New beginnings - 25% Truth, 80% Bollocks

[Batch]

How I was looking at it was
- what happens if funding goes awry. A half finished stand?
- how much more debt does it add (Positive: fixed increases assets too), though that's inevitable for development.
- what if their business case is wildly optimistic - we are already at quite a long ROI

That's why I'm erring on no. I have a fear they do start the building part of project and messing it up.

It all comes down to trust on ability to execute. To me it isn't a terrible idea, but rightly or wrongly I think there too much risk. I guess I have trust issues.

[reeves4england]

How I was looking at it was
- what happens if funding goes awry. A half finished stand?
- how much more debt does it add (Positive: fixed increases assets too), though that's inevitable for development.
- what if their business case is wildly optimistic - we are already at quite a long ROI

That's why I'm erring on no. I have a fear they do start the building part of project and messing it up.

It all comes down to trust on ability to execute. To me it isn't a terrible idea, but rightly or wrongly I think there too much risk. I guess I have trust issues.

I get the lack of confidence and feel it myself, but feel this particular point is unfair as the business case was based on reasonable assumptions as far as I could see.

[Batch]

Fair enough r4e. It's out of my area of expertise hence the worry.

That's why it's good to talk, we pick things up from people with better experience

[Nemo]

Is there a link to the business case? Would be interesting to know what it considers the impact on the existing facilities is? (i.e. does it assume we sell as much in the Arkells as before, plus the DRS?)

[tans]

Its a no from me.

Wouodnt even trust this lot to polish a turd or boil a fucking egg.

[DV]

I get the lack of confidence and feel it myself, but feel this particular point is unfair as the business case was based on reasonable assumptions as far as I could see.

Was it?

I’ll be honest - I don’t exactly deep dive into all the bollocks statements so might have missed it but…

What is the ROI & how long before the club is making profit on the new facilities?
Are these new hospitality facilities going to run along side the current offering in the Arkells or instead of?

If along side, is there a demand? Do the current hospitality not only sell out every game but are over subscribed to the point the club are turning away business?
If instead of, how or why do they think the new facilities would bring in more people / money than the current facilities

…or are they blindly hoping that because it’s new and shiny (probably not given their track record) that a plethora of people / businesses are suddenly going to be interested?


For me - it seems the right idea in principle…but…it just doesn’t feel properly thought through to me.
If it has been properly thought through then it’s certainly not been well communicated because I still have no idea how the development is being funded, how / when it will start to benefit the club or whether there is even demand for it?

[reeves4england]

Was it?

I’ll be honest - I don’t exactly deep dive into all the bollocks statements so might have missed it but…

What is the ROI & how long before the club is making profit on the new facilities?

I think they said 6 years based on conservative income estimates

Are these new hospitality facilities going to run along side the current offering in the Arkells or instead of?

Not specified

If along side, is there a demand? Do the current hospitality not only sell out every game but are over subscribed to the point the club are turning away business?
If instead of, how or why do they think the new facilities would bring in more people / money than the current facilities

…or are they blindly hoping that because it’s new and shiny (probably not given their track record) that a plethora of people / businesses are suddenly going to be interested?

I don't know, but these facilities would be a big improvement and I'd fully expect a significant upturn in demand in the first season purely out of curiosity. It will take good service to earn repeat custom though.

For me - it seems the right idea in principle…but…it just doesn’t feel properly thought through to me.
If it has been properly thought through then it’s certainly not been well communicated because I still have no idea how the development is being funded, how / when it will start to benefit the club or whether there is even demand for it?

Quite.

[No Longer Posh Red]

I fear (like Batch) that we will end up with a half built stand which may well then be unusable for a considerable time.

The plans may well look good, but I wouldn’t trust this group to
a) build what is specified in the plans
or
b) build anything of quality in the timescales set out or to an acceptable quality.

It’s going to be a No from me

[theakston2k]

I think they said 6 years based on conservative income estimates

That’s blatantly a complete lie and made up figure though isn’t it?! Based on a £3m build cost that’s £500k per annum of additional profit, not income. To get that kind of profit you’d need £2m+ of additional turnover per year, that just isn’t remotely believable.

[RobertT]

There is a path to making something close to those numbers, but it requires a well designed operating plan.  There are a lot of extra people we would need to hire and finance in order to make the facility a true seven day a week operation.  No offence, but our current Musical Promoter is not going to be enough to make that work.  There is a reason the existing facilities are massively under utilized - we simply do not provide the necessary structure to support it.  A nice new facility will help, but it the soft product that will make it work, not the hard.

[Ƭ̵̬̊: The Artist Formerly Known as CWIG]

Its a no from me.

Wouodnt even trust this lot to polish a turd or boil a fucking egg.

Or redo a shop sign, or a bar floor.

[Ƭ̵̬̊: The Artist Formerly Known as CWIG]

The new profitability just gives the prospect of more admin fees and cunts sticking around. 

[RobertT]

Clem's first season, we did actually over subscribe the hospitality - but that was a combination of two factors, the feel good period post takeover and the fact we had someone running the Commercial Dept. that was a smart cookie.  It is noticeable that both factors have left the building and I believe we rarely sell out what we have now - and don't get me started on the non-matchday services.

[theakston2k]

Clem's first season, we did actually over subscribe the hospitality - but that was a combination of two factors, the feel good period post takeover and the fact we had someone running the Commercial Dept. that was a smart cookie.  It is noticeable that both factors have left the building and I believe we rarely sell out what we have now - and don't get me started on the non-matchday services.

Which makes a 6 year ROI an absurd statement and if they really think that then again it is just further evidence of how incompetent they are.

[Outletred]

It is a no from me

Based on:

1) Financials do not add up
2) Wouldn’t trust this lot to run a bath
3) A no vote may finally get them to fuck off for good