He's got to go

How can it not be holding us back? The strategy appears to be to generate enough of a surplus each and every year to pay him back in instalments over time. That's money that each and every year could be invested in the infrastructure of the club. Money to move us forwards, instead we are on life support and will be probably for another decade at this rate.

Pleased we have so many caring supporters who are going to buy the club. Whose first in line.

Quoted from moosey_club

Devils advocate here but.....has he not effectively gone officially?
Not sure on company law etc but does majority shareholder actually entitle him to make decisions ?  Have a say as a board member yes...but actually dictate?
The only thing keeping his say as important as it is is the fact he will underwrite agreed losses as an individual ...something the rest of the board wont/ cant.
Yes he has outstanding loans....but If someone else would underwrite any ongoing/ future annual losses....(which we seem to pretty much avoid nowadays anyway) then his say is less important isnt it ?
If we dont have the money to pay his loans back then he cant cash them back in and if doing so made us insolvent then he would only get a percentage wouldn't he?

So though I’m not a lawyer or accountant I work for a business that deals with and supports company boards and directors.

IN terms of corporate law I’d assume JF holds B shares, in simple terms he owns the fixed assets, property and has his name on amongst other things any leases.

I’m not 100% sure as it can differ but I’d imagine the rest of the board could own a mix of A’s and B’s but to be a board Director you need either/both depending on the articles and heads of terms of any share sale/purchase and the corporate make up of your board, there are many variables.

Both share types can take distributable profit (dividends) from a business once profit buffers have been satisfied. The agreed buffer can be flexed usually with the agreement if the directors but not necessarily so, usually it’s stipulated by a finance director........... shut up!!!

The shares we can buy are usually “ordinary” traded to generate capital these shareholders can take a dividend and also get the opportunity to attend AGM’s and vote upon certain resolutions.

In most companies each board member has 1 vote regardless of equity levels.

What is interesting is the period where we didn’t have a chairman as the rest of the board can agree by vote or proxy to appoint a chairman as long as everyone is in (majority) agreement. A chairman can have a casting vote if they’re a director they also get their own vote, so in essence 2 votes on any resolution.

JF may have more shares but it shouldn’t give him more votes unless the other directors allow it....... which I’d suggest as he appointed most of them wouldn’t provide him with much push back.

Well - at the time - you don’t think anything of it - but in the early 2000s  the late Peter Furneaux told me that John was being trained up as the new chairman. - as no one else wanted it. John showed me around Blundell Park - one of the best experiences of my life - match day v Carlisle Utd - we lost - asked Russell afterwards about his flipchart why there was 2 ?? against Ararnalde against Bloomer - signed that morning.
We lost - Tom Newey smashed the bar with a penalty. Glen Murray came on and turned the game for Carlisle. Ciaran Toner scored for us early on.
Toasted the Loving Cup at the end - before disappearing into another 15 years of obscurity  😀

Well - at the time - you don’t think anything of it - but in the early 2000s  the late Peter Furneaux told me that John was being trained up as the new chairman. - as no one else wanted it. John showed me around Blundell Park - one of the best experiences of my life - match day v Carlisle Utd - we lost - asked Russell afterwards about his flipchart why there was 2 ?? against Ararnalde against Bloomer - signed that morning.
We lost - Tom Newey smashed the bar with a penalty. Glen Murray came on and turned the game for Carlisle. Ciaran Toner scored for us early on.
Toasted the Loving Cup at the end - before disappearing into another 15 years of obscurity  😀

What do Newport and Exeter have in common, apart from being consistently better than us?

There is this pervading idea that a football club has to be bought and run by a wealthy businessman. The biggest financial contributor to clubs at our level is the paying fan, but many seem to forget that. How much do our board contribute financially each season? It's a number less than 1.

For those that keep banging on about getting rid of Fenty, since he is the major shareholder, who do you propose to take over his mantle, and where is the money to achieve it? Fenty himself has said that if there is an interested party, so long as they are genuine, he will step aside. When Shutes, (remember him?) was interested, the price was agreed between him and Fenty, but Shutes did his famous disappearing act. At least Fenty is a fan of the club, unlike for example, Swann at Scunny, who just wants to own and run a football club, but has no allegiance to them. Fenty does not have the sort of wealth to throw millions at GTFC, unlike Swann, and, to me, that is the real problem here, money, or lack of it.

Years ago I use to drink with Furneaux's son, Martin. He once said that Fenty was the business brains, Furneaux was the football brains. When Furneaux had to retire, Fenty had to be both. Maybe, when the covid thing has gone, Holloway can be the football brains, and make the club more professional.

Until Shutes, or whoever, turns up with the money to buy out Fenty and invest heavily in Town, we are in limbo, stuck with what we have. You can protest, demonstrate, jump up and down, spit your dummies out as much as you like, demanding Fenty leaves, but you can change diddly squat.

UP THE MARINERS!

Quoted from HertsGTFC

So though I’m not a lawyer or accountant I work for a business that deals with and supports company boards and directors.

IN terms of corporate law I’d assume JF holds B shares, in simple terms he owns the fixed assets, property and has his name on amongst other things any leases.

I’m not 100% sure as it can differ but I’d imagine the rest of the board could own a mix of A’s and B’s but to be a board Director you need either/both depending on the articles and heads of terms of any share sale/purchase and the corporate make up of your board, there are many variables.

Both share types can take distributable profit (dividends) from a business once profit buffers have been satisfied. The agreed buffer can be flexed usually with the agreement if the directors but not necessarily so, usually it’s stipulated by a finance director........... shut up!!!

The shares we can buy are usually “ordinary” traded to generate capital these shareholders can take a dividend and also get the opportunity to attend AGM’s and vote upon certain resolutions.

In most companies each board member has 1 vote regardless of equity levels.

What is interesting is the period where we didn’t have a chairman as the rest of the board can agree by vote or proxy to appoint a chairman as long as everyone is in (majority) agreement. A chairman can have a casting vote if they’re a director they also get their own vote, so in essence 2 votes on any resolution.

JF may have more shares but it shouldn’t give him more votes unless the other directors allow it....... which I’d suggest as he appointed most of them wouldn’t provide him with much push back.

I think you’re over complicating it. There are no different share types in GTFC. Just the one type, all nominally valued at £1. All with equal weight in decision making. All eligible for the same dividend % if ever there was one. But the end conclusion is the same as you arrived at.

John Fenty has the most, but under 50%, followed by Parker and the Trust (but collectively less than Fenty). The rest have naff all. But JF has control of the club by reason of his shareholding, outstanding loans and financial commitment to the club (I assume this is the undertaking to fund an overdraft up to a certain level). This is noted in the company accounts each year.

Security for the loans is provided by the assets of the club. I.e. if he doesn’t get paid back, he gets to own the property. Much the same position as if we owed a bank money, but he is personally committed to the club in a way a bank never would. It’s safer than owing a bank the money.

He is still a board director so has the right to attend meetings, but as I understand it he doesn’t exercise this right often now. Board decisions are taken on a one man one vote basis (and they are all men). But if there is a decision that JF doesn’t approve of, ultimately he can say no.

Quoted from moosey_club

Devils advocate here but.....has he not effectively gone officially?
Not sure on company law etc but does majority shareholder actually entitle him to make decisions ?  Have a say as a board member yes...but actually dictate?
The only thing keeping his say as important as it is is the fact he will underwrite agreed losses as an individual ...something the rest of the board wont/ cant.
Yes he has outstanding loans....but If someone else would underwrite any ongoing/ future annual losses....(which we seem to pretty much avoid nowadays anyway) then his say is less important isnt it ?
If we dont have the money to pay his loans back then he cant cash them back in and if doing so made us insolvent then he would only get a percentage wouldn't he?

I'm not an accountant but if the club was to fold would the debts (I assume JF is the biggest creditor) be greater than the cost of the land that BP is on?

Quoted from arryarryarry

I'm not an accountant but if the club was to fold would the debts (I assume JF is the biggest creditor) be greater than the cost of the land that BP is on?

Correct. See my post above. It’s in black and white in the accounts. Or was in last year’s. Haven’t got around to this year’s yet. I doubt that position has changed though.