Board Minutes

Board Meeting, March 18th 2013

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Sky Blue Trust Board Meeting 

The Squirrel Pub, Coventry.

Monday March 18th 2013

Present 

Jan Mokryzcki, Moz Baker, Gary Stubbs, CJ Joiner, Kev Kelly, Lionel Bird. Michael Orton, Andy Turbitt, Steve Brown, John Fletcher Roger Ellis, Rachel Brown.

Matters Arising from Minutes of Meeting 18/02/13

All action points had been cleared and there were no further matters arising. 

Treasurers Report

RB reported that that there was currently £1609.00 in main account and £1403.00 in Fighting Fund. RB also reported that she had been advised by Lloyds TSB that should the Board desire a new account for a potential community share issue this could be set up with no notice required.

Recognition of Achievement

The Board took time to reflect on a hectic period which had seen the profile of the Trust raised significantly and a number of positive comments received including mention by MP Bob Ainsworth as part of a parliamentary debate with regard to the ownership of the club.

This was reflected in a successful recruitment exercise at the Ricoh ahead of the Hartlepool game on 16/3/13 where in the region of 300 new members signed up. Membership now stands at 1145 and rising.

RE reported back from his conversations with Supporters Direct (SD). Unfortunately due to rail cancellations Kevin Rye was unable to attend meeting as planned but RE gave brief feedback. Firstly that SD felt the actions taken by the board had, in their opinion, been commendable and they welcomed our proactive approach and drive on membership. They advised the Board to concentrate at this stage on membership recruitment and continue to talk to all relevant stakeholders.

The Board agreed to repeat the Recruitment exercise ahead of the Doncaster Rovers game on Good Friday with emphasis to be given to the area under the bridge next to the Arena Park. 

AP1 GS to co-ordinate volunteers for this project.

ACL/SISU Dispute Update

JM confirmed that the Administration court hearing would be held at the High Court on Friday 22/3/13 with the expected CCFC defence to be that the original licence with ACL was unlawful and that they had been overcharged for utilities since the agreement was drawn up in 2007. 

JM advised that the recent exercise of asking pertinent questions to both ACL and members of the CCFC Board was now complete and the answers were ready for publication on the website. However whilst ACL were happy for their answers to be reproduced Mike Labovitch had advised that we could not publish the CCFC Board  answers as there could be an issue of sub judice ahead of the court hearing on Friday.

The Board expressed their disappointment at this intervention but agreed to go ahead and publish the ACL responses whilst reporting via the website the reasons given for the non-publication of CCFC board responses.

AP3 JF to publish responses as above on website.

Rule Change 

JF proposed a change to the existing SBT rules in order to allow a Community Share Issue to be launched.  This was seconded by RE and agreed unanimously by the Board.  RE reported that the documentation was now in place and ready to go with regard to the rule change.  Due to the notice required for SGM and the need to issue notification to all members including those without E mail it was agreed to postpone the scheduled meeting until 15/4/13.

AP4 AT to print notification letter for issue by post.

AP5 GS to conduct enveloping exercise with help from others as required.

AP6 SB to arrange postage.

Stance of Trust

LB raised the issue of the Trust’s stance with regard to the ongoing dispute between ACL and SISU. It was agreed that the Trust continue to call on all parties to settle the current dispute and emphasising the importance of the Trust’s aims as published in the new membership leaflet.  

Planning the Way Forward

RE reported back from Kevin Rye (SD) who advised that we should “Be Bold…Don’t be Modest “ and keep reiterating our desire for a supporters stake in the club, seat on the board etc.  and to continue meeting with all stakeholders. SD would continue to promote our role in this ongoing issue. As a board we should see how the situation develops and react accordingly. At such time as we need to react we should follow SD best practice and work in consultation with them to obtain the best results.  

RE reported that should the club go into administration, the administrator will be appointed by the court. Our interest should be the future governance and stability of the club. 

RE was currently drafting a letter to meet with the Football League. Bob Ainsworth MP had also contacted Council leader John Mutton with a view to a formal meeting including Council Chief Executive at which the Trust aim for part supporter ownership in any new model to be promoted.

 

Finance Position

MO advised that he was meeting with the Credit Union later this week as we need to get our infrastructure in place at the earliest opportunity should we decide to launch a Community Share issue. There was then much discussion about which was the desired model to follow. It was agreed that, whilst we would learn from the experiences of others, there would in all likelihood be a unique “Coventry Model” and that as a Board we needed to do our best to ensure any deal struck that the Trust needs to be involved and that the priority is the future of the football club.

GS reported that he had arranged a press release with the Pompey Trust ahead of a meeting on the day of the game between the 2 clubs at Fratton Park on 23/3/13. This would be circulated to all board members for agreement and issue in next few days.

 

AP 7 GS to produce press release in conjunction with Pompey Trust.

Website Update

JM advised that he had been in contact with Nick from Sky Blue Talk regarding a possible link up. It was agreed that we would advertise Sky Blue talk on the Trust website and we would ask for reciprocal arrangements. 

With regard to the Trust website it was agreed that it was now a lot more up to date and there was a regular flow of new items. Board agreed that we should keep up this momentum.

AOB

SB suggested that the time was now right to propose a meeting between the board and Joy Seppala. The Board were in full agreement.

AP8 JF to draft letter and issue directly to JS.

LB confirmed the attendees for the Joe Elliott meeting on 21/3/13

JF advised that we should refer to ourselves as the largest “Independent “CCFC supporters group as technically the JSB group was larger.

CJ suggested running a regular tote/raffle idea to raise funds. He would look further into this and report back.

AP 9 CJ to pursue this idea.

AT asked what further leaflets the Board required. It was agreed to do a mixture of membership forms but also leaflets that new members were able to keep displaying the Trust objectives. AT to also produce banner stands with the new Trust objectives.

AP 10 AT to produce leaflets and banner stands as above.

MB reported that he had spoken to Steve Waggott with regard to Steven Pressley speaking at a Trust Open Meeting ion near future. He had been advised that it was on his agenda but Pressley was undergoing a highly intensive induction period at present.

The Board suggested as the next Open meeting had been postponed until 15/4/13 that we pursue this date.

AP 11 MB to pursue Steven Pressley presence at meeting on 15/4/13.

Date of Next Meeting

Monday April 15th The Squirrel Pub

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Emergency Board Meeting 15/03/2013

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Sky Blue Trust Emergency Planning Meeting

The Stag and Pheasant, Coventry.

Thursday March 14th 2013

Present

Jan Mokryzcki, Moz Baker, Gary Stubbs, CJ Joiner, Lionel Bird. Steve Brown, Roger Ellis, Rachel Brown

Apologies

. Kev Kelly, John Fletcher, Andy Turbitt, Michael Orton,

Observer

Paul Mayall

This meeting had been called at short notice following the announcement on 13/3/13 that ACL had gone to the High Court to seek an administration order against CCFC.

Although a routine Board meeting was scheduled for 18/3/13 it was felt that this meeting was necessary to be attended by all board members who were available in order that the current position be clarified, that all board members were aware of the official stance and that any necessary short term plans be put in place. Further strategic plans would then be developed at the scheduled board meeting.

JM fed back from conversations he had with all parties in the last few days.

To his knowledge there are currently 2 interested parties who are monitoring the situation closely and could be potentially buyers. Little more is known at this stage.

RE reported back that he had been in regular dialogue with Supporters Direct (SD) who had been very helpful. They advised that a meeting with Football League should be pursued and felt that contact via them was the best course to facilitate this. Kevin Rye from SD hoped to be able to attend Monday’s board meeting.

It was agreed to pursue a meeting via SD with Coventry City Council at Senior Level, that is to say Council leader and Chief Executive to ensure they are fully aware of Trust objectives and that they know exactly what they are supporting in endorsing the Trust. MP Bob Ainsworth had expressed an interest in attending such a meeting and it was agreed that he should be asked to attend if possible.

Key Messages

The Board then discussed the messages that we should be conveying so as to ensure consistency;

These were agreed as follows;

1) The club is not currently in administration. The trust continues to talk to all parties with a view to this issue being resolved before an administration order takes place.

2) If Administration does occur following the high court hearing. The Trust wants to be part of the future running of the club and supporter representation on the new board would be our aim with part ownership of the club via a supporters share issue a goal we would look to pursue.

3) We would be willing to talk to any potential buyer/investor but the wellbeing and the future development of the football club as a key part of the local community would be our paramount concern.

4) Supporter representation on any new board that is formed would be a key part of our objectives.  

Recruitment

The Board agreed that it was now critical that we looked to increase our membership. A full scale recruitment drive at the match v Hartlepool on 16/3/13 would take place. MO would be asked to do an all members letter asking for volunteers to help sign up potential new members.

MB, JM, GS and CJ would co-ordinate the effort with all recruiters meeting at Jimmy Hill statue at 1pm. We would look to, if possible, get volunteers at all points of the stadium to ensure maximum take up. We have also been given permission to recruit within Casino.

Due to limited numbers of available new style leaflets, as a backup JM would produce a temporary form for SB to photocopy.

PR

It was agreed that JM needed to be the first port of call for any Media/PR enquiries but also that he needed help. It was agreed therefore that JM would be supported by a team of MB, SB, CJ and RB. Any enquiries though should first be cleared through JM.

Trust Statements

It was agreed that any statements from the Trust that we were issuing to members or press etc. should first be cleared through RE who would lead in this matter. A team of JM, MO and MB would support him in this.

Joe Elliott

It was agreed that we would meet Joe Elliott on 21/3/13 at the Ricoh to get his perspective on any potential investors/buyers. It was agreed that we would stress to Joe that we wanted to be talking to all potential investors.

Portsmouth Trust

It was agreed that SB, GS and CJ would meet with Portsmouth Trust ahead of the game on 23/3/13.

Secure Website

PM advised that he had identified a contact who was willing to set up a system that would accommodate our need for a potential share issue. RE to discuss with SD what the requirements would be with a view to PM pursuing this lead.

BBC Late Kick OFF

MB advised that he had arranged for a small group of Trust board members to do a feature for programme being transmitted on Sunday 17/3/13. This would be recorded at the Ricoh on Sunday morning. JM to check availability of room at Ricoh. MB to advise on further detail.

Next Open Meeting

It was agreed that vote on rule change would take place at start of meeting and that any guest speaker would appear after the vote had been concluded. MB was still pursuing Steven Pressley with Steve Waggott and would advise on any update at next board meeting. Notice of meeting to be issued 18/3/13. RE would re send to MB a copy of draft notice.

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Board Meeting Minutes 18/02/2013

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Sky Blue Trust Board Meeting The Squirrel Pub, Coventry. Monday February 18th 2013 Present Jan Mokryzcki, Moz Baker, Gary Stubbs, CJ Joiner, Kev Kelly, Lionel Bird. Michael Orton, Andy Turbitt, Steve Brown, John Fletcher. Apologies Roger Ellis, Rachel Brown. Observer Paul Mayall Dean Nelson Matters Arising from Minutes of Meeting 21/01/13 i) MO had circulated proposal for new wording on membership leaflet. This was formally agreed by board. AT kindly agreed to produce. ii) MB had circulated survey examples used by other Trusts. Board agreed that all had potential for use but proposal to issue survey to be put on hold at present pending more pressing matters. iii) CJ and GS pursuing contact via text of members who haven’t declared E mail contact addresses. This is on-going. iv) MB had drafted press release in conjunction with JM to promote tie in with 21st Century Clothing with regard to T shirt production. Article and photograph had appeared in Coventry Telegraph as well as mention on BBC Coventry and Warwickshire, Free Radio and Coventry Observer. Treasurers Report RB unable to attend for personal reasons so no treasurers’ report presented. ACL/SISU Rent Negotiations Update JM confirmed that he continued to be kept abreast of any developments in this on-going situation. The various public statements that had been made by both ACL and SISU via Tim Fisher were outlined. It was agreed that JM should make contact with John Clarke and Mark Labowitcz for their respective take on current matters. MO confirmed that contact had been made with Professor John Beech who had agreed that should both parties be agreeable to it, he would be prepared to act as arbitrator but he didn’t feel there was any benefit in going down any mediation route that wasn’t binding. AP 1 JM to make contact with John Clarke and Mark Labowitcz. Fact Finding Questions for CCFC/SISU and ACL The Board then discussed at length the detailed questions to be asked of both parties so as to be able to get an accurate account of the situation from both sides. The questions were agreed by the Board and that meetings should be arranged at the earliest opportunity with both Tim Fisher (and other CCFC board members if possible) and ACL. It was agreed that JM, MB and RE would represent the Trust at both meetings for continuity purposes and that a summary of responses from both sides would be placed on Trust website. Local and National media would also be contacted as appropriate. Board agreed that once answers obtained and published that a press release with regard to John Beech arbitration offer would be produced. AP2 JM to contact both Tim Fisher and ACL to arrange meetings. Community Share Issue AT advised that he had been in dialogue with Supporters Direct and had been advised that the Trust needed to amend its constitution so as to change rules to allow approval of a community shares issue. These new proposed rules would need to be voted on by members and 14 days’ notice given of meeting. AT agreed to speak again to Supporters Direct to ascertain full implications and requirements and would report back to board with a view to presenting Trust proposals for a Community Share issue at next available Open Meeting in April. The Board also discussed the Business Plan that would need to be drawn up at the time of any such share issue initiative. It was agreed that this was a priority matter and that once the full circumstances and required processes established this would require urgent action. AT also advised that he had been making enquiries as to the cost of building a website with the capability to deal with an online share issue facility. Initial costs indicated to be in the region of £3000. It was agreed that the Portsmouth Trust and other Trusts who had been through similar initiatives be contacted with a view to identifying the software used in their share issue and any other useful advice. AP 3 AT to contact Portsmouth Supporters Trust and Supporters Direct as above. AOB AT advised that a Supporters Direct workshop event was being staged in Telford on 21/2/13 and it was agreed that it would be beneficial if at least one Board member were able to attend. SB offered to attend if he were physically able due to his current injury. CJ and or GS would accompany him if possible. JM reported that ACL had advised that the Aylesford Suite at the Ricoh would be available on match days for the Trust to use for meetings but that we would need to get formal approval from CCFC AP4 JM to contact CCFC for approval as above. MB advised that the April open meeting fell on Easter Monday. It was agreed that the meeting would therefore take place on Tuesday 2/4/13. Dean Nelson had contacted the Trust with a suggestion to run a Film night in conjunction with the Trust showing footage of CCFC matches from previous years in history. It was agreed that this was a good idea and that we should contact ACL with a view to arranging something at the Ricoh. The initial plan being a 90 minute event, two halves of 45 minutes. AP5 GS to contact ACL to explore options and report back. LB presented Paul Mayall with his prize from the December fundraising raffle. A copy of his book “The Vocalists”. Date of Next Meeting Monday March 18th The Stag and Pheasant Pub
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Board Meeting December 8th 2012

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Present 

John Fletcher, Jan Mokryzcki, Steve Brown, Moz Baker, Gary Stubbs, CJ Joiner, Rachel Brown, Kev Kelly

Apologies

Lionel Bird, Michael Orton, Andy Turbitt

Observers

Roger Ellis, Tom Ellis

The Meeting was called to propose that Roger Ellis be co-opted on to the board of the Sky Blue Trust This was proposed by John Fletcher and seconded by Jan Mokryzcki. All board members present voted in favour.

Roger is therefore duly elected on to the Sky Blue Trust Board as a co-opted member.

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Board Meeting, October 15th 2012

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Attending

Rachel Brown (RB), Kev Kelly (KK), Gary Stubbs (GS), Moz Baker (MB), Steve Brown (SB), Michael Orton (MO), Lionel Bird (LB), , Andy Turbitt(AT), Jan Mokrzycki (JM)

Apologies

John Fletcher (JF), CJ Joiner (CJ) 

Minutes from Previous Meeting

Were agreed as a true record.

Matters arising 

There were no matters arising that weren’t being covered elsewhere on the Agenda other than JF intention to pursue a meeting with Joy Seppalla. As JF was not in attendance due to illness this matter would carry forward to next meeting.

Action Point 1 (AP) – JF to pursue meeting with Joy Seppalla.

 Correspondence

There was no correspondence to discuss. 

Treasurers Report

RB advised that Trust currently held £1416.00 in its account with approximately £50.00 due to be paid into the account.

Finance Group Fact Finding

AT and MO presented 3 separate papers to the meeting which had been circulated in advance. The first a series of recommendations on next steps forward, the second from Roger Ellis which was feedback from a workshop “So you think you can manage a football club “which he and AT had attended on 04/10/12 and the third a summary from Roger following scrutiny made by himself and AT of published accounts and other legally disclosed information.  

AT reported that the workshop was very interesting and contained some really useful information and that Brendan Guilfoyle , the administrator who had spoke at the workshop was more than happy to speak to the Sky Blue Trust at any time.

It was agreed by the Board that we needed to present a factual account of the financial picture of the club at the earliest opportunity. AT reported back on Rogers’s behalf that he still had a number of questions following scrutiny of the accounts. The board agreed that Roger should be asked to meet with Tim Fisher to establish answers to said questions and then to revise his report according to the information received from Tim Fisher so as to be suitable for publication on the Trust website. The Board agreed that it was its role to present the “voice of reason” and merely present the facts to members but invite them to ask any questions of concern or in need of clarity which the Board would then present to the CCFC Board/Owners, Coventry City Council, ACL etc. The Board also discussed the current uncertainty regarding the ownership of the stadium and it was agreed that we should seek a meeting with Council leader John Mutton for the up to date picture.

AP (2) MO to ask Roger if he is happy to pursue meeting with Tim Fisher.

AP (3) LB to speak to John Mutton with a view to meeting with members of the trust. 

As per the paper presented the Board agreed in principle to adopt a new financial fund “The Sky Blue Trust Community Partnership Fund” aimed at raising funds but rather than go for a large scale launch at this stage to write out to selected members (“high net worth individuals”) who have previously indicated they may be in a position to make a financial contribution to the Trust on a discreet basis so as to get a gauge of the likely response. 

Open Recruitment Meeting

The only available area that would be suitable to stage such a meeting on a match day ahead of the game would be G Casino. It was agreed to put this item back to November meeting but that an event before the Portsmouth fixture on November 24th would be ideal. GS would contact G Casino with a view to establishing a partnership with the Trust.  

AP (4) GS to pursue a partnership with G Casino.

Future Open Meetings

It was agreed that we would aim to get guest speakers at all future open meetings, wherever possible. Although the December 3rd meeting would comprise of a very short update meeting followed by a Sky Blue Quiz. MB would prepare and present this.

MB would also pursue Mark Robins with a view to future guest speaker slot (ideally November 5th meeting), GS would ask Steve Waggott for his availability for the future and RB would do likewise with Professor John Beech from the University of Warwick. The frequency of meetings was discussed but it was agreed to remain at monthly on the first Monday of each month.

AP5 MB, GS and RB to pursue guest speakers as above.

Sub Group Updates 

PR and Publicity

JM advised that he was preparing to produce an update of the Ricoh ownership situation and also that he proposed to ask Tim Fisher for further clarification of the 3 year plan he talked about at recent BBC Fans Forum.

JM also suggested that any board members who went on radio phone in etc introduced themselves as being an SBT Board member so as to further promote the organisation within the community.

Website

GS advised that we require a new graphic on website to improve its appearance. He also suggested that we include more information on the site to attract more interest. Suggestions included match verdicts /reports from attending board and ordinary members and fans view of events. GS also requested that anybody who hadn’t already done so provide a photograph and pen picture (including where they sit in the Ricoh) for inclusion on the site.

AP6 All Board members to ensure GS receives photograph and pen picture before next Board meeting.

History  

LB advised that he was in the process of producing a number of limited edition prints showing where the original Singers FC was founded. He suggested charging £10.00 for the print and any profit going towards the Trust. He would pursue this and report back at next meeting.

AOB

It was agreed that SB would purchase a tenor drum with the intention of getting the Sky Blue Trust logo printed on it for a volunteer member to play on behalf of the Trust at future CCFC matches at the Ricoh. 

AP7 SB to purchase drum on behalf of the trust.

AP8 JM to pursue PR possibilities with local media. 

MB reported that he had still not received confirmation from the management at The Kasbah with regard to the promotion/recruitment event planned thee on December 15th. He would pursue this and report back.

AP9 MB to pursue confirmation with Kasbah.

MO placed on record on behalf of the Trust his thanks to the member who kindly posted letters to all members who had not provided E mail or mobile phone contact details.

AT proposed and it was agreed by Board that Hartshaw accountants’ details were placed on website and that they become an official partner.

JM proposed that we placed links on website to London Supporters Association and CCFC Former Players Association. GS advised that we would need appropriate graphics for all partners included.

AP10 GS/JF to pursue as above.

JM suggested and it was agreed by board that we introduce a Sky Blue Trust player of the year award to be awarded at the end of each season.

Date of Next Meeting November 19th 2012 The Squirrel Pub 7.30pm

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