the quiet men of the Foundation board, he is our financial guru and has at times helped us navigate our way through some incredibly complex accounting issues. Barry is stepping down by rotation having spent 6 years on our board. He was Finance Director with one of Scotland’s most successful tech companies, but a career move means we must now thank Barry and wish him every good fortune with that move. We are grateful for his camaraderie, his good humour and his wise counsel, thank you Barry. Barry’s decision means that we will have a new Director on the Foundation of Hearts board, which is covered in our AGM notice.

 

I wish you all the very best of health and good fortune in 2021 and a return of our beloved football club to the top table of Scottish football, where we have always belonged.

Stuart R Wallace

Chairman, Foundation of Hearts

 

Just an observation but Paul will be the 3rd current Board Member that's worked at PwC. 

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Dusk_Till_Dawn
7 hours ago, davemclaren said:

It’s expected to happen around the end of the season according to Stuart’s report. 


Bet he and FOH’s other reps are shitting themselves about the handover. Might actually have to start getting involved in club matters

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7 hours ago, iainmac said:

 

Just an observation but Paul will be the 3rd current Board Member that's worked at PwC. 

I thought Paul was the second so I must have missed one. 

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Francis Albert
9 hours ago, davemclaren said:

It’s expected to happen around the end of the season according to Stuart’s report. 

He doesn't say that at all. He said he/FOH "would like it" to happen then. The end of the season is not defined. It could be next month or sometime in late autumn or even later. The "reasons"  for last year's delay may well still apply whenever that is and quite possibly beyond.

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Dusk_Till_Dawn
10 hours ago, Francis Albert said:

That last point is pathetic. There is no credible reason for the delay. What has it got to do with the distraction of the pandemic? Or treatment of the club? Or desire0 to share the event with our members? FoH should simply get on and deliver what we pledged for all those years and millions of pounds ago.


It’s all a bit lame and there’s no excuse whatsoever for the takeover not happening before the start of next season. The treatment of the club patter is nonsense

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16 minutes ago, Francis Albert said:

He doesn't say that at all. He said he/FOH "would like it" to happen then. The end of the season is not defined. It could be next month or sometime in late autumn or even later. The "reasons"  for last year's delay may well still apply whenever that is and quite possibly beyond.

Fair enough, below is exactly what he said. 

‘We are now clear that we would like to see the ownership transfer take place around the end of this season. We would like to share the event with our members, hence the return of fans to Tynecastle Park is important to us, and it has a nice symmetry to see the Club return to the Scottish Premiership around the same time, hopefully.’

 


 

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26 minutes ago, davemclaren said:

Fair enough, below is exactly what he said. 

‘We are now clear that we would like to see the ownership transfer take place around the end of this season. We would like to share the event with our members, hence the return of fans to Tynecastle Park is important to us, and it has a nice symmetry to see the Club return to the Scottish Premiership around the same time, hopefully.’

 


 

 

 

Victor Meldrew.jpg

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Francis Albert
33 minutes ago, davemclaren said:

Fair enough, below is exactly what he said. 

‘We are now clear that we would like to see the ownership transfer take place around the end of this season. We would like to share the event with our members, hence the return of fans to Tynecastle Park is important to us, and it has a nice symmetry to see the Club return to the Scottish Premiership around the same time, hopefully.’

 


 

The next paragraph further obfuscates and raises more questions.

 

"We are now engaged with the club board in arranging the detailed steps required to effect the transfer, both legally and financially"

 

The money to pay for the shares has been in FoH's bank account for about nine months. Apart from Bidco's bank account details (presumably known by FoH) what "financial and legal steps are required to be arranged" other than signing the the share transfer form attached to the agreement with Bidco? Why is there a need, nine months and at the very least six  months after the transfer should have taken place, to be still engaged in arranging the detailed steps to effect the transfer? 

 

Edited by Francis Albert
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9 hours ago, iainmac said:

 

Just an observation but Paul will be the 3rd current Board Member that's worked at PwC. 

Just a comment .... my son and daughter both work for pwc (different offices & functions), it’s a big company and they employee lots of good people!

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11 minutes ago, Francis Albert said:

The next paragraph further obfuscates and raises more questions.

 

"We are now engaged with the club board in arranging the detailed steps required to effect the transfer, both legally and financially"

 

The money to pay for the shares has been in FoH's bank account for about nine months. Apart from Bidco's bank account details (presumably known by FoH) what "financial and legal steps are required to be arranged" other than signing the the share transfer form attached to the agreement with Bidco? Why is there a need, nine months and at the very least six  months after the transfer should have taken place, to be still engaged in arranging the detailed steps to effect the transfer? 

 

There was some talk of issues around transferring the shares mid financial year due to the impact on end year reporting for a PLC. No idea what the detail of that is though. 

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I see Paul  Cheshire lives in Lithgae. I see this as a positive. I don't know him though, will get my spies on the ground to get more info.

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Hope Mrs B stays in charge for a while yet, the natural progression should be that, natural.

 

Not when a few dullards rattle their gums, seriously, we all aware these types will just move onto something else to moan about. 

 

The transition should be something everybody should be involved in and everybody will enjoy. It shouldn't just be a passing of a document in the boardroom for a signature.

 

It should be milked for all its worth in front of a packed house. 

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13 minutes ago, Bull's-eye said:

Hope Mrs B stays in charge for a while yet, the natural progression should be that, natural.

 

Not when a few dullards rattle their gums, seriously, we all aware these types will just move onto something else to moan about. 

 

The transition should be something everybody should be involved in and everybody will enjoy. It shouldn't just be a passing of a document in the boardroom for a signature.

 

It should be milked for all its worth in front of a packed house. 

I agree with much if this. It’s a big step and shouldn’t be rushed and should be treated as a major occasion, with people there, not on zoom or some other shite. 

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Francis Albert
29 minutes ago, Bull's-eye said:

Hope Mrs B stays in charge for a while yet, the natural progression should be that, natural.

 

Not when a few dullards rattle their gums, seriously, we all aware these types will just move onto something else to moan about. 

 

The transition should be something everybody should be involved in and everybody will enjoy. It shouldn't just be a passing of a document in the boardroom for a signature.

 

It should be milked for all its worth in front of a packed house. 

Mrs B, her new Sporting Director, her manager and playing and coaching staff will not be affected by the transfer of shares.  

 

For better or for worse. 

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Francis Albert
36 minutes ago, davemclaren said:

There was some talk of issues around transferring the shares mid financial year due to the impact on end year reporting for a PLC. No idea what the detail of that is though. 

I remember that talk. However Shares and company ownership and control transfers do not always coincide with financial year end. And it doesn't feature in the reasons given here by Stuart for the timing of the transfer.

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32 minutes ago, Francis Albert said:

Mrs B, her new Sporting Director, her manager and playing and coaching staff will not be affected by the transfer of shares.  

 

For better or for worse. 

 

The supporters will though. I want to celebrate with the supporters. I can't believe you of all people want to suck the life out a monumental time in the club's history 😜

 

I want the documents signed on the pitch.

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Footballfirst
20 minutes ago, Bull's-eye said:

 

The supporters will though. I want to celebrate with the supporters. I can't believe you of all people want to suck the life out a monumental time in the club's history 😜

 

I want the documents signed on the pitch.

They could have been signed last February when FOH had first collected the £100k required to pay for the shares.

 

FOH donated £602,500 to the club between February and June last year. They had the funds available to make it happen, before football was shut down because of the first lockdown, but chose not to. The decision to delay the transfer was made before the pandemic hit.  It was mentioned at the 2019 AGM that it was being delayed by a few months.

 

Various excuses have been made for it not happening, 1) we want to have a party, 2) issues related Covid, 3) timing to coincide with financial year end 4) legal, financial and accounting considerations.

Edited by Footballfirst
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10 minutes ago, Footballfirst said:

They could have been signed last February when FOH had first collected the £100k required to pay for the shares.

 

FOH donated £602,500 to the club between February and June last year. They had the funds available to make it happen, before football was shut down because of the first lockdown, but chose not to. The decision to delay the transfer was made before the pandemic hit.  It was mentioned at the 2019 AGM that it was being delayed by a few months.

 

Various excuses have been made for it not happening, 1) we want to have a party, 2) issues related Covid, 3) timing to coincide with financial year end 4) legal, financial and accounting considerations.

Hopefully we’ll get a bit more clarity from the agm questions/answers. 

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Dusk_Till_Dawn
7 minutes ago, davemclaren said:

Hopefully we’ll get a bit more clarity from the agm questions/answers. 


:rofl:

 

World class one-liners David

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Footballfirst
Just now, davemclaren said:

Hopefully we’ll get a bit more clarity from the agm questions/answers. 

I would take an educated guess that the actual request to delay the transfer came from Ann Budge.  You may recall at the Cub AGM in December 2019, Ann Budge indicated that the club was £400k behind his forecast income.  From that point, and probably earlier, every £1 has been a prisoner. Each £1 that FOH was able to donate, was £1 that AB didn't have to find for either her own or benefactor resources.  The £100k that would have been used to fund the share purchase found its way into the club's coffers. 

 

I believe that situation has continued over the last 12 months and will continue at least until the summer. FOH currently doesn't have £100k sitting in its bank account to pay for the shares. It will have to be taken from pledges received at a later date closer to the eventual handover date, meaning, for that month, the regular donation to the club will be reduced..

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13 minutes ago, Footballfirst said:

I would take an educated guess that the actual request to delay the transfer came from Ann Budge.  You may recall at the Cub AGM in December 2019, Ann Budge indicated that the club was £400k behind his forecast income.  From that point, and probably earlier, every £1 has been a prisoner. Each £1 that FOH was able to donate, was £1 that AB didn't have to find for either her own or benefactor resources.  The £100k that would have been used to fund the share purchase found its way into the club's coffers. 

 

I believe that situation has continued over the last 12 months and will continue at least until the summer. FOH currently doesn't have £100k sitting in its bank account to pay for the shares. It will have to be taken from pledges received at a later date closer to the eventual handover date, meaning, for that month, the regular donation to the club will be reduced..

I do recall and that seems very likely to be the case. Not sure why they just can’t say that, assuming it’s true. 

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1 hour ago, Footballfirst said:

They could have been signed last February when FOH had first collected the £100k required to pay for the shares.

 

FOH donated £602,500 to the club between February and June last year. They had the funds available to make it happen, before football was shut down because of the first lockdown, but chose not to. The decision to delay the transfer was made before the pandemic hit.  It was mentioned at the 2019 AGM that it was being delayed by a few months.

 

Various excuses have been made for it not happening, 1) we want to have a party, 2) issues related Covid, 3) timing to coincide with financial year end 4) legal, financial and accounting considerations.

 


Good. The time wasn't right obviously.
I'll stick to trusting the club instead of fagpacket accountants with a void in life that needs filling.

 

 

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15 hours ago, JamTarts98 said:

If it's Row 40 of the Wheatfield then....


Paul’s season ticket was not in row 40 of the wheatfield stand. 


in response to the pwc remark they employee over 280k folk world wide and I’ve found that the majority of people in senior positions within company’s have spent some time working with pwc. They have a good reputation (but they do work you to th let bone!)

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Francis Albert
4 hours ago, davemclaren said:

I do recall and that seems very likely to be the case. Not sure why they just can’t say that, assuming it’s true. 

It certainly is a lot more plausible than FoH's "explanation" of the reasons.

I had thought that FoH had retained the money to pay for the share transfer but perhaps the club was indeed so desperate for cash flow that it did need every penny it could get.

Even then I would have expected the £100,000 release of funds to the club would be an interest free loan by FoH and in effect an advance payment for the shares. Not that FoH would still have to cough up another £100,000 when and if the shares are eventually transferred.

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1 minute ago, Francis Albert said:

It certainly is a lot more plausible than FoH's "explanation" of the reasons.

I had thought that FoH had retained the money to pay for the share transfer but perhaps the club was indeed so desperate for cash flow that it did need every penny it could get.

Even then I would have expected the £100,000 release of funds to the club would be an interest free loan by FoH and in effect an advance payment for the shares. Not that FoH would still have to cough up another £100,000 when and if the shares are eventually transferred.

It’s a bit academic as all monies, apart from the £100k, are given to the club anyway. 

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On 12/01/2021 at 22:57, JamTarts98 said:

I was intrigued by Coco's post but I'm more intrigued by yours. I assume you can debunk what was said.

Firstly apologies for the lateness of this reply.

Coco clearly has a number of grievances, but to place them all at the door of Donald Cumming seems odd.  Why not Stuart Wallace, why not Ann budge?

The reason for delaying the transfer to FOH is well documented.

The "disasterous period of performance and government...which lead to demotion" well why single out Cumming?

"Overspending on capital project.." Is this a dig at the new stand?  What has that got to do with Cumming.

"The club lost its way in every legal avenue last year".  A matter of opinion. 

 

Rather than taking grievances out on one individual, I suggest that Coco considers other avenues.  No doubt that could include presenting questions for the FOH AGM.

 

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On 13/01/2021 at 01:51, iainmac said:

 

Just an observation but Paul will be the 3rd current Board Member that's worked at PwC. 

Indeed. Good point. Needs monitored. I won't do anything at present but won't support any further involvement

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On 13/01/2021 at 01:51, iainmac said:

 

Just an observation but Paul will be the 3rd current Board Member that's worked at PWC. 

I didn't know that Iain but wonder if it's because FoH arose out of extreme financial difficulties that we have sub connsciously become obsessed with financial security to the exclusion of a balanced committee.

 

PS - I am not suggesting any of the current lot are unbalanced😄

Edited by JamboAl
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Francis Albert
17 hours ago, davemclaren said:

It’s a bit academic as all monies, apart from the £100k, are given to the club anyway. 

Also just over £50,000 goes towards FoH administrative expenses. In fact why not cut out the middlemen and just send our subs direct to the club, at least until FoH is ready to trigger the share transfer? Even a  few tens of thousands would come in useful to the club in these difficult times.

Edited by Francis Albert
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55 minutes ago, Francis Albert said:

Also just over £50,000 goes towards FoH administrative expenses. In fact why not cut out the middlemen and just send our subs direct to the club, at least until FoH is ready to trigger the share transfer? Even a  few tens of thousands would come in useful to the club in these difficult times.

We had this discussion a few weeks back. 😄

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2 hours ago, chrystaf said:

Firstly apologies for the lateness of this reply.

Coco clearly has a number of grievances, but to place them all at the door of Donald Cumming seems odd.  Why not Stuart Wallace, why not Ann budge?

The reason for delaying the transfer to FOH is well documented.

The "disasterous period of performance and government...which lead to demotion" well why single out Cumming?

"Overspending on capital project.." Is this a dig at the new stand?  What has that got to do with Cumming.

"The club lost its way in every legal avenue last year".  A matter of opinion. 

 

Rather than taking grievances out on one individual, I suggest that Coco considers other avenues.  No doubt that could include presenting questions for the FOH AGM.

 

Thank you for the reply, appreciated.

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Francis Albert
33 minutes ago, davemclaren said:

We had this discussion a few weeks back. 😄

Sorry. I either missed it or dementia is more advanced than I thought. Which thread?

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4 hours ago, JamboAl said:

I didn't know that Iain but wonder if it's because FoH arose out of extreme financial difficulties that we have sub connsciously become obsessed with financial security to the exclusion of a balanced committee.

 

PS - I am not suggesting any of the current lot are unbalanced😄

 

Can't speak for the new guy but the other 2 don't appear to be Al. 😃

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