Well Society Consultion: Active Investment

[Kmcalpin]

Hopefully by now, members will have received the consultation email. To understand the background to this initiative and submit your response, its best to view the full podcast beforehand.

[grizzlyg]

12 hours ago, Kmcalpin said:

Hopefully by now, members will have received the consultation email. To understand the background to this initiative and submit your response, its best to view the full podcast beforehand.

Got it and will view podcast in due course.  Maybe looking for extra investment to cover all the fines we are going to get hammered with 🤪🤪

[joewarkfanclub]

Ive watched the podcast and read the document and I am certainly intrigued by the proposals.

It would make sense that once the security reserve figure has been reached that we should be looking at other ways to use Society Funds. No point building a huge pot of money if its never going to be put to good use.

Im unsure whether taking this step now, before we have met the reserve figure is the correct thing to do, but I think I could be persuaded.

Making our money work for the benefit of the club certainly makes sense. A little investment here and there could generate further revenue for the club and that would be welcome.

What I wouldnt be in favour of however, is the Society money going straight into the running costs of the club and being absorbed.

Having seperation between the Well Society and the Club was done for a reason, and should be kept that way.

The club should still be required to balance its books and the operational shortfall must be closed if we are going to be run sustainably. That figure cant include Well Society cash.

Also, Id be wanting something in return for any money the Society puts into the club. Previous loans were attached to security on the stadium. So we are in a situation where no one can sell Fir Park from underneath us. That is a good thing.

Ive seen it discussed elsewhere that future loans might be leveraged against increased shareholding for the Society, and something like that would be appealing.

Hopefully all these discussions can take place during the consultation period, and I have put them forward in my response to the active investment document.

It feels like the club and the Society are both in good health at present. The ideas being put forward appear positive and as long as we get the small print correct, I think we can move forward in good faith.

[dennyc]

Still mulling this over. Plenty of good intention but yet to be convinced.  Also trying to leave the emotional fan owned buzz out of things.

First thing that strikes me is the reserve figure of £1.5m as the target originally set…..in 2011. That figure equates to almost £2.4m in 2026. So it’s nowhere near like for like or close to the level of emergency funds that were visualised as appropriate in 2011. Should it therefore be £2.5m we look to have before we use any excess funds for ‘projects’? To give us the same level of protection that was seen as required in 2011. That initial target was for the exact same scenarios set out in the Broadcast. Effectively relegation. 
Hard to understand why relegation nowadays would have less of an impact than in 2011. I don’t believe using St Mirren and £500k as a yardstick is wise either. Pretty sure other Clubs have identified relegation as having greater financial implications than £500k, even allowing for an immediate return to the top division.

My other concern is ‘Why now and who is driving it?’

Fund raising initiatives have worked well this season. And congrats to all concerned. Mrs Baillie’s as an example. So why not carry on in that manner meantime? Walk before you run. Or perhaps, is the upgraded Training  Ground and the apparently hush hush Fir Park Report playing a part here?  Bearing in mind external funding is not straight forward as the WS hold a First Charge over Fir Park. Lenders don’t like being second or third in the queue if things go belly up. The WS is also a much cheaper source of finance. And per the broadcast, we may have heaps of transfer monies due but only in increments over the coming years. ‘ We do not have £10m in the Bank’ as a direct quote. So how are those two projects being funded?
 

Perhaps I am being too cautious but, until convinced otherwise, I would rather build up to £2.5m before proceeding as proposed. 
 

Interested to hear what others think. 

 

 

 

 

[weeyin]

1 hour ago, dennyc said:

Hard to understand why relegation nowadays would have less of an impact than in 2011.

 

I imagine that's in part due to the better financial package in the newer Premiership structure. First of all there is a parachute payment if you are relegated, and secondly there is more money when you finish last. Livi's share of league prize money was just over 1.5 million when they were relegated.

I'd also imagine our finances are more stable than they were in 2011.

Not that I'd want to be relegated, but at least you are going down with more money in your pocket. If you stay there for 3 or 4 years, then that is a different story.

[dennyc]

34 minutes ago, weeyin said:

 

I imagine that's in part due to the better financial package in the newer Premiership structure. First of all there is a parachute payment if you are relegated, and secondly there is more money when you finish last. Livi's share of league prize money was just over 1.5 million when they were relegated.

I'd also imagine our finances are more stable than they were in 2011.

Not that I'd want to be relegated, but at least you are going down with more money in your pocket. If you stay there for 3 or 4 years, then that is a different story.

Fair point. I think from memory the 2011 figures were based on possibly taking a few years to rebuild and bounce back up. 3 years times 500k perhaps? Just in case. As u say promotion first up is far from guaranteed. Just ask Ross County. And our commitment wage and contract wise must be greater than back then. 

Clearly we are not going down 🤞 but if we are serious about building a fallback fund just in case, then the figures have to be realistic taking into account all possibilities. I still think we should align with 2011 in real terms. Is there a rush? Which brings me back to ‘Why now’ etc.