Les Tonks Sidestep

Not as good as some I've been to over the years 😀

I got the impression that the charges would be paid off at the point of the agreement between the 2 (or more?) parties being made to develop a development plan. I guess the success of (the first part of) the plan (the debt pay off or reduction) will depend very much on the chance any partner believes the change of use application has of succeeding.

Pretty sure £10k per month was mentioned as being current interest payments so potentially £120k pa - even just CC's loan paid would be a saving of £36k pa!

Seems a common theme that side of the valley....2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and twice this year. as I've said above can be a dangerous game to play.

Striking off is often the precursor to formal winding up. As I've said 2 totally different beasts. If wound up the company is eventually gone completely with (often) an administrator appointed to sell off anything of value. Under an enforced compulsory strike off the company is removed from the list of active companies but can still then (has to) be formally 'wound up'. You can have multiple notices for compulsory strike offs but usually only get one winding up order. "In the situation of compulsory strike off, any creditor has the ability to re-instate the company and force formal liquidation proceedings, resulting in a lengthy investigation into the running of the company." "Compulsory liquidation or "winding up" is a court-based procedure under which the assets of a company are realised and distributed to the company's creditors. The procedure is started by the filing (or "presenting") of a petition at court. A judge then decides at a court hearing whether it is appropriate to make a winding up order. The most common reason for a winding up order is that the company is insolvent. At the end of the liquidation, the company is dissolved."

I reckon you were one of those present last night finding fault with everything and seemingly wishing to return to how the Club was run the 1960s..... But anyway, if the Development company does go bust, as Fev will own 51% of said company I suspect there would be more important things to be worried about regarding the existence of the Club itself. But, if it's just the Development company in trouble and the land is 'lost' then the potential worst case scenario is that the land will have been effectively sold for its current value.

No the Club do not yet have permission to develop the land. The next step is to get the 'land' into consideration for development in the next WMDC's Local Development Plan, the deadline for which is in the next few weeks (unless you pay a late fee of £15k). The final plan is due to be published in 2021/2 so it could be 3 years before any final decision is made. There will likely be no actual cash coming into the Club until the development is complete, or at least well underway with some buildings being rented out. The main thrust of the first phase is to get at least the charges on the land paid off, with hopefully some of the other 'debt' too. If agreement can be reached to just pay off the charges (ca£500k) and then the whole thing fails to materialise the Club will have gone from owning 12 acres of unproductive/undevelopable land that is costing in interest payments to owning 6 acres of unproductive/undevelopable land costing nothing - essentially £250k worth of land will have been sold for £500k.

Yes, I spotted that regarding Dewsbury's accounts and it does make for some interesting questions, although looking at charges on the Club the 'ground' is referred to as "Leasehold property k/a dewsbury rugby league football club crown flatt stadium being land and buildings lying to the west of owl lane dewsbury kirlees west Yorkshire" in a charge document with Carlsberg. Looks as though the land and buildings aren't actually owned by the Club which is why it's not included as an asset. The fact that Fev's is changes the picture entirely and makes it meaningless to 'remove' its value to try and compare - owning the ground and land, as it does if you own or rent your home, makes a huge difference when it comes to how much credit (or debt) you are likely to be able to raise. Which club has been facing winding up orders every year? If you're referring to Fev, they've not received one in the recent past although I suspect you are probably referring to notices of compulsory strike off (completely different things). Their last notice was over 3 years ago (July 2015) with none previous to that since coming out of a CVA in 2006. As a comparison Batley have received notices (all almost certainly relating to late returns but still a risky game, with potentially serious consequences, to be playing) in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2 (one still active) this year.

.Fev's latest accounts show a positive value of assets minus liabilities of some £640k whereas Dewsbury have a negative value of some £224k with £375.4k of debt.

First apply for change of status of the land, fairly quickly - I think to get it included in the next local plan meant by the end of this or next month. Then it's a wait for it to go through process - likely 3 years. In the meantime real discussions with potential partners can begin.

Debt growing doesn't necessarily mean it's unaffordable by any stretch. Would moving into a new house with a bigger mortgage, or buying a new car on finance (both of which would increase your personal debt) make your debt unaffordable?

Depends whether you can afford it or not. At the moment the Club are (or appear to be) able to. Problems for all Championship and C1 clubs are likely to come in 3 years time if the Central funding disappears, or is just greatly reduced. Hence tonight's meeting and vote to try and at least mitigate the possible effects.

People in glasshouses and all that.........Fev's latest accounts show a positive value of assets minus liabilities of some £640k whereas Dewsbury have a negative value of some £224k with £375.4k of debt.

Fairly substantial for c approx 59% of votes

Option C passed