Investment

[RednBlackComeback]

17 minutes ago, Yngwie said:

Oops, he tagged Central Highlands Regional Council (which is in Australia)!

Trying to figure out why he would thank the council anyway for putting trust in him, it implies he’s had to liaise with them on something?

Selling the lease of the stadium !

[STFU]

12 minutes ago, Yngwie said:

He was just the stooge in that, wasn’t he?

Anyway, latest info from Makwana makes it sound like Nelson was already monitoring the UK football market for opportunities and the press coverage of our demise put ICT on his radar.

No idea what John Colquhoun does these days but interesting that he was used as a source of info on the club. I’d imagine he could readily pick up the phone to Robbo if he wanted a well informed view of the state of the club?

Given the lack of any obvious finances Makwana could be just a front man.

[STFU]

1 minute ago, RednBlackComeback said:

Selling the lease of the stadium !

Beat me to it.

Despite my earlier post, I'm finding it hard not to be worried by all this.

It's got similar characteristics to what was done by tulloch to move debt away from the club along with stadium ownership.  Worse because we don't know the first thing about the person/people behind it.

[+DoofersDad]

The Courier has it that Seventy7 Ventures are already the new owners with a majority shareholding.  I think that reflects the standard of local journalism these days rather the reality of the situations.  But fair play to the Courier, they have done a bit of digging and quote Makwana reflecting on his proposals at Hayes and Yeading.  Makwana said this:-

 

 “For the last three years I have been studying football ownership, management and discovering good and bad practices.

“Football is no longer a business entity that can rely on owner/chairman to keep injecting money in the bid that they will secure a payday by getting into Championship or Premier League – in fact some reports suggest nearly two-thirds of Championship clubs are operating with negative EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation).

“The business of football has grown up and matured, football is now actually the last element in the business cycle… commercialisation, fan engagement, entertainment, leisure options and community building is paramount for success.

“It is my opinion that blockchain technology and digital assets are integral to the transition of business success.”

“One of the first things I want to instil at the club is better facilities for fans and visitors plus develop a multifunctional site that will allow us to maximise usage of space,” he said about Hayes and Yeading United.

“New food and beverage is being introduced over the next 12-24 weeks. The reconfiguration of the ground floor of the main stand will bring better facilities for the staff and playing team.

“The construction of the upper floor of main stand will bring a chairman’s lounge, media suite plus two incredible function halls (150 and 500 capacity). Three new entrances: Directors and Media, Terrace Bar and Atrium will provide a more logical flow.

“Fan Park will be pedestrianised and allow for match day hospitality and private events. New changing facilities and referee rooms for the 3G pitch.”

He added: “There is a lot of work to do but the early indications to the proposed strategy is showing a 10x return on the investment and rollout”.

 

It all sounds too good to be true.  10x return on the investment and rollout!  And yet he never did get to take over Hayes and Yeading.  It would be good to know exactly why!

[Satan]

Just now, DoofersDad said:

 

 

It all sounds too good to be true.  10x return on the investment and rollout!  And yet he never did get to take over Hayes and Yeading.  It would be good to know exactly why!

Start with finding the 5 other clubs that have turned him down.

[Yngwie]

I might be doing a 2+2=5, but with Seventy7 focusing on creative industries, digital assets, blockchain blah blah blah, and with his inspiration from Wrexham too, is it all possible that he sees an opportunity to build a global online base of ‘subscribers’ for want of a better word, who would pay a fee to become stakeholders in some form, perhaps even (shudder) being able to vote on certain decisions regarding the team? Merging simulation games with the real world, in other words.

[+Fraz]

17 hours ago, ictchris said:

As someone noted on P&B, our board consists of a bunch of retired doctors and vets, most of whom are in their 70s and they've been sweet talked / rain-made by some Web3, crypto bro.  You just hope that at some point someone checks that there is money there but I don't hold out much hope.

Seems they've been (and continue to be) charmed for years on Gardiner's Koolaid so it's not a stretch. 

[+DoofersDad]

8 minutes ago, Yngwie said:

I might be doing a 2+2=5, but with Seventy7 focusing on creative industries, digital assets, blockchain blah blah blah, and with his inspiration from Wrexham too, is it all possible that he sees an opportunity to build a global online base of ‘subscribers’ for want of a better word, who would pay a fee to become stakeholders in some form, perhaps even (shudder) being able to vote on certain decisions regarding the team? Merging simulation games with the real world, in other words.

Who knows?  If this company are the real deal and genuinely want to make the club successful they should be open to sharing what their business record is, what their plans are and how they are going to be funded.  There is local funding to be tapped into, but it wont be released if local people and businesses are kept in the dark.  All the fancy guff in Makwana's quotes count for absolutely nothing.  Of course, I hope that there is real substance here and that Makwana can deliver something positive and sustainable.  And if it follows a very different and innovative business model, then great!  But "maybe" and "perhaps" simply don't cut it.  This is OUR club.  ICT is not a plaything for some self-styled entrepreneur with little evidence of business success.

[+Fraz]

13 hours ago, Yngwie said:

I think that is the only sensible position to take at this stage.

Interesting though that so many of our fans have, without any of the necessary information, already concluded very negatively. 

Based on the decisions the board / CEO have made over the last half decade, and the position Seventy7 seem to have as a business, you're surprised fans are skeptical? 

[+snorbens_caleyman]

1 hour ago, Charles Bannerman said:

Which raises another question. What did Mr Makanwa mean precisely when he was quoted yesterday as saying “WE at Seventy7….”?

Without going back to check the quote, I would assume that he means the people whom he has lined up - or hopes to line up - to invest in his "venture".

That's his business model, isn't it?  Get others to invest - presumably they get tax relief for investing in a venture capital scheme - build up a company, and then get out, with everybody, including him, recovering their original investments together with handsome profits.

In theory this should leave a healthy company - ICTFC in this case - but, as Scotty pointed out yesterday, this isn't always the case.  And removing the investments could finish off the business.

Interesting that he is looking to set up a venture capital fund this year or next.  These are generally regarded as high risk/high return, and often make relatively small investments in many new businesses, on the assumption that most of them will tank but one or two will bring in massive profits.

 

One interesting point is that ICTFC is not, by any definition, a "new" company. I don't know what the rules are around venture capital investing, but it does tend to be associated with new companies.

This would suggest to me that he intends to set up a new company associated with the club - either by liquidating the current private limited company and transferring its assets to a new company, or by setting up a new company of which the football club is a subsidiary.

We live in interesting times....

[big cherly]

Hears what the ‘wind’ just said to me!!!.

1) S7V are a face for the real players in the background. (Jersey).

2) They will gain 51% of the shares, so they control everything going forward. Ignore any opposition.

3) They plan to build hotel, flats and gaming centre. No profits go to the club. 
4) The council has supported this plan in principle.

5) The football club get 250K rental for the land the hotel, flats and gaming centre stand. 

6) S Gardiner is definitely part of the above plan going forward. 
 

Take from it what you like or care. For me it’s again non-highland people in control of the club. If we haven’t already tumbled on their interests are not in the long term of the club, city and area, do I question where this all leads in 3-5 years - YES!!!

Edited July 27 by big cherly

[+snorbens_caleyman]

1 hour ago, Yngwie said:

I might be doing a 2+2=5, but with Seventy7 focusing on creative industries, digital assets, blockchain blah blah blah, and with his inspiration from Wrexham too, is it all possible that he sees an opportunity to build a global online base of ‘subscribers’ for want of a better word, who would pay a fee to become stakeholders in some form, perhaps even (shudder) being able to vote on certain decisions regarding the team? Merging simulation games with the real world, in other words.

And here's what I wrote on the 5th of June    https://caleythistleonline.com/topic/36262-kelty-is-this-a-joke-merged-thread/page/33/#comment-566433  

"Turn ourselves into a global soap opera on the internet.  "See the plucky Highlanders' fight for survival!".  Regular update episodes, and global pay-per-view of matches.  Spin-offs and merchandising.  Prequels covering the past 30 years.  Everyone's heard of the Loch Ness Monster, so feature Lionel Nessie heavily.  Get written into the Outlander TV series.

Only need to hook 1 person in a million to get 8,000 subscribers.

Yes, I know, we'd need to finance a production company, scriptwriters, marketing....  I'll stop now before I start believing this stuff  "

Edited July 27 by snorbens_caleyman
formatting

[+snorbens_caleyman]

18 minutes ago, big cherly said:

3) They plan to build hotel, flats and gaming centre. No profits go to the club.

I'm not disputing any of this.  But if that's the intention, then I don't understand why it has to be based around the football club.

There is plenty of unused land to the south-east, on the sea side of the A9 all the way to the A96 junction.   Admittedly, a lot of this is land that was reclaimed in my lifetime.  It used to be the tip, so I don't know if it's useable, or if there are toxic chemicals and/or methane in the ground.  But it would offer the same geographical advantages as the stadium side - proximity to the A9, A96, the town centre, and not far from the airport.

So why not just build there?

Unless the Council has said "We'll let you do that if you rescue the football club."?

[CELTIC1CALEY3]

Just now, snorbens_caleyman said:

I'm not disputing any of this.  But if that's the intention, then I don't understand why it has to be based around the football club.

There is plenty of unused land to the south-east, on the sea side of the A9 all the way to the A96 junction.   Admittedly, a lot of this is land that was reclaimed in my lifetime.  It used to be the tip, so I don't know if it's useable, or if there are toxic chemicals and/or methane in the ground.  But it would offer the same geographical advantages as the stadium side - proximity to the A9, A96, the town centre, and not far from the airport.

So why not just build there?

Unless the Council has said "We'll let you do that if you rescue the football club."?

The Council has previously explored developing the tip.

[Yngwie]

43 minutes ago, big cherly said:

Hears what the ‘wind’ just said to me!!!.

1) S7V are a face for the real players in the background. (Jersey).

2) They will gain 51% of the shares, so they control everything going forward. Ignore any opposition.

3) They plan to build hotel, flats and gaming centre. No profits go to the club. 
4) The council has supported this plan in principle.

5) The football club get 250K rental for the land the hotel, flats and gaming centre stand. 

6) S Gardiner is definitely part of the above plan going forward. 
 

Take from it what you like or care. For me it’s again non-highland people in control of the club. If we haven’t already tumbled on their interests are not in the long term of the club, city and area, do I question where this all leads in 3-5 years - YES!!!

Interesting info and sounds perfectly plausible. Anyone brave or foolish enough to invest in a football club like us needs to have a way of getting a return, which certainly isn’t going to come from the current business model.

Not sure if it was a deliberate and careful choice of words on your part regarding SG involvement, but him being ‘part of the plan’ could be very different to him remaining CEO of the footballing operation?

[Starscape]

The guy seems to want to be a football club owner. Many owners are doing it for the very same reason. They usually lose their money over it. This guy doesn't have money to lose, so he's thinking how he can do that and not spend money. I can see Blockchain maybe working for Wolves and the like. Relatively big clubs but not that big. Stakeholders, even if they've never been to Wolverhampton, can still see them against bigger clubs in the Premiership or Championship. Spend £50 and be in with a chance of getting into the director's box for a game against Man U. Not sure how that relates to Inverness.

What about living within your means? Any extra gets invested in the team without relying upon it? Having a proven manager in the lower leagues to develop players? Having the expectation of being a Stirling Albion, with the hope of being a Motherwell? Trying our best but not expecting 3rd place, Europe and cup finals? All added bonuses.

I never expected ICT to be as, or more, successful than St Mirren when I swapped Love Street for Telford when the club merged (I was living in Inverness). Great what we achieved but, had we done a Stirling, I would still be supporting them.  

[BroadstoneParkJag]

some self-styled entrepreneur with little evidence of business success.

That's exactly what he is

•  
• Quote

 

[Leaky Blinder]

2 hours ago, DoofersDad said:

 

 “For the last three years I have been studying football ownership, management and discovering good and bad practices.

3 years ... ! .. not a Rangers man then .. 

 

[Stephen Malkmus]

1 hour ago, big cherly said:

Hears what the ‘wind’ just said to me!!!.

1) S7V are a face for the real players in the background. (Jersey).

2) They will gain 51% of the shares, so they control everything going forward. Ignore any opposition.

3) They plan to build hotel, flats and gaming centre. No profits go to the club. 
4) The council has supported this plan in principle.

5) The football club get 250K rental for the land the hotel, flats and gaming centre stand. 

6) S Gardiner is definitely part of the above plan going forward. 
 

Take from it what you like or care. For me it’s again non-highland people in control of the club. If we haven’t already tumbled on their interests are not in the long term of the club, city and area, do I question where this all leads in 3-5 years - YES!!!

1. The only Jersey involvement is that this guy has secured a short-term loan from a lender in Jersey. There is no mystery Jersey investor.

2. Nothing suggests that this will happen.

3. There is zero evidence of this. Doing that would be miles above his level of competence and beyond his financial means.

4. The Council would not support this plan in principle. It would need to go through the planning process and would take far longer than 8 weeks, not to mention legals for the lease. This guy has had no serious discussions with the Council, he is a fantasist who thinks it makes him sound important to say he has been in discussions with the Council. He couldn't even tag the correct Council in his Linkedin post.

5. No evidence of this.

6. Probably true.

[Yngwie]

55 minutes ago, Starscape said:

Spend £50 and be in with a chance of getting into the director's box for a game against Man U. Not sure how that relates to Inverness.

Spend £50 and get to come in as a sub? No names mentioned.

[Jack Waddington]

1 hour ago, big cherly said:

Hears what the ‘wind’ just said to me!!!.

1) S7V are a face for the real players in the background. (Jersey).

2) They will gain 51% of the shares, so they control everything going forward. Ignore any opposition.

3) They plan to build hotel, flats and gaming centre. No profits go to the club. 
4) The council has supported this plan in principle.

5) The football club get 250K rental for the land the hotel, flats and gaming centre stand. 

6) S Gardiner is definitely part of the above plan going forward. 
 

Take from it what you like or care. For me it’s again non-highland people in control of the club. If we haven’t already tumbled on their interests are not in the long term of the club, city and area, do I question where this all leads in 3-5 years - YES!!!

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb should focus on making the North and South stands less of a death trap before focusing on personal financial gains

 

But that would make too much sense for them so they won't do that...

[Achfary]

3 hours ago, Yngwie said:

Courier article has various quotes from Makwana regarding his involvement with and plans for Hayes and Yeading. Most of it sounds good, community building and fan engagement etc, although it also comes across that his knowledge of running a football club stems from binge watching the Wrexham thing on Netflix.

https://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/news/meet-the-new-owner-of-caley-thistle-ketan-makwana-who-has-se-356646/

Not for me.  It comes across as wildly imaginative, in the same way that Elisabeth McClure said that when she was young, she had imagination to plan to build a swimming pool in her tree house, but lacked the creativity and knowledge to actually make it work / realise it was not practical.

For me, the klaxons are ringing because there isn't any business acumen or monies evident, just a sequence of small-scale loss-making failed attempts at it.  Certainly there's no shortage of bombast, but nothing to suggest it is well placed.  Steve Riley has said in P&J he is a nice fella, but the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Anyway, Seventy7Ventures and its director is a complete distraction, as it is yet to emerge where the money is actually coming from and the identity of the actual movers and shakers.    

[Charles Bannerman]

8 minutes ago, Stephen Malkmus said:

 This guy has had no serious discussions with the Council, he is a fantasist who thinks it makes him sound important to say he has been in discussions with the Council. He couldn't even tag the correct Council in his Linkedin post.

I don’t have access to Linkedin but are you saying that he is claiming to have had discussions with HC but when it came to saying this on Linkedin he flagged up a completely different Highland Council - presumably in some other country?

[IBM]

15 minutes ago, Charles Bannerman said:

I don’t have access to Linkedin but are you saying that he is claiming to have had discussions with HC but when it came to saying this on Linkedin he flagged up a completely different Highland Council - presumably in some other country?

Central Highland Council 

[+Fraz]

47 minutes ago, IBM said:

Central Highland Council 

In Australia.

Pretty much on brand for our level of business acumen. He'll fit right in.