Breaking News Today's Echo - Who owns the Blues? (2010 thread)

[Cricko]

Who own's the Blues....

It seems that Sainsbury's are not far off from owning the lot with the loans they have shelled out and the controlling interest they will have if debts are not repaid.

The article is far to long (4 pages) to post it all here but the main points as I see it are.

Rm's companies are 22 mill in debt.

Sainsbury's have now brought Prospects and are making a stealth approach to take control of the whole FF project.They have already committed 7 mill of the 20 mill they agreed to pay for RH.

Boots and laces is owned by Southend Council and only leased to RM although they have agreed to sell it to him at some point.

The taxman is trying to wind up Martin Dawn over unpaid tax bills..(where have I heard that before)

RM charges SUFC a 60k management fee per year and Martin Dawn charges other expenses to the club one bill being 96k in 2007.

There are 4 unsatisfied count court judgements outstanding totalling some £123k, including 72k to Deloittte LLP and nearly 15k to HQ hospitality which runs the clubs catering and this debt along with another owed to the Cliffs Pavilion are thought to be from end of year party held there.

There are other debts owed to Directors/ The Trust and the players pension funds and the debt to the PFA which is still outstanding is 123K.

There is a huge amount of paper shifting that goes on between RM's 29 companies.


It looks like a complete minefield at the club the only saving grace I can see is that Sainsbury's basically are saving us and are continuing to go forward with their plans...How this helps with the day to day running costs though is beyond me.

 

[palexander]

What an abortion.

Surely the ONLY way out for us now is a big money takeover, which with the greatest hope in the World, is never gonna happen.

Basically, we're screwed?

 

[yogi bear up the cagire]

Thank you for this early report................not really sure that it makes me feel much better. Initially, it seems to suggest that RM and his companies are not going to be able to see this project through. Sainsbury's seem as though they are closing in on the FF project as well as Roots Hall but with it they have the, certainly unwanted liability, of a failing football club. Will they eventually squeeze Martin out and if so will they attempt to find other partners to finance FF and take on the running of SUFC????? As I feared, this article seems to pose as many questions as it does in providing answers...................still not sure where that leaves us, with the new season fast approaching..............apart from in extreme uncertainty.

 

[DTS]

So to summarise Martin is totally potless and SUFC and the development of RH is his one chance to make some money back.

 

[Boreham Shrimper]

Cue Ron Martin spouting more bollocks in one of his "statements" that only come out nowadays to play down more bad news that emerges

 

[McNasty]

I don't see how he can carry on much longer without massive influx of cash and who, in their right minds - other than Sainsbury's who are in too deep now--, would put money in whilst he is still in charge ?

 

[Hotman]

Cricko, have added some q's, don't know if you know the answers?

The really worrying part is the fact that 7m of the 20m due from Sainsburys has already been ****ed away without FF being started.

Who own's the Blues....

It seems that Sainsbury's are not far off from owning the lot with the loans they have shelled out and the controlling interest they will have if debts are not repaid.

The article is far to long (4 pages) to post it all here but the main points as I see it are.

Rm's companies are 22 mill in debt. 22 m total debt, or 22m insolvent? It could be of course that this is simply mortgages against 75m worth of property?

Sainsbury's have now brought Prospects and are making a stealth approach to take control of the whole FF project.They have already committed 7 mill of the 20 mill they agreed to pay for RH.

Boots and laces is owned by Southend Council and only leased to RM although they have agreed to sell it to him at some point.

The taxman is trying to wind up Martin Dawn over unpaid tax bills..(where have I heard that before)

RM charges SUFC a 60k management fee per year and Martin Dawn charges other expenses to the club one bill being 96k in 2007.Do you have any more details of these? And I thought that RM was unpaid :zip:

There are 4 unsatisfied count court judgements outstanding totalling some £123k, including 72k to Deloittte LLP and nearly 15k to HQ hospitality which runs the clubs catering and this debt along with another owed to the Cliffs Pavilion are thought to be from end of year party held there.

There are other debts owed to Directors/ The Trust and the players pension funds and the debt to the PFA which is still outstanding is 123K.How about wages?

There is a huge amount of paper shifting that goes on between RM's 29 companies.


It looks like a complete minefield at the club the only saving grace I can see is that Sainsbury's basically are saving us and are continuing to go forward with their plans...How this helps with the day to day running costs though is beyond me.

 

[canveyshrimper]

I don't see how he can carry on much longer without massive influx of cash and who, in their right minds - other than Sainsbury's who are in too deep now--, would put money in whilst he is still in charge ?

Agreed, I've read the article about 4 times now, and while a few points are speculation they have taken great pains to explain the whole parlous position that the club is in. It is obvious that Sainsbury's & Prospects (for two) do not trust Ron Martin hence Sainsbury's taking over the CPO of the Prospects land and no doubt the pizza man etc.

Nobody other than Sainsbury's will invest in the club further while Ron Martin is at the helm, and I suggest it is becoming increasingly apparent to RM that his retirement pot is ever diminishing and he must find a way out for himself. The way I read this is that if he further defaults to Sainsbury's they will become the major shareholder in the club, I don't see that owning a football club will be high on their list of business plans.

If there's a bright spot, the club have the covenant in place that they must have a home in the borough before Roots Hall can finally be developed. Therefore the whole FF development will be scaled back massively, and a stadium with a capacity of 12/16000 will be delivered eventually.

The most important thing for us is to ensure that Southend United is still alive to see that day.

 

[Cricko]

Cricko, have added some q's, don't know if you know the answers?

The really worrying part is the fact that 7m of the 20m due from Sainsburys has already been ****ed away without FF being started.

Rm's companies are 22 mill in debt. 22 m total debt, or 22m insolvent? It could be of course that this is simply mortgages against 75m worth of property?

It does not say and TBH with so many companies involved it is hard even with this article to define what.who.where.how.Perhaps one of the cleverer guy's on here can make more sense of it all.

RM charges SUFC a 60k management fee per year and Martin Dawn charges other expenses to the club one bill being 96k in 2007.Do you have any more details of these? And I thought that RM was unpaid

Well apparently he is and but the accounts do not break down any of the other expenses.It does however say MD did not charge any in 2009..In reality he had expenses covered when SUFC could afford to pay them it seems but he cannot take money from one of his companies and pass it to another if there is no money in either....this is my point about the paper shifting...It is all well and good passing bits of appear about with huge sums written on them but if none of the companies have any money it is a tad pointless.It also goes on to say that MD have tax and social security debts of 151K and interest to pay on overdue tax of 8k. JULY 2009 in 2008 it owed 39k in interest alone meaning the tax arrears were in the region of 500k.

There are other debts owed to Directors/ The Trust and the players pension funds and the debt to the PFA which is still outstanding is 123K.How about wages?

No mention of wages but we already know that people are still unpaid...the debts I have quoted are no doubt just a few of a whole long list .

Another interesting point is that he still has not paid Southend Council 2.3 acres of land(B&L?) and for homes in Victoria Avenue.

Not much help with your questions, sorry.

 

[Mad Cyril]

I'm not going to get a chance to pick up an Echo today.

Can anyone tell me what Horace and Doris are up to and what is on Steve from the Echo Gangs mind today?

 

[Berrichonne shrimper]

Thanks for the good news john,the people that i feel sorry for are all those that saw ron as a hero and there were lots of you,not long til it all implodes im guessing,sad very sad.

 

[Kestrel]

I'm not going to get a chance to pick up an Echo today.

Can anyone tell me what Horace and Doris are up to and what is on Steve from the Echo Gangs mind today?

Horace, currently recouperating from an operation, has found himself in hot water having fiddled with Doris' plumbing . . . . . . Steve, meanwhile, is wondering what the **** is going on . . . and when will it all end ?

 

[Onion_Bag_Dave]

I might be just being a bit stupid here but,

If Sainsbury's are trying to push this development without Ron Martin (which it does look like) would they help run the club? Until the new stadium is built, I presume that the stadium capacity of 22,000 won't be changed, because of all the planning that has been accepted blah blah blah. And when the stadium is built they can finally look for another buyer? Or donate the stadium to the fans and club? Is this possible, as they stand to make so much money from the RH development?

 

[canveyshrimper]

I might be just being a bit stupid here but,

If Sainsbury's are trying to push this development without Ron Martin (which it does look like) would they help run the club? Until the new stadium is built, I presume that the stadium capacity of 22,000 won't be changed, because of all the planning that has been accepted blah blah blah. And when the stadium is built they can finally look for another buyer? Or donate the stadium to the fans and club? Is this possible, as they stand to make so much money from the RH development?

As I said in my earlier post I doubt if owning / running a football club appears anywhere on Sainsbury's business agenda. Reading the article this will only happen if RM defaults on his loans from Sainsbury's which are in part secured on shares in the football club. If the club lands in their lap they'll want a buyer quicksmart IMO. The stadium build in one way shape or form has to go ahead before Sainsbury's can develop the Roots Hall site.

 

[Onion_Bag_Dave]

As I said in my earlier post I doubt if owning / running a football club appears anywhere on Sainsbury's business agenda. Reading the article this will only happen if RM defaults on his loans from Sainsbury's which are in part secured on shares in the football club. If the club lands in their lap they'll want a buyer quicksmart IMO. The stadium build in one way shape or form has to go ahead before Sainsbury's can develop the Roots Hall site.

But maybe they would like to keep the club going (partly maybe not fully) because to keep the RH development going they need Southend to be a football club?

 

[TrueBlue]

Thanks for the good news john,the people that i feel sorry for are all those that saw ron as a hero and there were lots of you,not long til it all implodes im guessing,sad very sad.

I was one of them, I guess I was caught up with the mood that was coupled with our back to back promotions.

I feel quite stupid now.

 

[mattytheshrimper]

surely he's got to put the club up for sale. not saying there will be a massive response but his reputation as a businessman is down the pan.

 

[pickledseal]

The articles made my head spin... lots of figures - most of the debts to RM, his companies and SUFC.
Outlook feels very bleak.

 

[Beefy]

Doesn't look like pretty reading. Sainsburys pushing on with the developments is great news, as is the fact that they have agreed to the purchase of Prospects, but they shouldn't be relied upon to effectively fund the running of the football club.

As someone else said, we're crying out for a big cash investment but only a complete moron would throw money at this business. At least until the first brick has been laid at Fossetts Farm. That really would be a game-changing moment.

 

[Mad Cyril]

If Sainsburys are going to take over the stadium development does anyone know if there are plans for a Wimpy?

Rayleigh Weir has never been the same since the Wimpy was replaced by a Sainsburys cafe.