Supporters trust/fans buyout

luckyPeterpiper wrote:I'm sorry to say it but unless someone very rich decides to step in with immediate concrete funds there's just no way I can see for us to avoid administration now. 

luckyPeterpiper wrote:

I will cross my fingers and hope for the best with this but frankly I think we're going to be in admin next week, possibly as early as Monday.

Boggersbelief wrote:

luckyPeterpiper wrote:

I will cross my fingers and hope for the best with this but frankly I think we're going to be in admin next week, possibly as early as Monday.

No. We. Aren't

luckyPeterpiper wrote:Bread, what I mean by that is if there was a potential buyer who didn't want to be named publicly then Trevor Birch could show the details to HMRC in complete confidence. They wouldn't violate the confidential nature of the bid but if they believed it was a realistic proposal that would see them get their money they would have refrained from serving the petition. They wouldn't have to say a word to explain why they hadn't sought to wind us up, they could simply remain silent. Since they HAVE issued the petition it leads me to believe that there isn't a realistic proposition, public or private in place at this time. I don't claim to be in the know at all but my father is a chartered accountant with more than forty years experience in his own practice and we have been discussing this issue for several days. He's the one who told me that a winding up petition from HMRC is generally their very last resort and not used because of the impact it has on creditor confidence unless they firmly believe they have no other way to recoup their money. 

I really, really hope that someone comes in and prevents it from going further than it already has but I'm sad to say I don't see it happening.

luckyPeterpiper wrote:Bread, what I mean by that is if there was a potential buyer who didn't want to be named publicly then Trevor Birch could show the details to HMRC in complete confidence. They wouldn't violate the confidential nature of the bid but if they believed it was a realistic proposal that would see them get their money they would have refrained from serving the petition. They wouldn't have to say a word to explain why they hadn't sought to wind us up, they could simply remain silent. 

Breadman wrote:

luckyPeterpiper wrote:Bread, what I mean by that is if there was a potential buyer who didn't want to be named publicly then Trevor Birch could show the details to HMRC in complete confidence. They wouldn't violate the confidential nature of the bid but if they believed it was a realistic proposal that would see them get their money they would have refrained from serving the petition. They wouldn't have to say a word to explain why they hadn't sought to wind us up, they could simply remain silent. 

I just can't see that scenario playing out at all, Pete.

If companies could avoid HMRC issuing winding-up petitions by simply showing documentation from mystery potential buyers, they'd all be at it and HMRC would never recover any money owed.

"S'alright, guv, we've got this bloke what wants to buy the company and he'll pay you the money when he takes over."

"Oh, right then, " say HMRC, "Just tell him to give us a bell when he's settled in and we'll pop round and see him. No rush."

luckyPeterpiper wrote:Won't happen. It's too late in the day to mount a serious bid from the fans and get it through due dilligence etc before the winding up petition is heard. I'm sorry to say it but unless someone very rich decides to step in with immediate concrete funds there's just no way I can see for us to avoid administration now. A supporter's bid would require several people, possibly hundreds of them to move money into a central account and that would take quite some time to do. With our fan base I can't see enough people putting up enough money to make it a realistic proposition. 

Not only that but fan ownership of the type you are talking about is tricky at best, it requires an awful lot of expertise to run a multi-million pound business like a football club and it requires huge amounts of cooperation when the number of investors gets past about twenty or so. As sluffy said on a few other threads we can't even get agreement to merge some internet forums so how can we honestly expect to get enough mutual trust to make putting our own cash into the club really viable? 

I hate to sound so negative but if a fan based bid was going to have a serious chance it should have been organised months, maybe even years ago. It takes a lot more than most people realise to put together a viable business plan and put the finances in place to carry it out and it needs a lot more time than you might think. This isn't something you can scribble down on the back of an envelope I'm afraid. The way the club is set up and structured is just too complex to go in without several weeks, maybe even months of careful research by people who really know business.

Norpig wrote:come on Manda we have you down as Chairperson, we're relying on you