Post by Deleted on Feb 29, 2008 22:27:58 GMT
It's seems the short term future for Weymouth Speedway is secured following this press release taken from www.theterras.co.uk
Wessex Park Limited confirms that it has recently completed a transaction which has resulted in the immediate injection of half a million pounds into Weymouth Football Club (WFC). The intergroup agreement sees the land surrounding the Wessex Stadium assigned to Wessex Park Limited, in return for the cash transfer (it is not a loan) .The Wessex Stadium and all of its facilities remain under the complete ownership of WFC, who will continue to have full and uninterrupted use of the land surrounding the stadium. Weymouth Wildcats Speedway will also continue to operate under their current tenancy arrangement, which remains unaffected by the new agreement.
Urgent action was essential to cover the Club's short-term trading losses, whilst providing available funds for the Club to invest in its future. Although trading losses have been significantly reduced in recent months, a timely cash injection was essential to the Club in order to support the work of the board and the wider management team in securing the long-term future of the club.
As previously stated by the Terras Trust, the Wessex Stadium is and will remain the property of the WFC. However, talks are ongoing for Wessex Park Limited to be granted an option to acquire the Wessex Stadium in return for providing the club with a new purpose-built stadium (which must be to a minimum of football league standard). Any new stadium must be able to provide year-round income over and above that generated by football related activities, alongside other commercial elements which will provide additional financial and business stability for the Club. Any new stadium would be in the sole ownership of WFC. Discussions on this subject are ongoing and the Board will engage with relevant stakeholders (i.e. the Terras Trust and the Supporters Club) before any agreement is finalised.
Chairman of Weymouth Football Club, Malcolm Curtis, commented:
"We are making significant progress within the business side of the club. This agreement is part of the long term plan to ensure that we have a Club for the short, medium and long term. The facts are that the Club has a long history of financial losses, which were still very much present when I took over in October last year. Until we can completely stem the flow of these losses, which will take time, the Club needs cash to survive in the immediate future. As a Board, we discussed in detail all the options for generating the cash flow required and this agreement was decided to be the best result for the Club, allowing it to utilise its land asset whilst ensuring that the stadium remained protected under its sole ownership.
"Let's not beat around the bush here, in the final quarter of last year when I took over the club, we were making losses of around £10,000 a week. Also, despite common misconceptions, the Club was in fact carrying a significant amount of debt, mostly relating to long term tax liabilities.
By implementing the initial action plan, we've been able to reduce the weekly losses to around £7,000 a week and have made good progress in clearing the remaining long-term debt. Whilst we continued to focus on reducing the weekly losses and clearing the long term debt, it became transparent that the Club needed additional support to help ensure its future stability. As a result, this agreement not only secures the Club in the short term but provides it with essential working capital to help sustain it in the longer term."
Wessex Park Limited confirms that it has recently completed a transaction which has resulted in the immediate injection of half a million pounds into Weymouth Football Club (WFC). The intergroup agreement sees the land surrounding the Wessex Stadium assigned to Wessex Park Limited, in return for the cash transfer (it is not a loan) .The Wessex Stadium and all of its facilities remain under the complete ownership of WFC, who will continue to have full and uninterrupted use of the land surrounding the stadium. Weymouth Wildcats Speedway will also continue to operate under their current tenancy arrangement, which remains unaffected by the new agreement.
Urgent action was essential to cover the Club's short-term trading losses, whilst providing available funds for the Club to invest in its future. Although trading losses have been significantly reduced in recent months, a timely cash injection was essential to the Club in order to support the work of the board and the wider management team in securing the long-term future of the club.
As previously stated by the Terras Trust, the Wessex Stadium is and will remain the property of the WFC. However, talks are ongoing for Wessex Park Limited to be granted an option to acquire the Wessex Stadium in return for providing the club with a new purpose-built stadium (which must be to a minimum of football league standard). Any new stadium must be able to provide year-round income over and above that generated by football related activities, alongside other commercial elements which will provide additional financial and business stability for the Club. Any new stadium would be in the sole ownership of WFC. Discussions on this subject are ongoing and the Board will engage with relevant stakeholders (i.e. the Terras Trust and the Supporters Club) before any agreement is finalised.
Chairman of Weymouth Football Club, Malcolm Curtis, commented:
"We are making significant progress within the business side of the club. This agreement is part of the long term plan to ensure that we have a Club for the short, medium and long term. The facts are that the Club has a long history of financial losses, which were still very much present when I took over in October last year. Until we can completely stem the flow of these losses, which will take time, the Club needs cash to survive in the immediate future. As a Board, we discussed in detail all the options for generating the cash flow required and this agreement was decided to be the best result for the Club, allowing it to utilise its land asset whilst ensuring that the stadium remained protected under its sole ownership.
"Let's not beat around the bush here, in the final quarter of last year when I took over the club, we were making losses of around £10,000 a week. Also, despite common misconceptions, the Club was in fact carrying a significant amount of debt, mostly relating to long term tax liabilities.
By implementing the initial action plan, we've been able to reduce the weekly losses to around £7,000 a week and have made good progress in clearing the remaining long-term debt. Whilst we continued to focus on reducing the weekly losses and clearing the long term debt, it became transparent that the Club needed additional support to help ensure its future stability. As a result, this agreement not only secures the Club in the short term but provides it with essential working capital to help sustain it in the longer term."