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garzo

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Everything posted by garzo

  1. Shares would be transferred between shareholders in lieu of investments by another shareholder when only 1 of them makes the investment. All money would go to the club but GS would transfer shares to SMISA as he’s not directly investing . In proportion & by agreement of course. Business like ye ken. otherwise it’s a loan or sponsorship & that’s not the purpose for the money.
  2. I've not made any specific suggestion and suggesting I have suggested our club take a financial hit is off the mark - I say the club operate within its means. here's the options, correct me if you see otherwise. 1. SMISA ring-fence the monies as intended and the club operate within its means, 2. SMISA members vote to transfer ring fenced monies as a donation/ sponsorship to the club and the club operate within its means with little or no return to SMISA, SMISA save up to replace this ring fenced money. 3. SMISA members vote to transfer ring fenced monies as an investment in lieu of other shareholders investment - shares transfer in proportion between shareholders. As far as I read this, option 3 is not on the table, so I voted for 1. And as I've also said I'm commenting from afar - 1 and 2 may be the essence of the deal and a shareholder agreement, who knows?
  3. It's not what the money is for. We don't own it yet. SMISA are not a business. We're saving up to own a business - that is the deal. I'm sorry you don't understand this.
  4. Entitled to that view, respect it. This however is a business transaction. We are saving up to take control of a business - we should start acting like it.
  5. Quite simple really. I think its a fair deal, if only 1 shareholder is investing, that the shareholder is compensated in proportion by the other. That's my point - we can vote to be a cash cow if we like, for no return - that's what's being asked of us I think. As fans, we might say - yes that's fine. But in this context and for such a large some of money we should think like shareholders. Shareholders should be compensated. I'm not aware of the deal and relations between all parties so I'm commenting from a distance on this... Here's what I see about to happen. We give the money we are saving to buy shares in the club, direct to the club, on our own as shareholders and for little or no return. We then save up again to purchase shares from another shareholder later on. Is this what we are voting on? If other shareholders are doing the same and in proportion then that is OK . If we get the money back by agreement as a loan, than that's OK too. Otherwise its a gift, donation - call it sponsorship if you like. But it's not what the money was intended for - it was intended to buy shares - that's its sole purpose and it should be ring fenced for that purpose. Just my view mind and I'm open to be convinced otherwise :-)
  6. Fully support our chairman and what he's done to get the fan ownership model off and running. Full credit and respect to the team at SMISA too. As shareholders we should be saving up to purchase the shares - only once! That is the sole reason for SMISA existing and why we are saving up - nothing (barring catastrophe) should deflect us from that singular objective. This deal is OK if we are offered shares in return, otherwise we are paying for the shares twice! Just my view mind :-)
  7. If this money is paid for this purpose, which on principle I don't agree with at the moment but lets go with this for now - a share transfer agreement should be drawn up to download (in proportion) in favour of SMISA. This is the only way this deal should be taken forward. Shareholders investment should be in proportion to share holding. Otherwise money is in gift, loan or sponsorship with benefits gained. We need to start thinking business like, shareholders first, not as fans. This internal SMISA loan (without being 100% knowledgeable on constitution) does not seem constitutional and contains elements of risk we should resist. Might not be a popular view but is my view and I'll vote accordingly.
  8. HIPSWAY - LIVE at Paisley Town HallSunday 6th May 2018 (7th is May Day Monday)Tickets on Sale from 10am on Monday 29th January 2018Online; Tickets Scotland Link here: http://t-s.co/hips7Call - 0141 204 5151 /0131 220 3234In Person; Paisley Arts Centre - New Street Box Office Call - 0300 300 1210 Ticket price: £22.50 - Standing or Balcony (unreserved seated)(other fees will apply)Hipsway were formed in Glasgow, Scotland in the mid-1980s.Sophistipop? Blue-eyed soul? Pop/new wave? However you describe them they are back!
  9. BAKER STREET PAISLEY WINS “FUTURETOWN” DESIGN AWARD Paisley’s Baker Street has been overwhelmingly voted by the public as winner of the national “FutureTown” Design Competition. Please go here, comment & share Baker Street Paisley. Ta much https://www.facebook.com/BakerStreetPaisley/posts/1982477725354230 “We’re totally thrilled for Paisley to win this competition. It’s terrific to see Baker Street Paisley gain widespread recognition and endorsement through a national competition. THE TIME IS RIGHT FOR BAKER STREET PAISLEY “Paisley is on the cusp of being awarded the title of UK City of Culture in 2021 – being announced in early December. City of Culture Status for Paisley in 2021 will ‘up the ante’, asking the question of us all – how can we help and contribute? Baker Street Paisley is the ‘Ace up the Sleeve’ of the town - an inspired, ambitious and transformational community project – we’re delighted to play our part.” https://www.facebook.com/TheScotsmanNewspaper/posts/10157698081294988
  10. Initially we’re asking for votes to win to demonstrate there’s widespread support for the Project. Massive impact if Paisley people & wider community endorse the plans. It will raise the profile of Baker Street Paisley to a wider audience & offer an opportunity to pitch during next stage at a conference attended by influential industry leaders, funders & government ministers. Help us move to the next stage & build momentum please. Much appreciated. G
  11. ***CLICK HERE TO VOTE PAISLEY TO WIN*** http://www.scotlandstowns.org/futuretown_vote_17 PLEASE INVITE ALL YOUR FRIENDS AND SHARE Baker Street Paisley Paisley Community Trust ***VOTING GOES LIVE HERE ON MONDAY 20TH TO MIDNIGHT 26TH NOVEMBER*** https://www.facebook.com/groups/Paisleyscotlamd/permalink/10156801385052802/
  12. garzo

    Save Smisa

    Received this report on 03/05/2017 - seems fairly comprehensive and open to me: As you know the SMISA AGM took place at the weekend. We would like to thank everybody who came along and made a contribution on the day. This report is intended to cover the key points for those weren’t there. We apologise in advance for the length, however there are a number of issues we want to cover in detail. 1) Look back at past year SMISA chair George Adam opened the meeting by looking back on a truly historic year for the trust. Clearly, the success of the #BuyTheBuds campaign and the fact we are now part-owners of St Mirren and well on the way to majority ownership tops the list of achievements. But other highlights include: - creating a process to spend the £2 portions of your memberships, with the part-funding of the new disabled platform and a boost to the first-team budget which we hope helped fuel the incredible resurgence of recent months. We hope the fund can help the club and community in other ways in years ahead. As always, suggestions for future ballots can be sent to [email protected]; - the first-ever election to the St Mirren board of a fan representative. David Nicol continues to work hard as your voice in the boardroom and can be contacted on [email protected]; - the SMISA volunteer squad, led by Jim Crawford, who cleaned every stand at the Paisley 2021 Stadium; the Millennium Champions event, and the SMISA-funded edition of The Saint newspaper; On the day, we showed a short video of social media highlights which we think quite nicely sums up the journey and you can view that here. 2) Resolutions Four resolutions were passed at the AGM, with members given the chance to ask questions on each. That saw the approval of the trust accounts for year-end November 2016, the appointment of an independent financial examiner meaning the requirement for an audit is disapplied for next year; and some changes to the SMISA constitution. You can see the updated version of that here. There was also confirmation of the formal election of four members to the SMISA committee. Two were already incumbent – Barry Mitchell, standing for re-election after playing a crucial role as the man looking after our membership admin and digital output, and Alan Quinn, who was co-opted during 2016/7 and whose work helping to manage our finances quickly made him integral. Two members who have helped the committee in recent months have been elected for the first time – Kenny Morrison and Kenny Docherty. The rest of the committee welcome the Kennys on board and know both have plenty to offer. The four above join existing committee members George Adam (chair), Jim Cumming, David Nicol, Colin Orr and John White (secretary). Peter Black has now stepped down from the committee and we thank him for all his work over the past couple of years. 3) Look forward – vision and objectives In the past few weeks the committee has been through a process to look at our operations and identify what works well and what could improve. From that we produced a vision statement summing up what we want to achieve, and some specific objectives to help us get there. The vision statement is as follows: We will ensure St Mirren FC is majority owned by its supporters by 2026, by delivering the #BuyTheBuds supporters buyout. In the meantime, we will work closely with the club to be the representative voice of St Mirren fans and to play our role in helping create a successful St Mirren. In order to achieve this vision we will monitor our progress against agreed objectives. The objectives are listed below, with the thinking behind them underneath. We will report back on progress next year. 1. Target of increasing the SMISA membership to 1,400 by April 2018. Our membership remains well ahead of the public target of 1,000 set during the #BuyTheBuds campaign, and our finances are healthy. There has been a gradual drop-off from the peak of 1,374 in summer 2016, which we had always expected and had factored into our cashflow forecasts (that said, April did see an increase in members – we went from 1,289 to 1,291). Our target is to increase our numbers if we can and we will be working on ways to do that over the next year. All members can help us by spreading the word to fans who haven’t yet signed up. 2. Events manager to be identified and made responsible for co-ordinating all SMISA events, working closely with the club. To be in place by September 2017. We are due to hold at least two events a year for members on the £25 per month package, and the first - the Millennium Champions event last December – was well received. While other areas of SMISA operations have appropriately-qualified people devoted to them, events organisation is a gap we need extra help to fill. Anybody with experience in this area interested in helping us run some Saints-related member events can get in touch via [email protected] 3. Drive to ensure trust board better reflects the diversity of the St Mirren support. Objective to have at least two women attend SMISA meetings during 2017-18 and encourage at least two women to stand for election to the SMISA board in 2018. As you can see from the names above, the SMISA committee is entirely male and has been in recent years, which doesn’t reflect the gender balance in our membership or the fanbase. If any female members feel they have skills and experience which could help the committee, please get in touch. 4. SMISA to have a regular meeting place identified for fans to meet the committee at least once every three months. Target for at least 10 fans to attend and discuss issues. To be in place for September 2017. We are keen to be more available to meet fans face to face to discuss any issues they have, or want us to take forward on their behalf. We will put something in place at a suitable time and venue. 5. Encourage SMFC directors to attend SMISA meetings once every six months starting September 2017 and continuing indefinitely. As far as possible, encourage a different SMFC director to attend each meeting. While having a SMISA man on the board gives the trust an important voice in club decision-making, we are keen to build closer links. This will be important in future years as the trust committee works with Gordon Scott and the St Mirren board on a gradual handover to majority fan ownership. 4) AGM questions There were a number of questions raised from the floor at the AGM. While we can’t list every single point raised, we have picked out the most important ones below for fuller explanation. £50k credit facility One of the big questions people had for us in the initial stages of #BuyTheBuds was how the trust could support St Mirren if finances were tight. As the deal meant only two major shareholders of the club (ourselves and Gordon), we didn’t want a situation where all the pressure was on him to stump up if there was an issue. Over the years the previous directors occasionally loaned money to the club to cover temporary shortfalls – our plan was always to be able to do the same if needed. Initially we talked about having £50k in the bank at the time of takeover (to be raised by selling 20 x £2,500 premium membership packages) which could be used to mitigate against club cashflow issues. The financial picture became more complex as negotiations and fundraising developed – we massively exceeded our target on the premium memberships, but some of that money formed part of the initial instalment. In the end a key part of our eventual agreement with Gordon was for SMISA to make £50k available to the club as a credit facility, which it could call on if needed. It was asked at the AGM whether members should vote on this. We explained this isn’t possible because it is already written into the shareholders agreement and we are bound to provide it – refusal to do so would breach the agreement and could jeopardise the whole project. We had authority to do this by a resolution passed at our special general meeting in March 2016. That night members overwhelmingly approved the outline of the #BuyTheBuds deal and gave us permission to negotiate the detail. The general principle of us lending to the club to cover cashflow issues was discussed at that time. Ultimately the £50k is a financial safety net for St Mirren and something we signed up to as responsible part-owners. It remains SMISA’s money and will be repaid. If all goes well, St Mirren may never even need it. We should also be clear there is nothing in our rules which prevents us loaning money to the club. Indeed, it was a financial consultant from Supporters Direct – the body which wrote our rules – who advised us to have a £50k fund available in the first place. We should also be clear we made sure we had extensive legal advice on everything we signed up to. Undersoil heating loan A question was also raised about the £15,000 loan made to the club in December to fund repairs to the undersoil heating at the stadium, and why this wasn’t put to a member vote. The timing of the request made this tricky – we were asked in mid-December to provide the loan, as the club were worried they may lose income if the Hogmanay game against Morton was postponed, with weather forecasts suggesting that was a possibility. At the time it was debated whether this should go to a vote but it was felt the pressing timescales left little time, and the committee agreed to make the loan. In the end, issues with the club’s heating suppliers meant it took some time for the repairs to be made, although the club avoided any postponements. The loan is currently being repaid by the club in monthly instalments. The circumstances here were far from ideal, however, we are learning as we go. We acted on the information we were given, and in good faith. Should there be any similar requests in future, our intention would be to put them to a member vote. Accelerated payment clause One other element of the deal briefly touched on at the AGM was around accelerated payments which could be triggered to the consortium over the next year. Gordon paid his portion of the share purchase up front, and SMISA – having planned to get a loan to cover our share – had initially promised to do the same. When this didn’t go to plan, we had to negotiate a deal for monthly repayments to the consortium. They agreed to this, but only if we and Gordon added a clause which said if the club came into any unbudgeted income, some of that money be used to get them what they are owed quicker. So if St Mirren receive funds from the sale of an asset, the club will lend a portion of that money to SMISA to make the accelerated payment to the consortium, and SMISA will repay the club. This only applies up until the date we are due to make the final repayment in summer 2018. There are three points members should be clear on here. One is that payments only apply up to the sum we still owe them at that time – they won’t get a penny more than they are due. Second is the club will not lose out as a result – any money which comes out of the club to make the repayments will be repaid by SMISA in full as soon as we can. Lastly, the power of the club board is in no way affected – they don’t have to sell anything unless they choose to. A compromise was negotiated where this clause did not apply in January 2017 – so it wasn’t triggered by the transfers of Kyle McAllister or Jason Naismith. But it may kick in if a player is sold this summer. Again, the clause was part of the share purchase agreement, which we had authority to conclude, and which was approved by our lawyers. This was a clause we were reluctant to agree to. However, we were negotiating a million-pound share purchase and this was a highly complex situation in which none of the three parties (us, Gordon and the consortium) got everything they wanted – as with any deal, everybody made compromises. As explained at the time, there was a reason the deal took a year to happen and this is because we negotiated hard over a long period to get the best deal we could for you, the fans. To conclude, there are a few general points we would like to stress. Firstly, the committee are all volunteers, some of us balancing demanding day jobs and busy family lives. Being on the committee of SMISA over the past two years has involved a punishing amount of work, and while none of us need to air our woes in public, it has taken a heavy toll on people’s personal and professional lives at times. There is nothing for any of us to gain from this other than the satisfaction of knowing we have helped make history and are now helping take forward the club we love. Ultimately SMISA’s money is your money and we have always aimed to keep members well informed – hopefully the length of this update shows that. We need to balance our duty for openness with the considerable responsibility of being part-owners of a multi-million-pound business operating in a high-pressure commercial environment. That isn’t an easy thing to do. All we ask is for the trust of members that we are factoring in all of the above and acting in the best interests of the organisation when making decisions in your name, as is our job to do. We are proud of what has been achieved to date and feel the committee is in a good place, with the right professional expertise, to continue to take SMISA forward as we work towards majority fan ownership of St Mirren. As always, we are happy to clarify any points by email on [email protected] The SMISA committee
  13. garzo

    Save Smisa

    hahahahahahahaha Condescending: having or showing an attitude of patronizing superiority. Mugwump: a person who remains aloof or independent, especially from party politics vs Tedious: too long, slow, or dull; tiresome or monotonous. Bore: to talk or act in a way that makes someone lose interest. Toodle pip: goodbye.
  14. garzo

    Save Smisa

    You obviously are well connected, know more than me and by the looks of it have an insight far deeper than most. It would be wrong of me to say you are verging on becoming a tedious bore and not worth trying to have a reasoned discussion with. So I won't. Wishing you well on your never ending pursuit of your version of the truth.
  15. garzo

    Save Smisa

    This has potential to be a good thing I would say. Draw down a dividend, take a loan - pay back as currently expected, the club then belongs to St Mirren fans. What's the problem with that? All clearly communicated and agreed I'd expect, wouldn't you?
  16. garzo

    Save Smisa

    The committee communicate they sought agreement to proceed in keeping with the constitution and governing legislation and reached an agreement with the club. They intend to do learn, improve and communicate more openly and regularly in the future. This might satisfy most buddies. You have not taken on board 1 single aspect of reasoned discussion and clear explanation. Where are you taking this now?
  17. garzo

    Save Smisa

    To best of my knowledge, lol. End share purchase value & deal has been fixed and agreed. Shareholder agreement to loan £50k if required, over short term, has been agreed, sanctioned as far as I'm aware at an EGM & is in place. There seems to be lack of general awareness & understanding of basics & structure of deal & dynamics between all parties. (For some) A refresh & presentation of deal structure, along with clear the air Q&A would be worthwhile.
  18. garzo

    Save Smisa

    debate I tried that once ;-)
  19. garzo

    Save Smisa

    Disappointed if I've contributed to this in tone. Not my intention. Best to withdraw I think. TTFN
  20. garzo

    Save Smisa

    Yes I am... I am a member of SMiSA with a direct connection to the committee as have all members. I am not on the board as previously stated, I'm a member. I am a season ticket holder and lifelong supporter of St Mirren FC. I am now an extremely minor and proud shareholder in the club. How that is relevant and what business it is of anyone apart from me, I'm not so sure. How can that be unless; what?
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