Punching above our weight

[driscollberg]

Fleetwood, burton, Oldham are punching above their weight. not Plymouth argyle. we are at MINIMUM a league 1 team.

i'm bored of hearing the punching above our weight....where is all this money from the Liverpool games? from increased attendances of late? from extra revenue such as nelson?

the board end up with a nice dinner, we get blimmin Cifti......brilliant!

 

[Biggs]

Sorry I cannot help feeling PAFC have been used for JB's personal profit, and it doesn't feel good. Yes he is a business man and a reluctant owner, he is also a reluctant seller so it seems! If only JB would commit 50% of the development profit to the club, keeping 50% for himself, it might feel a whole lot better. Otherwise it smacks of using the club for personal gain.
Martin

50% of the development profit DOES go to the club. Are you saying it would be better if 50% of the profits from the hotel and food outlets go to the club? I'm not sure Travelodge and Pret a Manger would be too happy with that.

And how do you know if anyone remotely suitable has approached JB to buy the club? He is the only one standing between us and a truly malevolent owner.

 

[Rixen63]

I am talking about some sort of permanent profit share, and if JB is getting as he says 2 approaches every month, there's bound to be some suitable new owners out there.

 

[Pilgrim78]

Of course he is using the club for personal gain, he is the owner and it is part of his business portfolio. I don't get why some people think he is some kind of charity. The thing is though that the higher up the league we can go means the more potential profit he can make which will be good for all of us.

It's the clubs which are purchased as a hobby that can fail because when the interest is lost the taps are turned off.

I think we are lucky to have a chairman who is incorporating our club into his bigger project.

 

[Pilgrim78]

Fleetwood, burton, Oldham are punching above their weight. not Plymouth argyle. we are at MINIMUM a league 1 team.

i'm bored of hearing the punching above our weight....where is all this money from the Liverpool games? from increased attendances of late? from extra revenue such as nelson?

the board end up with a nice dinner, we get blimmin Cifti......brilliant!

Oldham have played in the top flight (maybe even in the prem for the first couple of seasons?) so not sure if they are punching above their weight?

Burton and Fleetwood are 2 very well run clubs who these days are punching well at the correct weight (lol. I agree, it starts to sound ridiculous after a while)

If we could just get a couple of results together we will be where our club deserves to be after all things are considered imo.

 

[The Duke]

So if James Brent was so concerned about getting in additional income into PAFC as soon as possible, why find he saddle the club with the for personal profit hybrid scheme that is now likely to delay the PAFC planning application?
Martin

The grandstand refurb alone will not bring in the significant increase in income that is desired. The hotel multiplies the turnover potential many times and WILL benefit the club. The city wants the ice rink and JB is committed to deliver one. The rest of the stuff on HHP is going to finance it. Is that too difficult to understand?

I didn’t realise it was an Argyle owned hotel!! The restaurants and Ice rink will be in direct competition with Argyle. It’s very clear.

How many times...

No-one is claiming the hotel will be owned by us, but the fact it's there will make the conferencing facilities much more attractive and hence likely to make the club more money. There is a shortage of good hotels in Plymouth and having one on the doorstep will be very useful - for the club.

Restaurants in competition with us - exactly how? Maybe sell ten less pasties? Maybe the pasty vans should be banned from the area?

So you think organisations are going to flock to Plymouth to use Plymouth Argyle’s conferencing facility’s because there is a hotel there. And Argyle will hugely benefit? Why not just go to a local conferencing centre? Can’t see it myself. And yes any eating establishment outside Home Park are in competition with the club. Surely you can see that?

 

[jimsing]

Sorry I cannot help feeling PAFC have been used for JB's personal profit, and it doesn't feel good. Yes he is a business man and a reluctant owner, he is also a reluctant seller so it seems! If only JB would commit 50% of the development profit to the club, keeping 50% for himself, it might feel a whole lot better. Otherwise it smacks of using the club for personal gain.
Martin

I understand what you are saying. It does feel like Brent is taking away from Argyle, rather than adding to it. But you have to remember that if it wasn't for Brent, there would be no Argyle.

His Company bought the Club out of administration. It has separated the Club and put it on a firm footing. It has paid off all the football debt. It has bought the ground from the Council and given it to the Club. It has ensured that we still have a Club to support.

We must thank him for doing this, surely.

His Company still owns Higher Home Park which he now wants to invest in, in order to get a return on his money. Not too much to ask is it?

Some will say Yes, some will say No, but, like it or not, that is the price that we have to pay in order to still have a football Club to support.

 

[Rixen63]

I fully accept that JB saved the club as we know it. I am not anti him making a profit, it is the way it is being done that bothers me. My other concern is this hypothetical 1 million annual profit through the conference facilities. Most successful businesses operate on a net profit margin of 5-7% the turnover to achieve the stated profit is staggering and quite frankly fantasy. Hope I am proved very wrong!

 

[Lundan Cabbie]

So if James Brent was so concerned about getting in additional income into PAFC as soon as possible, why find he saddle the club with the for personal profit hybrid scheme that is now likely to delay the PAFC planning application?
Martin

The grandstand refurb alone will not bring in the significant increase in income that is desired. The hotel multiplies the turnover potential many times and WILL benefit the club. The city wants the ice rink and JB is committed to deliver one. The rest of the stuff on HHP is going to finance it. Is that too difficult to understand?

I didn’t realise it was an Argyle owned hotel!! The restaurants and Ice rink will be in direct competition with Argyle. It’s very clear.

How many times...

No-one is claiming the hotel will be owned by us, but the fact it's there will make the conferencing facilities much more attractive and hence likely to make the club more money. There is a shortage of good hotels in Plymouth and having one on the doorstep will be very useful - for the club.

Restaurants in competition with us - exactly how? Maybe sell ten less pasties? Maybe the pasty vans should be banned from the area?

So you think organisations are going to flock to Plymouth to use Plymouth Argyle’s conferencing facility’s because there is a hotel there. And Argyle will hugely benefit? Why not just go to a local conferencing centre? Can’t see it myself. And yes any eating establishment outside Home Park are in competition with the club. Surely you can see that?

These organisations wont just come. They will be looking for practical and economical locations to take their business. The hotel on site is a positive. A massive positive compared to what would be on offer without it. Of course they can go elsewhere like you suggest and because they can, Argyle must make themselves as attractive a choice as they possibly can.

 

[Pettgreen]

I fully accept that JB saved the club as we know it. I am not anti him making a profit, it is the way it is being done that bothers me. My other concern is this hypothetical 1 million annual profit through the conference facilities. Most successful businesses operate on a net profit margin of 5-7% the turnover to achieve the stated profit is staggering and quite frankly fantasy. Hope I am proved very wrong!

There are decent margins in conference facilities together with catering. However you need a thriving economy to garner those margins. Now if JB were to expand the idea to a function suite and not just conferencing then you've got a wedding venue in an enviable position. In catering 10% is seen as a good return. 15% and you have an very well run business. Any more and you're exceptional. If we're talking weddings and functions as well then £1m is very attainable.
To add, plonk a hotel on it then you have a one stop shop site and a very workable, profitable and successful venue. The challenge like all of these ventures is keeping up the standards past 3 years. It is a successful model.

 

[loyal1970]

Sorry I cannot help feeling PAFC have been used for JB's personal profit, and it doesn't feel good. Yes he is a business man and a reluctant owner, he is also a reluctant seller so it seems! If only JB would commit 50% of the development profit to the club, keeping 50% for himself, it might feel a whole lot better. Otherwise it smacks of using the club for personal gain.
Martin

I understand what you are saying. It does feel like Brent is taking away from Argyle, rather than adding to it. But you have to remember that if it wasn't for Brent, there would be no Argyle.

His Company bought the Club out of administration. It has separated the Club and put it on a firm footing. It has paid off all the football debt. It has bought the ground from the Council and given it to the Club. It has ensured that we still have a Club to support.

We must thank him for doing this, surely.

His Company still owns Higher Home Park which he now wants to invest in, in order to get a return on his money. Not too much to ask is it?

Some will say Yes, some will say No, but, like it or not, that is the price that we have to pay in order to still have a football Club to support.

we should have started again as Argyle 1886 because having this bloke in charge who aint got the money or ambition to take the club forward is a waste of {Removed by Site Admin - Please watch your language} time.

 

[crownhill pilgrim]

It's not true to say there wouldn't be an Argyle - even if no one else had put forward a rescue plan we would have started again in another incarnation, probably from a local league, a la Wimbledon. Having said that, I have no problems with where we are now as an organisation. Slow and steady may never get us to the Premier League (or probably not even the Championship these days) but it beats the boom (which wasn't a boom) and bust of 7/8 years ago.

 

[IJN]

On hot August day, we had a meeting with JB at a Business Centre in Stoke, there were about ten Argyle fans at that meeting when we were told there was a 10% chance of surviving it. All of us fans were tearful.

Anyone that says that now, is a fool. I've known Loyal 1970 for about 40 years and he's talking through his backside.

 

[xmastree]

I fully accept that JB saved the club as we know it. I am not anti him making a profit, it is the way it is being done that bothers me. My other concern is this hypothetical 1 million annual profit through the conference facilities. Most successful businesses operate on a net profit margin of 5-7% the turnover to achieve the stated profit is staggering and quite frankly fantasy. Hope I am proved very wrong!

There are decent margins in conference facilities together with catering. However you need a thriving economy to garner those margins. Now if JB were to expand the idea to a function suite and not just conferencing then you've got a wedding venue in an enviable position. In catering 10% is seen as a good return. 15% and you have an very well run business. Any more and you're exceptional. If we're talking weddings and functions as well then £1m is very attainable.
To add, plonk a hotel on it then you have a one stop shop site and a very workable, profitable and successful venue. The challenge like all of these ventures is keeping up the standards past 3 years. It is a successful model.

Has anyone talked about an annual £1m profit for the conference facilities? Given that Sandy Park (much lauded by JB) only recorded non-rugby INCOME of around £1.5m in their most recent accounts, a seven figure profit for our conference facilities is complete fantasy.

 

[GreenThing]

On hot August day, we has a meeting with JB at a Business Centre in Stoke, there were about ten Argyle fans at that meeting when we were told there was a 10% chance of surviving it. All of us fans were tearful.

Anyone that says that now, is a fool. I've known Loyal 1970 for about 40 years and he's talking through his backside.

Exactly. Starting again would have been ok if it was that or nothing, but how can anyone say that is preferable to what we have now?