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Buy The Buds


buddiecat

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Saw some but not all of the feed. The SMISA guys all spoke very well.

One thing that I may have missed though was chat about the initial loan needed. Did anyone discuss this and whether they are any further forward to securing a lender? And are they planning on using the stadium as security?

The preferred loan option is Supporters Direct, but they aren't quite set up for making loans yet. An option is phased payment option, and SMiSA in discussion with BoD regarding this. This would allow bid to go through while SD facility organised. Other options incur interest payments.

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Certain it was stated, met with a round of applause, that 20 had signed up at one point in the meeting.

Current total of 563 would suggest this wasn't the case....................slimy politicians.

the 563 was as at 00:19 this morning latest update about 22:30 tonight it at 586. Edited by Hambud
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Guest TPAFKATS

I can understand a few folk (well, one person) talking about securing a more tangible benefit from their £12 a month - ie: shares - but this was never what the initiative has been about. I have no interest in any return other than the security and wellbeing of the club. Its akin to a regular DD donation to a charity that is close to my heart. Again, for the cost of a (cheap) pint a week, its easily worth the outlay while I can afford it.

Exactly.

How many shares do these folk think £12 should buy them? The whole point is that by pooling the resource smisa get to buy the majority of shares and buy out a board who wish to leave.

I'm already a shareholder from the issue almost 20 years ago but I have no power when it comes to voting due to having less than 1% of shares.

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Exactly.

How many shares do these folk think £12 should buy them? The whole point is that by pooling the resource smisa get to buy the majority of shares and buy out a board who wish to leave.

I'm already a shareholder from the issue almost 20 years ago but I have no power when it comes to voting due to having less than 1% of shares.

Indeed.

At a mere £12 per month, my donation to Saints will only be my 4th highest monthly direct debit for which I have no direct return other than satisfaction of having contributed to something I believe in.

Whilst it may not be a registered charity, it is a local employer. It is more than that though... For me, it is a lifetime of memories... Good and bad but always memorable.

In some small way, my payback is in knowing that I will have contributed to the same range of experiences being available to the next generation.

After all... Those wee bastards deserve to suffer just as I did!

;)

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Great turnout, a good round of questions and answers, more buds signed up and just the shot in the arm we all need to crack on and secure 1000 sign ups by the 19th June. It is both heartening and humbling in equal measure to be in the presence of so many who have such a passion for our club.

Not a bad range of ages there too, which bodes well for the legacy we can pass on to future Buds To Be!

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Well, I have to admit Faraway should know about cracking posts. He of a myriad of almost incomprehensible posts that he thinks are funny. That's of course when he's not off on one of his hissy fits because a grown up growled at him. Investing in any football club is economic madness apart, possibly, for a few of the English giants. One of the most important aphorisms which is aimed at any equity investment is if you can't afford to lose the money, then keep it in your pocket. I lived and worked with equity investment for over 25 years. Investing in St.Mirren and expecting a yield at any time is madness. So why should we do it? Barely four months ago we were staring relegation in the face for the second year in succession. If it had happened I think it could have heralded the end of the road for St.Mirren. And around the time of the 10,000 hours bid, plenty of us were wetting our knickers about a Craig Whyte/Charlie Green scenario. Now we have an honest proposal by genuine St.Mirren fans to move us into fan ownership. If another bid is hanging around on the sidelines, who knows what it is all about? No point speculating. I gather there is an agreement between the current board and Buy The Buddies that if the numbers add up then it's a done deal. So why are St.Mirren fans dithering? If you can afford £12 per month then is it not worth it to guarantee the future for St.Mirren for our children and grandchildren hopefully for ever? It's an emotional investment. It's love of our old club. That makes it worthwhile. If there was such a thing as a gilt edged blue chip equity, it could still go bust. If you can't afford to wave goodbye to your investment, then don't invest.

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Exactly.

How many shares do these folk think £12 should buy them? The whole point is that by pooling the resource smisa get to buy the majority of shares and buy out a board who wish to leave.

I'm already a shareholder from the issue almost 20 years ago but I have no power when it comes to voting due to having less than 1% of shares.

People need to respect others opinions. I've signed up however I fully understand the opinion that for paying £12 a month for 10 years and committing to pay almost £1,500 then you should be rewarded with something tangible. Also if you do stay the course of 10 years if there was something at the end of this term to recognise your commitment then this could help prevent people from cancelling their direct debt when times get rough.

I think that he had a very good point and it isn't something that should be just shrugged off.

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Well, I have to admit Faraway should know about cracking posts. He of a myriad of almost incomprehensible posts that he thinks are funny. That's of course when he's not off on one of his hissy fits because a grown up growled at him. Investing in any football club is economic madness apart, possibly, for a few of the English giants. One of the most important aphorisms which is aimed at any equity investment is if you can't afford to lose the money, then keep it in your pocket. I lived and worked with equity investment for over 25 years. Investing in St.Mirren and expecting a yield at any time is madness. So why should we do it? Barely four months ago we were staring relegation in the face for the second year in succession. If it had happened I think it could have heralded the end of the road for St.Mirren. And around the time of the 10,000 hours bid, plenty of us were wetting our knickers about a Craig Whyte/Charlie Green scenario. Now we have an honest proposal by genuine St.Mirren fans to move us into fan ownership. If another bid is hanging around on the sidelines, who knows what it is all about? No point speculating. I gather there is an agreement between the current board and Buy The Buddies that if the numbers add up then it's a done deal. So why are St.Mirren fans dithering? If you can afford £12 per month then is it not worth it to guarantee the future for St.Mirren for our children and grandchildren hopefully for ever? It's an emotional investment. It's love of our old club. That makes it worthwhile. If there was such a thing as a gilt edged blue chip equity, it could still go bust. If you can't afford to wave goodbye to your investment, then don't invest.

Yawn...............another long incomprehensible post.

All you needed was one of your cracking anecdotes. lol.giflol.giflol.gif

See the post above about RESPECT.

Other people have opinions and a right to do as they wish, not some emotional blackmail tactic that you, and others, seem to think is acceptable.

bye1.gif

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20 sign up's during the meeting is a good response, more so if it provided some positivity from the speakers.

Next couple of days are important to try to keep the, albeit small, momentum going.

As Drew mentioned, hitting 600 COULD be a moral boost but I'm still unconvinced there's another 400 out there waiting to sign up.

If the number comes up short then a major decision will have to be made by Gordon and company.

Time will tell.

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Indeed.

At a mere £12 per month, my donation to Saints will only be my 4th highest monthly direct debit for which I have no direct return other than satisfaction of having contributed to something I believe in.

Whilst it may not be a registered charity, it is a local employer. It is more than that though... For me, it is a lifetime of memories... Good and bad but always memorable.

In some small way, my payback is in knowing that I will have contributed to the same range of experiences being available to the next generation.

After all... Those wee bastards deserve to suffer just as I did!

;)

See in a way this is where I feel conflicted. I wouldn't want to donate money to any profit making business for no return.

What would make me feel far more comfortable would be to hear those like GLS talking about how they will use their ownership to drive initiatives that will boost their involvement within the community helping the likes of Erskine Hospital, the many kids clubs in the local area and working more closely with local schools. There's no talk of any of that right now and that concerns me.

Barry from SMiSA answered my question by email yesterday about the business plan. The club won't be run as a social enterprise initially. The plan is to run the club as it's currently being run but there is also a possibility that an SD attempt to get supporter owned football clubs a kind of charity status may become the preferred option to take advantage of tax arrangements. I appreciate Barry's honesty but again that leaves me disappointed at where the bid is going.

I hope SMiSA are successful and I'm not going to cancel my £25 per month..... But I really won't feel that this £25 per month is being well used unless in practice the club will be much more proactive than is being promised.

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See in a way this is where I feel conflicted. I wouldn't want to donate money to any profit making business for no return.

What would make me feel far more comfortable would be to hear those like GLS talking about how they will use their ownership to drive initiatives that will boost their involvement within the community helping the likes of Erskine Hospital, the many kids clubs in the local area and working more closely with local schools. There's no talk of any of that right now and that concerns me.

Barry from SMiSA answered my question by email yesterday about the business plan. The club won't be run as a social enterprise initially. The plan is to run the club as it's currently being run but there is also a possibility that an SD attempt to get supporter owned football clubs a kind of charity status may become the preferred option to take advantage of tax arrangements. I appreciate Barry's honesty but again that leaves me disappointed at where the bid is going.

I hope SMiSA are successful and I'm not going to cancel my £25 per month..... But I really won't feel that this £25 per month is being well used unless in practice the club will be much more proactive than is being promised.

Fair comment.

I stopped short of saying it in my original post, but becoming a local hub for the community and active social enterprise is a gimme as far as I am concerned and one of the things that will be prioritised as we move on.

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How many members doe the new club bar have?

Wonder if this has had a damaging effect on peoples decision not to join the SMISA campaign?

There's certainly been a few on here who have stated this is a factor in their decision.

Ah the bar, another venture that people said wouldn't work and that people wouldn't sign up for. Just like the bar the bid will get the numbers and be a success.

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In an attempt to perhaps clarify "what you get" for your £12/£25 a month, at present, and considering the suggestions of a few....

At present above all else you will have been one of the:

"Founding Thousand" who will be commerarated on the wall of the stadium as having taken the steps to bring the club into fan ownership.

You will be seen as, and remebered as part of the group of diverse ages, backgrounds, walks of life who came together not out of desperation, but out of wisdom to fix the roof whilst the sun was shining!

You are one of enlighted group who decided to reset the course, vision and trajectory of the club to ensure it belonged to, involved, supported and worked to serve our whole community.

You are and will forever be recognised throughout scottish football as 'visionaries' who saw a better way, and stood up to be counted.

You will be, and generations to come, whom you pass the baton to, will be the guardians, custodians, owners and heart of ST Mirren Football Club.

Now I know a few people have suggested "why can't we get a token allocation of shares for our £12/£25 a month?". There are at this juncture several reasons why that would create a series of problems that could jeopardise the whole bid and movement.

Firstly what should happen if you stop paying your £12/£25 a month? would Smisa need to take action to recover the shares from you? Could they even do that legally, and if they could, do any of us want that scenario to play out??? This might not even be a voluntary stop on your monthly payments,what if you pass away, are made redundant, have a life changing event etc???

The reason a token gesture of share allocation is in the £2500 up front package is simply because that money is paid up front before any share allocation, and at present it amounts to approx 200 - 250 shares in total.

The membership of Smisa could propose, debate, vote on and elect to allocate shares to its members in due course, perhaps that is an issue to be considered once, or around the time when We have bought Gordon out, have full control of the club, and everyone has paid up the full term of their membership?

I get the thought process of "would like something tangible/in writing to recognise my commitment". And you most certainly wil have that,

its called ST Mirren Football Club, and it will soon be in the process of becoming owned by you!

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Guest TPAFKATS

People need to respect others opinions. I've signed up however I fully understand the opinion that for paying £12 a month for 10 years and committing to pay almost £1,500 then you should be rewarded with something tangible. Also if you do stay the course of 10 years if there was something at the end of this term to recognise your commitment then this could help prevent people from cancelling their direct debt when times get rough.

I think that he had a very good point and it isn't something that should be just shrugged off.

I wasn't intending to be disrespectful or shrug off these views.

My point was to try and show the comparison with theist of buying shares individually and the 'reward' that this brings.

I would agree that if there was a way of rewarding fans who pay for the 10 years, this would be good. I'm not sure what that would be other than dividing up the 70% of shares that are purchased.

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In an attempt to perhaps clarify "what you get" for your £12/£25 a month, at present, and considering the suggestions of a few....

At present above all else you will have been one of the:

"Founding Thousand" who will be commerarated on the wall of the stadium as having taken the steps to bring the club into fan ownership.

You will be seen as, and remebered as part of the group of diverse ages, backgrounds, walks of life who came together not out of desperation, but out of wisdom to fix the roof whilst the sun was shining!

You are one of enlighted group who decided to reset the course, vision and trajectory of the club to ensure it belonged to, involved, supported and worked to serve our whole community.

You are and will forever be recognised throughout scottish football as 'visionaries' who saw a better way, and stood up to be counted.

You will be, and generations to come, whom you pass the baton to, will be the guardians, custodians, owners and heart of ST Mirren Football Club.

Now I know a few people have suggested "why can't we get a token allocation of shares for our £12/£25 a month?". There are at this juncture several reasons why that would create a series of problems that could jeopardise the whole bid and movement.

Firstly what should happen if you stop paying your £12/£25 a month? would Smisa need to take action to recover the shares from you? Could they even do that legally, and if they could, do any of us want that scenario to play out??? This might not even be a voluntary stop on your monthly payments,what if you pass away, are made redundant, have a life changing event etc???

The reason a token gesture of share allocation is in the £2500 up front package is simply because that money is paid up front before any share allocation, and at present it amounts to approx 200 - 250 shares in total.

The membership of Smisa could propose, debate, vote on and elect to allocate shares to its members in due course, perhaps that is an issue to be considered once, or around the time when We have bought Gordon out, have full control of the club, and everyone has paid up the full term of their membership?

I get the thought process of "would like something tangible/in writing to recognise my commitment". And you most certainly wil have that,

its called ST Mirren Football Club, and it will soon be in the process of becoming owned by you!

I would worry if SIMSA were to allocate shares to its members , that would create 1000 more shareholders.

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I would worry if SIMSA were to allocate shares to its members , that would create 1000 more shareholders.

Yes but there needs to be some sort of incentive to keep people signed up over the ten years, getting people signed up now is the easy part. Keeping them signed over ten years through thick and thin is the difficult part. However I'm confident that this will be addressed by the new board once the bid has gone through.

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Yes but there needs to be some sort of incentive to keep people signed up over the ten years, getting people signed up now is the easy part. Keeping them signed over ten years through thick and thin is the difficult part. However I'm confident that this will be addressed by the new board once the bid has gone through.

blink.pngblink.pngblink.png

Not easy at all.

Lots of hard work still required.

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I would worry if SIMSA were to allocate shares to its members , that would create 1000 more shareholders.

I would share your concern, however every member of Smisa has the right to propose their ideas.

Your point does shine a light towards a bigger issue that perhaps we should all stop, read up on and consider?

Smisa is a Co-operative, and having been an employee and member of the biggest Retail, Manufacturing, Banking, Farming and Insurance Co-operative in the world i can share the one defining difference Smisa , our club and all those who sign up will come to appreciate and perhaps be grateful for...

A Co-operative is a group of people acting together to meet the common needs and aspirations of its members, sharing ownership and making decisions democratically. It is not a business controlled by shareholders.

When you see some of the perverse decisions by large companies to reward individuals who have failed or presided over damaging debacles, but the board still award them bonuses, then you will appreciate the difference of being a 'member' of Smisa where 'One member, one vote' is where the power to make change lies, as opposed to being a company shareholder who gets a goody bag and a pat on the heid each year.

There is a significant education process for all of us to become involved with when we sign up to Smisa, we all have a responsibilty to act and operate in accordance with co-operative Values & Principles, its in the Smisa constitution.

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In my opinion, you are getting no return for your money if you are a season ticket holder for 10 years paying the average of £275, other than putting money towards the club you love. The 10 year payments of £12 a month for fan ownership is no different. If you love the club, then you will commit. I don't feel I have any right at paying £12 a month to get some sort of shares at the end of it, though I do agree with the share incentive of the option 3 package, as you are basically committing a lump sum towards pushing the bid through.

I was happy with the proposal last night and the answers from the guys giving the presentation.

Edited by kevo_smfc
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