Barrow Raiders’ board of directors are seeking new investment through the sale of debentures, which will allow new members to effectively take a part-ownership in the club.
Under Barrow Raiders constitution, all debenture holders are members of the club, and it is the members who have the power to elect their board of directors of choice and to provide some influence on the direction of the club at company meetings.
The number of club members has been dwindling through the passage of time, and the last two AGMs have struggled to be quorate with only 21 members attending in 2024 and it needing to be rescheduled in 2023 after failing to reach the minimum of 20 attendees, excluding board members.
Message from the chairman:
I joined the club in 2018 and walked into a financial crisis that I was lucky enough to be able to stave off with a considerable personal cash injection. The financial ship was steadied somewhat in 2019, but the upshot of that was that we were not strong enough to fight off relegation.
Ironically, our best years financially were when we weren’t playing rugby during the COVID pandemic, and we were able to operate as a large hospitality venue and have the luxury of the furlough scheme paying most of our staff.
On the back of record profits in 2020 we invested heavily in remodelling the ground, adding our marquee and other bar and catering outlets, and we put together a side that won promotion back to the Championship at the end of 2021.
We hoped that we would be able to put a squad together to have a competitive Championship team, and we did just that by securing a fourth-place finish, playing some champagne rugby at times.
However, the financial warnings signs were there as our cash reserves began to dwindle, and I again started having to prop up the club.
Our income streams have diversified, and we are bringing more money into the club, but the big cut in central funds caused by a reduction in the TV deal, our purchase of the old Josephine’s nightclub to release a covenant on the ground restricting the sale of alcohol, and the loss of our Gold Rush lottery has hit hard.
For the past two seasons we have had a slight reduction in the playing budget, but I have had to put in significant sums through both donations and loans to keep the club solvent, and to keep the club with a team capable of remaining in the Championship.
It is testimony to the great work of our coach Paul Crarey and his team that we have kept our status when most clubs have a much bigger budget backed by wealthier individuals.
Much of our budget deficit is caused by short-term loan repayments, and the ideal solution to balance the books would be to re-mortgage and spread the debt over a much longer period, but there is a reluctance to provide funding to sporting clubs despite us having a great deal of equity in our ground.
So, the reason for the request for new members and investment through the sale of debentures is two-fold.
We need new younger members to be a part of Barrow Rugby League club, and we need a cash injection to help us through the next couple of challenging years whilst we still have the short-term debt to service.
From a personal perspective, I can’t do much more. I have invested all my life savings, have sold a second property I owned, have re-mortgaged my house and taken personal loans to help the club through the deficit of the last three years. I will continue to try my best, but I need help.
I am very proud of the journey that we have been on and to see crowds that have near-doubled, a much bigger sponsor base, a club that is firmly connected to the community through all the initiatives that our award-winning Foundation delivers, our ladies team in the very top division of the sport, and our men’s team consistently performing in the Championship.
The hard work continues as we try to establish a replacement of the lottery with our raffles, an events programme that will hopefully be well attended by the whole town, a new product range celebrating our history, addition of staff to our commercial team, putting competitive squads together for our Championship and WSL campaigns, providing pathways for both boys and girls through JETS, P2P and Furness Raiders, plans to firstly demolish and then redesign the Josephine’s site, and being in talks about being part of the regeneration of the town.
I have supported the club for as long as I can remember, coming to Craven Park in my primary school years. I was born and raised in Hindpool, and I love the club and would do anything to help it succeed.
And for that reason, if there are any big investors out there, then I would willingly step aside from my roles as chairman and CEO if it meant the club could prosper and be taken to even greater heights.
I would be willing to talk about a reconstitution of the club and taking a proposal back to members if I felt there was an offer out there that could continue the good work and take the club to the next level. If there was a commitment to improve the standard of both the men’s and women’s teams and keep our club as a beacon of the community, then it would be selfish of me not to listen.
Or if a big investor wanted me to remain in any capacity, then I would continue to work as hard as I have ever done for the good of the club.
Our town is about to receive some serious investment, and there are exciting times ahead for the community with an expanding workforce and the drive to improve the town as a whole.
Barrow Raiders are going to be part of those plans, and we still have a dream of playing at the very pinnacle of our sport. Despite the challenges, there are very good reasons to be optimistic about the future success of the club, given the progress we have made and the strong foundations we have in place.
In the short-term, we need new debenture holders and there will be a link at the bottom of this article with an easy option to buy. From there, you will be sent your certificate, you will be become owners of the club and have your say in the direction and the election of board members.
If we can get that cash injection to help us through the next couple of years, we can perhaps keep the status quo.
Of course, we need the fans backing simply by turning up to our matches and events, providing sponsorship and backing our initiatives. You can play your part just by doing as much as you feasibly can to support us.
But if we are going to really push forward, then there is room on the board of directors for individuals who can provide a cash injection, and I am most definitely open to a conversation related to a takeover for the right person or group with the club at heart.
Each debenture purchased allows one vote on company matters, including the election of directors, currently up to a maximum of 25,000 votes.
The debentures are only repayable by the club under certain circumstances, or if it chooses to do so.
Link to the sale of debentures: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/barrowraiders/1588054
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