Since Bees United was formed eight years ago it has raised nearly £460,000 from its members and general fundraising to support Brentford Football Club with loans. Of this figure, just over £50,000 was provided last year.
Altogether, Bees United has loaned Brentford Football Club more than £2.5 million, according to figures for the financial year ended 31 May 2009 that were made available on Thursday 26th November at Bees United’s ninth annual general meeting (AGM). During the same eight-year period, however, the Supporters’ Trust has borrowed about £2.1 million from third parties, some of whom sit on the Club’s board.
At the AGM, Chairman David Merritt said that Bees United’s five-year partnership with Matthew Benham – which will lead to more than £5 million being invested as preference shares in Brentford Football Club – meant that members could be more confident than ever before about Bees United achieving its core objective of protecting the Club’s long-term future.
“The partnership with Matthew Benham is a great success for Bees United, and enables us all to focus on the challenges that are five years away in a much more considered manner,” commented David Merritt. “We continue to work on finalising the deal, and expect the formalities to be concluded shortly.”
Meanwhile, however, the Club continues to lose money. Despite the best endeavours of a substantial volunteer effort off the pitch to minimise the financial loss – most notably from David Heath as Acting CEO of the Club and Alan Bird as Acting Finance Director – the Club was still in the red by £495,263 for the period. This compared with a £499,960 loss a year earlier. The Club’s total debts, including those to group companies, rose to £9.68 million.
“The partnership with Matthew Benham secures the necessary cashflow for the next five years, but off the pitch the challenge is as great as ever,” commented David Merritt. “Our ambition is to achieve the same as Arsenal Football Club – their league position and squad would be nice – but I am specifically referring to their ability to break even from normal operations. This target applies whether the Club is owned by Bees United, Matthew Benham or any other structure that may be appropriate in the future.”
“Bees United is as critical as ever to the future of Brentford Football Club,” he continued. “Life during the next five years, now a stable footing has been established, will be very different to how it has been over the past five years.”
“Our task today is to ensure that the Football Club takes full advantage of that stability,” he concluded, “and that Bees United uses the time productively to prepare for life beyond the five-year partnership.”
The Bees United 2008-2009 Annual Report and Accounts can be downloaded here.
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