A Statement from The Board

[Gone_Shrimping]

Now on the OWS

[KenH]

Good to hear something official from the Board. Sounds like relationships between Board and owner have broken down - it's not that long ago since the co-chairman were saying that there were almost daily conversations with Jason so something has gone wrong. About time the Board came out and took control really as clearly Jason has been dragging his feet. I know the Board can't sell the club themselves and need Jason to agree to sell, but at least the Board seem to want to talk directly to potential buyers and maybe get a suitable buyer on board and then present Jason with a deal, maybe to push him into agreeing it. As it stands, I don't think Jason is in any hurry to sell and is just sitting on his hands waiting for the "right" deal without doing much to make it happen.

[vvm]

Strong statement I'd say. No secret that the board have struggled to operate under Jason's ownership but have generally remained civil towards him, at least publicly. Is this the first time they have outright said they have no confidence in his or bond groups ownership?

Something must have happened behind the scenes to warrant this statement, another potential buyer fell through?

[Phoenix Shrimp 2017]

Battle lines are drawn!

Reassuring that Bond Group can't withdraw funds from the club without the express permission of the Directors but it does beg the question what the hell are Bond group up to?

The club needs us more than ever in these difficult times.

[Old Man Kensey]

That last paragraph is very worrying.

[black morse]

Very dangerous times but it looks as if it had to come to this. Obviously the gag placed on the directors has been torn off. Things are coming to a head. Can Jason, as owner, sack the board?

[fulwoodshrimp]

What on earth is Whittingham playing at? He clearly wants to make a killing from selling the club but his absurd valuation is putting off serious interest and attracting nonsense offers like he received from Johal.His business acumen is awful- he destroyed Worcester Rugby Club and if he continues to neglect the shrimps he will destroy us. Is now the time for protests? A March from the Mazuma to the town hall to deliver a letter to the m.p. would be a start. We cannot let Whittingham destroy our club. WHITTINGHAM OUT!

[fulwoodshrimp]

I have messaged the Trust to request an emergency meeting to discuss what actions we can take to support the board in the light of their statement. We must act before it’s too late. COYS

[Keith]

Can Jason, as owner, sack the board?

That was my first thought, sack the board and instal a puppet regime? However, that would really put the cat among the pigeons. At the moment though, I welcome this very firm statement.

What on earth is Whittingham playing at? He clearly wants to make a killing from selling the club but his absurd valuation is putting off serious interest and attracting nonsense offers like he received from Johal.His business acumen is awful- he destroyed Worcester Rugby Club and if he continues to neglect the shrimps he will destroy us. Is now the time for protests? A March from the Mazuma to the town hall to deliver a letter to the m.p. would be a start. We cannot let Whittingham destroy our club. WHITTINGHAM OUT!

Not sure I agree. The end point at Worcester Warriors may be that the ground turns into a housing estate, and Whittingham will make a fortune. I think, if he had ownership of our land, we'd have ceased to exist by now. Whittingham out will only happen when he sells... ...sooner the better.

[marky No.1]

The ongoing administration and sale at Worcester Warriors wont be helping.
They owe administrators going on £2M and the buyers still havnt paid up

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/67211621

[Billy bodger]

Willing to walk away??? The Bond Group scaring away buyers, that reputation sticks so who’s going to come in? Answer no-one. The guys that run it day by day getting fed up, that’s understandable it’s not them but they get tarred with the same brush as the Bond Group. The Bond Group have tied themselves to the club with the new loan and will come collecting their interest on the loan again. With the Nice profit for nothing. So the perpetual financial situation will continue. Very very worrying statement. The market price for Morecambe is not anywhere near the Bond Groups asking price, no one is going to pay that. Why do you think the local consortium pulled out? Tyson’s advisors put a quick stop to the rumours. Ged, his staff and players will all be affected by this statement. In the end DA got the offer he could not refuse and who can blame him this time? If the Bond Group doesn’t adjust the selling price, they will end up with nothing, if the club doesn’t exist, haven’t they worked that out? What a mess, the FA and the League’s rules on who buys a club need looking at. Morecambe not the only one.

[redrobo]

To our excellent BoD I say a very welcome statement so a big thank you for that.

I however am concerned about the requirement of the EFL to place an amount of money before the end of this season with the EFL as we learned a few months ago.

Assuming that The Bond Group or Jason have not undertaken that directive what will be the outcome if no money is placed with the EFL if as it would appear relations between our BoD and the owner(s) have now finally broken down.

The Bond Group / Jason must now cooperate with our BoD to get a deal so that this ongoing saga can come to an end with new owners in place to take the club forward.

If our BoD place the money required by the EFL directly in other words by pass Jason is that money eventually returned to the club after the EFL are satisfied that we can operate and honour our financial obligations going forward? If that is the case then any prize money that we have already accumulated and any in the future should in my opinion be used to safe guard our club.

[AndyReifman]

Can Jason, as owner, sack the board?

I believe I remember reading something at some point this past spring/summer that said he can't. But as I have no proof, I wouldn't take it as certain.

[Billy bodger]

Worcester Warriors sold for 2.5M in Aug so no longer exist being Rebranded as Sixways Rugby!! Bury now in the North West Counties League.If the Board walk what options do the Bond group have but to put in a puppet regime? Will the Bond group be rattled by this? Is that in their nature or will they double down? Big downer now after the weekend.

[RedRedWine]

Encouraging that there has been a statement - but I feel that this is very much in response to various online mutterings both here and elsewhere. The last paragraph is very worrying - because it reads as though the board are to the point where their position as directors is 'untenable'.

What can supporters realistically do to force a sale through? We're in a terrible situation - and the BoD have it much worse; managing their responsibilities to ensure the business continues to operate in addition to the passions many of them share as supporters.

Ultimately I feel that because we are largely self-financing and well operated as a club, this is actually detrimental to the chances of a quick sale - the owner does not need to invest to keep the club going and all the while receives interest on the commercially uncompetitive loans levied against the club towards Bond Group. We're not as much of a sugar-daddy operation such as say an Accrington or a Fleetwood are. If there was a requirement to inject cash then this might force the owners hands to sell, or at least make this a priority - which at the moment it most certainly is not. I will not be renewing my season ticket next year on this basis whilst a sale remains unconcluded, regardless of whatever league we are in.

[Billy bodger]

They will resign at some point because as I’ve said it’s not going too alter. We all know that, nobody coming in to buy. No incentive to reduce asking price, because we are going to pay the Bond group back another lump sum. Relying on guys to do the day to day running, they are at the end of their tether, unfortunately so are the fans. Lose the number of fans that have been coming over the last few years and the awful situation we are in will seem like a storm in a tea cup. Cannot go back to that.

[KenH]

Re sacking the Board, yes, in theory, the shareholders can vote to dismiss Board members at a general meeting, and with Bond Group being the majority shareholder, they can easily pass such a motion. Whether the Board members have right to compensation for loss of office etc depends on the wording of their director's appointment agreement (if any). But, yes, in theory, they could be removed and replaced with a puppet Board. But, that's not really in Jason's interest as he'd have to pay the Board members to run the company and even then, it doesn't solve the financial problems. It's in Jason's interests to keep the Board in place to keep the company/club operational at minimal cost to him, and he can just sit back and wait for a buyer to come along as he can just sit and wait and take the interest on the loan etc.

I think it's another case of brinkmanship, like Derek releasing all the players in May, to force Jason's arm into providing a new loan. The threat of the BOD resigning en-masse may likewise force Jason to face such a prospect which will undoubtedly cost him in the long term if the club does fold and he's left with an asset he can't do anything with. It's in his interests to keep the club operational until he sells. The BOD know what they are doing (as they did in May), so I am confident they have a "cunning plan" and wouldn't have made such a statement lightly.

[Gone_Shrimping]

Re sacking the Board, yes, in theory, the shareholders can vote to dismiss Board members at a general meeting, and with Bond Group being the majority shareholder, they can easily pass such a motion. Whether the Board members have right to compensation for loss of office etc depends on the wording of their director's appointment agreement (if any). But, yes, in theory, they could be removed and replaced with a puppet Board. But, that's not really in Jason's interest as he'd have to pay the Board members to run the company and even then, it doesn't solve the financial problems. It's in Jason's interests to keep the Board in place to keep the company/club operational at minimal cost to him, and he can just sit back and wait for a buyer to come along as he can just sit and wait and take the interest on the loan etc.

I think it's another case of brinkmanship, like Derek releasing all the players in May, to force Jason's arm into providing a new loan. The threat of the BOD resigning en-masse may likewise force Jason to face such a prospect which will undoubtedly cost him in the long term if the club does fold and he's left with an asset he can't do anything with. It's in his interests to keep the club operational until he sells. The BOD know what they are doing (as they did in May), so I am confident they have a "cunning plan" and wouldn't have made such a statement lightly.

Agreed. It wouldn't be in Bond Group's best interests to sack the board of directors.

This statement from our board should bring things to a head rather than continue with the drift and wall of silence I mentioned last week.

[black morse]

Thanks for the last 2 posts. They are a bit reassuring.

[Wild Bill]

Has the trust had any communication from Bond Group since the club went up for sale? Jason needs to realise that he's at risk of getting nothing, so it would be interesting whether a modest sum could get the club in the right hands.

[marky No.1]

Trust are meeting with the Board this week

[Billy bodger]

So there is no one Intrested in buying at the mo, Jason cannot be bothered about that as he must think his money is safely locked into the club and us up here in the north will not let our club fold. Hmmm maybe not now!! if it’s not run properly by those who have put their all into this club, who the heck is. As pointed out, he’d have to pay someone. Storm over the Bay Choppy waters.

[vvm]

To our excellent BoD I say a very welcome statement so a big thank you for that.

I however am concerned about the requirement of the EFL to place an amount of money before the end of this season with the EFL as we learned a few months ago.

Assuming that The Bond Group or Jason have not undertaken that directive what will be the outcome if no money is placed with the EFL if as it would appear relations between our BoD and the owner(s) have now finally broken down.

The Bond Group / Jason must now cooperate with our BoD to get a deal so that this ongoing saga can come to an end with new owners in place to take the club forward.

If our BoD place the money required by the EFL directly in other words by pass Jason is that money eventually returned to the club after the EFL are satisfied that we can operate and honour our financial obligations going forward? If that is the case then any prize money that we have already accumulated and any in the future should in my opinion be used to safe guard our club.

Might be making this up but I vaguely remember hearing either on Twitter or one of the Shrimps podcasts that the money has already been placed in an account. I don't think we were realistically in danger of not being able to pay wages at the time, felt like more of a tactic from Jason and Sarbjot to help force the hand of the EFL.

[marky No.1]

the money has already been placed in an account.

Correct

[Shrimp Girl]

Martin Calladine has written one of his mega tweets on Twitter/X which brings the rest of the world up to speed. He incorrectly states that we were fined for failing to pay players this season, but redeems himself by describing Johal as 'all fur coat and no knickers,' a fair summary really.