Sainsbury Situation

[Mick]

You need to swot up on the history of this club.

The club's assets are lower than ever before and its liabilities greater; that makes it, financially at least, in the "poorest state in its history". No amount of swotting will change that.

The saving grace is the potential deal with Sainsbury but even that is selling something the club doesn't own to build something else the club may not own and from which it is yet to be determined how the club would accrue any benefit.

In order to assess the state of the club you need to separate it from the myriad obfuscation of property development companies, property ownership companies, off-shore havens (although I'm not sure there's much to shelter!), etc.

The club as a single entity is in a much worse state than it was in the wretched Johnson and Jobson eras.

 

[londonblue]

I do unfortunately. We have more debt now than ever and with Ron we have an owner who is happy to gamble the club's entire existance. At least Jobson knew when he was finished.

I'm not really sure of that. We had to borrow a million pounds from the philanthropist known as Ken Bates to prop us up. We really nearly ceased to exist. Things have never been that bad.

 

[WESTY_SUFC]

You need to swot up on the history of this club.

I'm happy for you to tell me when we were in more debt then, rather than telling me I 'need' to do anything...which adds no value to the discussion.

 

[Lester Bangs]

All this 'oh, it was so much worse in the past' is completely irrelevant.

The past is the past, its what Sainsburys plans are now that is important. If Sainburys, after their strategy review, decide that they no longer wish to develop the Roots Hall site then what?

Our club is in a dire situation and all people seem to be mentioning is the 1990's, Anton Johnson and Vic Jobson. People need a reality check!

 

[Firestorm]

The main difference is Vic owed the banks, so he was paying interest and trying to repay , and they were threatening to call the loans in because he could not them.
The bulk of our current debt is no interest intercompany loans which are also not on any repayment plan, far less likely to have anyone call them in / invoke proceedings

 

[Smiffy]

The main difference is Vic owed the banks, so he was paying interest and trying to repay , and they were threatening to call the loans in because he could not them.
The bulk of our current debt is no interest intercompany loans which are also not on any repayment plan, far less likely to have anyone call them in / invoke proceedings

As someone with pretty much no idea on these matters, what would happen to the club if say Ron or any of his companies were liquidated?

What I am getting at is surely if the Sainsbury deal falls through, with no alternative, then that must surely mean financial ruin for Ron and his companies?

 

[ooh-andy-ansah]

As someone with pretty much no idea on these matters, what would happen to the club if say Ron or any of his companies were liquidated?

What I am getting at is surely if the Sainsbury deal falls through, with no alternative, then that must surely mean financial ruin for Ron and his companies?

He doesn't have the Sainsbury's deal now so why would it ruin him overnight if they pulled out ?

 

[Smiffy]

He doesn't have the Sainsbury's deal now so why would it ruin him overnight if they pulled out ?

Well I think the £5m+ in advanced payments, land secured against various things, re-mortgaging his house and no little nest egg from a linked property deal might just smart a bit?

Surely this deal is make or break for him and possibly the club?

 

[ooh-andy-ansah]

Well I think the £5m+ in advanced payments, land secured against various things and no little nest egg from a linked property deal might smart a bit?

I doubt the £5M is a major issue, Sainsbury's advanced that knowing there was a long way to go, Prospects, Pizza man etc. so I don't see RM coming under huge pressure, if anything they will work with him to find a way forward, he is after all (apparently) a property developer :whistling:

 

[IloveShrimp]

Could it be that it would do Ron a favour should Sainsbury back out, would it be possible that he could get compensation for breach of contract?

 

[Billy is the best]

We are all waiting for Sainsburys to make a decision but they may decide to do nothing and defer any decision for say 5 years. This would enable them to keep a hold on the Roots Hall site and not allow any of their competitors to move in if they were to pull out.
It would be difficult for Ron to do anything about this situation without knowing details of his deal with Sainsburys.
This would be the worst case scenario for Southend United.

 

[undercovershrimper]

We are all waiting for Sainsburys to make a decision but they may decide to do nothing and defer any decision for say 5 years. This would enable them to keep a hold on the Roots Hall site and not allow any of their competitors to move in if they were to pull out.
It would be difficult for Ron to do anything about this situation without knowing details of his deal with Sainsburys.
This would be the worst case scenario for Southend United.

I am sure they said last week that they still plan to go ahead, think it was in the echo article claiming that the project was in doubt

 

[ooh-andy-ansah]

Could it be that it would do Ron a favour should Sainsbury back out, would it be possible that he could get compensation for breach of contract?

Yes a possibility, he doesn't appear to be overly concerned does he ? If finances are relatively stable at present and they do walk away it's not going to have much if any effect, if on the other hand we have been borrowing more from them and that becomes repayable we have a problem.

 

[JD]

Annual reports out today, mentions what we already know - decided to mothball some sites. Can't find any specifics though.....

 

[weststander]

According to the BBC website it is going to cost Sainsburys £287million not to develop some sites, this might make things a little brighter if we get a piece of the pie.

 

[EastStandBlue]

Anybody recall the square footage of the proposed store? While they haven't identified specific sites to be mothballed, they indicate they'll open 500,000sq ft of space in the next two years and 350,000sq ft in 2017-18.

 

[Up the Shrimpers]

Anybody recall the square footage of the proposed store? While they haven't identified specific sites to be mothballed, they indicate they'll open 500,000sq ft of space in the next two years and 350,000sq ft in 2017-18.

Much too early for Roots Hall development have they got details for 2018-2088?

 

[blue pilot]

More chance of Ron martin finding the War Chest than a Sainsbury's superstore on Roots Hall. Face it, the Sainsbury's plan is dead, the days of big superstores being built are finished, best you'll see is a 'Local' type store and flats on the rest of the site, assuming Ron has a 'plan B.' Where are the contractors that Ron promised us would be on site at Fossets 'in the spring'? The man has failed to deliver on this project in over 10 years, its all bluster. Out of his depth.

 

[onceknownasrab]

More chance of Ron martin finding the War Chest than a Sainsbury's superstore on Roots Hall. Face it, the Sainsbury's plan is dead, the days of big superstores being built are finished, best you'll see is a 'Local' type store and flats on the rest of the site, assuming Ron has a 'plan B.' Where are the contractors that Ron promised us would be on site at Fossets 'in the spring'? The man has failed to deliver on this project in over 10 years, its all bluster. Out of his depth.

Clegg of Sainsbury's stated last November that they will be looking to more 'partners' on sites and said they may reduce nominally the size of some of their planned stores and let the remaining land to a another business. Maybe that is the way for RH.

 

[undercovershrimper]

SAINSBURY'S: OUR PLANS HAVEN'T CHANGED
SUPERMARKET giant Sainsbury’s insists it still plans to build a megastore on Roots Hall.
It has had no formal talks with Prospects College since a contract giving the supermarket giant the option to buy the college’s site lapsed in January. It was the seventh time in seven years the contract had expired, but this time Sainsbury’s failed to renew it.
The college site offers Sainsbury’s the only viable vehicle access to the supermarket as an entrance on to Victoria Avenue has been ruled out.
The seven-year wait for the land sale, a move by rival retailers, including Tesco, away from large new stores and the introduction of a new Sainsbury’s chief executive has led some to speculate the deal is dead.
However, Sainsbury’s insists nothing has changed.
A spokeswoman told the Echo: “We are constantly reviewing our portfolio to ensure our plans are suitable for the business and for our customers.
“Our plans for Southend remain unchanged. As we make progress, we will update the local community.”