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NO SHOW BY INVESTORS AT AGM
(Wednesday 26th February 2014)
Wycombe Wanderers Trust

The proposed sale of Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is still on hold after a no-show by the potential investors at the Trust AGM on Wednesday 26th February 2014. The shock news of the proposed sale of the Football Club had been revealed on 13th February 2014 and explained to members at a meeting five days later. However, the Trust informed members the day before the AGM that the potential purchasers of a majority stake in the Football Club would not be present. Also, for 'continuing legal reasons', the Trust would not be able to name them during the AGM.

The Trust AGM went on to present its first set of Annual Accounts that also included figures for Wycombe Wanderers Football Club (WWFC) and Frank Adams Lecacy Limited (FALL). The key figures showed a total operating loss for the year ending 30 June 2013 of Ł1.77m compared to Ł592K the previous year. The accounts confirmed a figure of Ł350,000 received for the sale and lease back of the Training Ground to an as yet unconfirmed group.

With regards to operating as a 'going concern', the accounts included the comment, "The Club continues to progress on sorting out the issues inherited on acquisition. Huge support has been given by Supporters Direct and other Institutions and stakeholders that enable the Board to be confident that the club will work through all issues towards the aim of a sustainable breakeven business."

It's understood that cash flow remains a major concern for the Club and the effort to unravel the entwined finacial affair of WWFC and London Wasps has been described by the Trust as like trying to seperate Siamese twins. During this time the Trust have been grateful for loans (albeit at a relatively high interest rate) by a newly formed company known as 'Chairboys Funders Limited'. This consists of a around 30 supporters who had loaned the Club a total figure of around Ł450,000 (as of October 2013). Wages & Salaries remain a major outgoing, although these has fallen to Ł2.8m for the year ending June 2013, compared to Ł3.5 for the year ending June 2012. Trust officials at the AGM confirmed the value of Adams Park at Ł7m and that the outstanding loans (residing with FALL totalled around Ł2.5m). The debt had been reduced by around Ł400K during the year.

But it has been the proposed sale of the Club that has grabbed most of the headlines and again it proved frustrating for Trust officials and members alike that they couldn't attend. Trust Chairman Trevor Stroud commented "We completely understand this will be a huge disappointment to you, as indeed it is to us. We have now asked them for a confirmed date when they will be able to present their plans to you, and as soon as we have this, a further meeting will be arranged." The reason for the no-show had been explained by the consortium as being because they were still carrying out their 'due diligence' investigations on the Football Club. The Trust confirmed that they hoped to resolve the matter 'in the next few days' but were also continuing with their 'Plan B' option to raise funds through supporter donations. It was also revealed that an offer had also been recieved from a local consortium offering to underwrite any shortfall on the Ł2m target. Consultation with Supporters Direct will continue this week on the 'Plan B' option.

Other business at the AGM saw the election of Trust officers Colin Treacher (237 votes), Alan Cecil (204), David Cook (197) and Garry Heath (193) - all of whom retained their places on the Trust Board. James Sumner (123 votes) missed out on getting elected for the first time.

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