Before I continue, here's a reminder that to register your interest in being a part of the community interest company (CIC) trying to buy the controlling share in the club, visit http://www.10000hours.org/. If you go to the downloads section, you'll find the 12 page document telling you how the whole thing will work and how to get involved. For some reason they felt the need to get folk to register two weeks ago and then put up a document rather than e-mailing it out - why not just have it available from day one?
Twelve pages may seem a lot, however the front page is a cover, the back page contains details of how to contact people if you have questions and there are also three pages of testimonials from folk telling you to get involved. So, in effect, it's really only seven pages of information.
In fairness to Richard Atkinson and Chris Stewart - who are heading up the takeover - they do say on the first proper page the document only answers some of the questions, not all of them. However, for my money it doesn't really say a lot more than was said in the media a few weeks ago. The first page also contains comments from club legend Tony Fitzpatrick telling us to sign up.
The next page provides details of who is involved. As well as involving Messrs Atkinson, Stewart and Fitzpatrick, it also mentions Scott McLennan - a former bank director - Jim Mullan of Paisley group Kibble (who it is later revealed have signed up as a community member) and journalist Laura Montgomery. She is also the former captain of Glasgow City Ladies FC, who had originally contacted Richard Atkinson about CIC ownership of their club a few years ago.
The page claims that by accessing special funding, the controlling share of the club can be bought. The partners would then work together to benefit themselves and the club. It will cost £2million to buy the shares (going by the next page), which will come from borrowing money and getting grants. This will, supposedly, not put the club at any risk. A recent Daily Mail report revealed we were after £1.3million from the Scottish Investment Fund, £800,000 of which would be a loan. Apparently, the loan will be repaid by the CIC's membership scheme and from the enhanced trading of the club's assets (remember that bit, it'll be important later on).
Aside from the repayment, which I'll come to later, my main concern is what happens if the funding application is umsuccessful. I posted this very question on Black & White Army's messageboard and was told by a 10000hours representative the whole thing wouldn't happen. So it's the Scottish Investment Fund Cash or nothing.
The next page of the document talks of three different membership types of the CIC - individual, corporate and community. Individual is for the fans, which will cost £10 a month and get you access to a members-only bar too. Five individual members will be voted onto the CIC board. 300 individual members are needed to make the scheme work at first, while the option of an extra £15 a year on season ticket prices also suggested. Aside from voting on certain issues, which are not mentioned, there doesn't seem to be much else offered.
Corporate membership will cost £10,000 a year and we are finally provided details of why they should sign up - because you get a networking opportunity and two directors box seats. Is that really going to be a big sell? Likewise, a community membership costs £500 a year and for that you get a "bespoke Memorandum of Understanding with the club, enabling both organisations to develop their work together". What does that mean - is that worth £500, or will they be getting some of our increased revenue to make it worth their while? 12 corporate members and 24 community ones are needed and between them they can vote five people onto the CIC board.
Moving on to the next page, we find out that the 48 per cent of Saints shareholders who aren't selling their stake will be treated the same way and can nominate a director to the club board, not the CIC. 10000hours members may decide to buy more shares in the future. This page goes on to say that the CIC will involve an "asset lock" before the interesting bit.
Apparently the other benefit of the CIC is that by increased use of facilities and the business relationships developed, the club could easily rake in £100,000 a year on top of what is currently earned and this would go to on-pitch activities. A few pages earlier we are told this extra income would go to paying off loans. Which is it - or are we going to be making so much money we can give the manager £100k to spend and also pay off the loans? Even without providing extra cash for the footballing side of things, I cannot see how we can pay of an £800,000 loan – plus interest – inside a decade.
The next page claims there are already a good number of community and corporate members in place. Curiously, none of these are mentioned - although a number of community groups' logos are shown on the front cover. The three pages of testimonials that follow reveal a few of the corporate members (Kibble are also there but they are community members). They are: JD Sports (possibly), the five selling members and the taxi firm run by Tony Fitzpatrick. It has previously been said three-quarters of the members required are in place, well that above takes the tally to seven and three-quarters of 12 is nine. Take out JD Sports it means three businesses, at most, without links to St Mirren or the CIC have been convinced to stump up their £10,000. Hardly encouraging.
What is also rather odd is the fact none of these three have offered testimonials as to why people should sign up. Having a businessman extolling the benefits would be a good move for the CIC and also the business, as the more folk involved, the better it is for them.
The penultimate page (remember, the last is the contact details), reveals a few different details about the various membership schemes and also the possibility of life membership (£3,000 rather than a tenner a month) and the chairman's club for £4,000. Certainly plenty of ways to get you to part with your hard earned cash.
To conclude, it's fair to say I still have plenty of questions after reading the whole thing. What happens if not enough members sign up? What happens if half the members drop away in the future and can't be replaced? What is in it for the community groups? Just why should corporate members sign up? How will the loans be paid while we also have an increased footballing budget - and how will they be paid if membership numbers drop? How many corporate members have signed up? Does that figure include Tony Fitzpatrick, JD Sports and the five selling board members, who will obviously part with a collective total of £50,000 when they're going to get £2million for their shares!
Definitely more questions than answers and I've posted these on Black & White Army. Failing that, the last page of the document with the contact details may come in handy after all...
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