Andy and Lisa's Members' Update

 

13/02

Dear member

I trust that you have wintered well and are looking forward, as we all are, to the return of county cricket in a few weeks' time.

While our players’ preparations are well underway for the new season, off the field, we have commenced 2025 with two major strategic items at the very forefront of our minds.

Firstly, the redevelopment of the Trent Bridge Pavilion is now underway - and as we have previously shared with you, this project is vital in securing our future as a Test Match venue. We will be able to provide you with a more detailed update at the upcoming AGM on Monday 24 February.

Secondly, the ECB-led process to secure private investment into the eight teams competing in The Hundred yesterday reached a crucial stage, as the sale of a stake in Southern Brave signalled the conclusion of the auction process.

Throughout the process, there has been significant interest in all teams from a range of prospective investors, with eight bidders now entering an exclusivity period.

We thought that it would be useful to share the ECB’s summary of the process to date, which has been released this morning, and is available here…

ECB Chair Richard Thompson, meanwhile, has written a message to the whole game, which is available here…

The ECB have also compiled answers to a series of frequently asked questions on the process, which can be found here…

First question, and one everyone who sees the numbers that have been bid, WHAT ARE THEY BUYING FOR THEIR £40 M stakes? What influence does £40M get you? They only want to answer what that sum of money doesn't get not what Cain and ARE want in return.

Throughout this process, our overarching principle has been to seek the best partner for Trent Rockets; one which shares our ambition for growing the reach of the team, but that also respects the heritage and tradition of our club, and shares our love for all formats of the game.

With that in mind, we can confirm that Cain International and Ares Management are to be our partners in owning Trent Rockets, when ownership of the team transfers to us later this year.

You can read more about Cain and Ares here...

We now enter an eight-week period of exclusivity, and there remains much work to be done during this period. Following the satisfactory conclusion of the exclusivity period, Cain and Ares will acquire the ECB’s 49% stake in Trent Rockets, while we will retain the majority 51% stake.

We look forward to delivering our reports at AGM and providing you with further updates on these key developments.

Thank you for your support as we’ve worked through this critically important period for Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club, and for the wider professional and recreational game.

Lisa Pursehouse

Chief Executive

Andy Hunt

Chair

29/01

And still not a dickie bird out those two

28/01

As Lancashire CCC have now rearranged a Members' Forum for 12 February

where the 

"Key items on the agenda will include the nature of our preferred partner in The Hundred investment process, the potential financial outcome and most importantly the potential use of any funds generated."

Why hasn't anyone from NCCC followed-up with their promise to keep our  membership informed? 

Are they waiting a little longer to present a done deal, once the deal is done?

In what way is that consultation?

21 Oct 2024

THE SALE OF TRENT ROCKETS

with comments

Dear member,

With the 2024 season concluded and the autumnal weather taking hold, we wanted to thank you for your support of the club and for your continued interest in the challenges and opportunities this winter will provide.

This year, our off-season is shaping up to be particularly important as we look to progress our plans to redevelop the Trent Bridge Pavilion and to continue with our ongoing discussions around The Hundred – in particular, how best to harness the interest from potential private investors.

and how the latter can pay for the former

Over the course of the season, we have consulted with members through written updates and events, where we presented the latest developments and listened to your views. The forums we held in August were very constructive and helped us to begin to address your questions and concerns, and to shape our feedback to the ECB.

this is where the consultation has been mis-sold to members! Members have not been consulted, they have been given an opportunity to ask questions but haven't been able to question those responses. At no point were members "consulted" before a policy ( the pathway going forward / the direction of travel) was presented as a done deal.

Oxford Dictionary: CONSULT seek information or advice from...

In essence the Chair and the CEO have got the whole process backwards, by design and are using phrases like "we have consulted with members" in an attempt to hoodwink members into thinking that they, the members, have had a choice and have agreed to this process.

There were some common themes emerging from the feedback we have received, but we are aware that many members were not able to attend those consultation events. We have, therefore, summarised the responses to date in a detailed Frequently Asked Questions document, which you can read here...

again they have made their decisions, so you can  put-up with it and shut up, but please read those FAQs

You can also access the slides that were presented at the forums here...

previously screen grabbed and shown on Nottsview

During this year’s tournament, the ECB sought to establish the level of interest amongst private investors in taking stakes in the eight teams. The club has supported this process by hosting several interested parties who were keen to understand the cricketing, commercial and operational standing of our teams and our venue.

The ECB commenced the first stage of the sales process at the end of September, with interested parties invited to signal their intent. Potential investors have received marketing materials and financial projections for all eight teams and have been given the opportunity to ask the ECB and its advisors any initial questions.

This was a really important step as we continue to develop the process. It was designed to ascertain the level of interest from investors and to give the game a steer on the financial impact of any potential sale of stakes in the eight teams.

This stage of the process concluded on Friday 18 October, and we understand there has been significant interest. By the end of this week, we expect the ECB to update us and to inform us of the level of interest private investors have shown in Trent Rockets.

We are aware that a high-profile sales process such as this will be subject to a great deal of speculation in the media, which is likely to continue in the months ahead.

and hopefully a great deal of scrutiny as well by real independent professionals

There is still much to be determined and discussed and you can be assured that we will continue to provide updates as the process evolves and look forward to continuing the consultation process in the weeks ahead.

there they go again, they are not going to seek information or advice from the members, they intend to tell the members when they've done the deal for better or for worse.

Please do get in touch if you have any thoughts or comments by emailing thehundred@trentbridge.co.uk

I just might

Am I alone in feeling that when told that there would be a consultation with members, that it was to be the club that would be consulting with the members, not a presentation where the Chair and CEO inform members after the event (and them calling that a consultation)?

Winter well.

Lisa Pursehouse

Chief Executive

Andy Hunt

Chair