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Investment Proposal - Trust ballot

Colesman Ballz

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Dec 28, 2014
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14,846
I am in support of the project.

On any analysis this is a one off project given that the cost is £2 million plus.

One concern I have is that the contractor company has a very weak balance sheet.
A building contractor going bust in the middle of a contract is a nightmare scenario. Companies do not like taking over the work of others and completing it. Not only can it cause long delays, but it can get horrendously expensive. It can be very challenging just to find someone prepared to take this on.
 

Red Bill

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Dec 9, 2011
Messages
2,876
Fully support this proposal in its current form. The club appear to be being very conservative in their financial predictions and with the independent due diligence process to go through, there should be plenty of opportunities to identify weaknesses in the plans. I'm very much in favour of completing the infrastructure improvements while the opportunity is there as I believe providing a stable base in vital to facilitate the on field progress we all want to see. There's no such thing as risk are and no matter how carefully you prepare and plan, there's always scope for something to go wrong, but it seems to me that the club aren't going into this with their eye shut.

Hopefully a look at the cashflow predictions might be a bit of a reality check for some people and help them understand we're not quite as flush as some have assumed following our recent windfalls.

I think some posters are focussing a little too much on the benefits to the academy form this though, whilst it will of course benefit the academy set up and provide some of the infrastructure we'll need should we decide in the future to go fo an upgraded status, I think its important to realise also the benefit to the first team as well. As they mention in the plans, this would i'm sure help to persuade better players to commit to the club. If we want to move forward and become a L1 club we will need L1 standard players to get us there. If I was a league one player I may bee interested in ECFC due to the fact we've been regularly up there challenging for several seasons, but if I arrived at the training ground and found a knackered old wood pavilion and a few portacabins, I might not feel quite so impressed.
 

John William

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Dec 14, 2009
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Byll is right. We tend to forget that the C&F, not SJP, is the players' place of work.
 

Andy_H

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Joined
Aug 1, 2010
Messages
1,088
All you have to do is take a look around the C&F to see that the buildings are seriously past it's
sell by date' by about 40 years. If we consider ourselves as a 'Professional' club then how can we allow the players 'dining room' to also be their Gym and rehab area.

I know that with Covid the C&F is still closed to non essential visitors but maybe Scott and his gang could do a video of the facilities to be posted on the Cub Website to just show how antiquated things are out there.

It's not the Real Estate that's the problem is the buildings, we've updated the Ground Staff facilities, have a state of the art all weather pitch, now is definitely the time to move closer to the gate and clear what is, in effect, an eye sore.
If you're still wondering which way i'll be voting then, possibly best to read again. :)
 

ExmouthMart

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Jun 19, 2013
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1,486
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Bristol
Apologies if this is mentioned elsewhere but has alternative forms of energy supply been included in the proposed design?! Surely in this day and age this is one of the driving factors in a new build no matter what it’s purpose is. Solar power or a wind turbine would be a far better source of power. Sewage and waste water disposal is also an important issue. Our green credentials should not be overlooked in this and should be viewed with the same importance as value for money and completing the project on time.
 

iscalad

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Aug 22, 2007
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Far away across the field
 

rightwing

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Mar 9, 2004
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5,997
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Plymouth
Most of the reservations on this project centre around the financial robustness of the contractor. Edward has hit the nail on the head by stating that appropriate contract performance bonds should be incorporated into the contract. Performance bonds are a safeguard for the client in the event of the contractor going into liquidation and not being able to complete the project. The bond is normally taken out by the contractor for 10% of the contract sum, in this case £220,000. If the contractor defaults then the bond is used to cover the costs of reletting the contract. The bond document is held by the client during the contract period. It is released back to the contractor on successful completion of the contract (sometimes held longer to cover the defects liability period).

As far as the contractor is concerned the bond would be an insurance cost with the funding provided by a bank or an insurance company.

There are also several simple due diligence tests that the club should undertake:-

  • Ask the club bankers to ascertain the latest contractor financial position (things can change rapidly from the last published balance sheet). Gain an opinion that the contractor should be able to complete the contract.
  • The club could write to organisations where the contractor has recently finished projects to ascertain that the whole contract process ran smoothly.
 

grecian-near-hell

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Feb 12, 2009
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Cornwood
Apologies if this is mentioned elsewhere but has alternative forms of energy supply been included in the proposed design?! Surely in this day and age this is one of the driving factors in a new build no matter what it’s purpose is. Solar power or a wind turbine would be a far better source of power. Sewage and waste water disposal is also an important issue. Our green credentials should not be overlooked in this and should be viewed with the same importance as value for money and completing the project on time.
You are Dale Vince and trying to sneak in thru the back door, I've spotted you and claim my £5!

Seriously though good points and one would have thought these will be being looked at, particularly bearing in mind Chaz's borehole! We could even look to turn the grass cuttings into bio gas as promoted by one Mr Vince. although how much gas would be created is another matter!
 

Antony Moxey

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Jun 24, 2004
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42,714
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Exmuff
Apologies if this is mentioned elsewhere but has alternative forms of energy supply been included in the proposed design?! Surely in this day and age this is one of the driving factors in a new build no matter what it’s purpose is. Solar power or a wind turbine would be a far better source of power. Sewage and waste water disposal is also an important issue. Our green credentials should not be overlooked in this and should be viewed with the same importance as value for money and completing the project on time.
Not sure you'd get permission for a wind turbine that close to the airport, however there shouldn't be any reason not to have solar panels.
 

Trapdoor

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Sep 19, 2020
Messages
1,807
Not sure you'd get permission for a wind turbine that close to the airport, however there shouldn't be any reason not to have solar panels.
Cost, maintenance and efficiency. Solar water heating is nice when it works, but the amount of downtime and pump maintenance makes it not worth the hassle. Pumps are still notorious for breaking down unfortunately, even in 2021.
 
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