Commercial Managers

[C j phill]

The appointment of a new CFO will not affect parity on the Club board as they will not be a director.

All Club directors (both Trust-appointed and non-Trust-appointed) have to be approved by the Trust board. The only way for parity to be broken is if the Trust board allow it to be broken.

As you have pointed out, there is currently a requirement for parity between the number of Trust-appointed and non-Trust-appointed directors on the Club board. This requirement cannot be changed or removed without the approval of the Trust membership.

Julen, who is the Club's Chief Executive Officer, to whom the CFO post reports to?

 

[Martin Lawrence]

Julen, who is the Club's Chief Executive Officer, to whom the CFO post reports to?

Pretty sure it is Nick Hawker.

 

[John William]

The appointment of a new CFO will not affect parity on the Club board as they will not be a director.

All Club directors (both Trust-appointed and non-Trust-appointed) have to be approved by the Trust board. The only way for parity to be broken is if the Trust board allow it to be broken.

As you have pointed out, there is currently a requirement for parity between the number of Trust-appointed and non-Trust-appointed directors on the Club board. This requirement cannot be changed or removed without the approval of the Trust membership.

The advert says it will be a Board level appointment. I'm unclear however how that can happen under the current arrangements unless there are other changes in train.

There used to be 4 TB members on the CB and 4 others. Now there are only two Trustees, thought the Chair argues that there are other "Trust appointed" Directors who are not elected TB members, which nonetheless gives parity. Personally I think that evades the spirit of the Club Trust Agreement, as the individuals were not chosen by the membership in any way, but I have given up on this with the Chair.

IMO the Trust Board are ineffective at Governance, nothing has changed since I resigned from the TB several years ago over the same issues. But I no longer care enough to stand for election to the TB again, life is too short; I just go to the games and support the team these days.

 

[QOTPOD Podcast]

What is clear is that people have requested organisation charts and the active 'elected' Trustees on the Board have been diluted.

This is not a personal comment, but some people have accepted positions, which they might be well meaning, could act independently.

Added to that at the last Trust AGM an idea to generate wealth was voted down and advised against by the Board, and yet we have a non-elected director receiving renumeration for player rentals. Fair play to that person, but the Trust could be realising property income and also generate wealth for the Trust. In effect, that person receives significant income from the Club. The fourth pillar of the Trust was wealth creation from the original ethos - we know our host of the show wrote them. As yet, we have had no focus in this area. We now need to revisit that, now we have wealth in the Trust.

Less than 2/3 members of the Trust at meetings, it is no wonder we are in this position.

[Get your CFO job application in while you can there are only 11 days left to apply, we should have an appointment around Xmas with natural gardening leave for a great person - or is it a done deal?]

 

[JulenBeer]

Julen, who is the Club's Chief Executive Officer, to whom the CFO post reports to?

Nick Hawker fulfils this role as the Interim Executive Chair.

 

[C j phill]

Nick Hawker fulfils this role as the Interim Executive Chair.

Julen,

Thanks for the reply, however this is slightly confusing.

You say that Nick Hawker is the Interim Executive Chair, however, the CFO job description shows that post reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, not Executive Chair.

I assume you mean that Nick is the Chief Executive Officer, as someone else in the postings indicates.

If that is the case, that's interesting from a governance perspective, given that Nick is the Trust and Club Board Chair. I'm not sure what to make of the arrangement.

 

[Pete Martin (CTID)]

There is no doubt in my mind that the football club is steadily becoming more professional in the way it operates. What we must not do is to allow the original aims and ethos of the Supporters' Trust to be dissipated in the move towards that increased professionalism. Many of the current Trust membership were not members in the early days of its existence and they need to feel part of it all. I do feel that the Trust is starting to lose sight of that.

 

[lamrobhero]

Of course to be successful you need professionals doing their jobs. But oversight and policy needs to be distinct (and one for the Trust?).

 

[Martin Lawrence]

There is no doubt in my mind that the football club is steadily becoming more professional in the way it operates. What we must not do is to allow the original aims and ethos of the Supporters' Trust to be dissipated in the move towards that increased professionalism. Many of the current Trust membership were not members in the early days of its existence and they need to feel part of it all. I do feel that the Trust is starting to lose sight of that.

I'm sorry you feel that way Pete. I, on the other hand, feel that the sense of ownership has been strengthened in recent years. The visible close working between the Club and Trust is something that was "longed for" when I was involved, but was always a challenge to deliver. There are certainly areas to improve on., and we must not rest on our laurels. But ultimately, I feel really positive about where the Club and Trust is at the moment.

 

[Pete Martin (CTID)]

I agree

I'm sorry you feel that way Pete. I, on the other hand, feel that the sense of ownership has been strengthened in recent years. The visible close working between the Club and Trust is something that was "longed for" when I was involved, but was always a challenge to deliver. There are certainly areas to improve on., and we must not rest on our laurels. But ultimately, I feel really positive about where the Club and Trust is at the moment.

I agree up to a point. It was longed for when I was involved too, but it's different for us with a long history of Trust involvement. My concern is that the time may come when people start to think there's no point in my being a Trust member anymore and those who are not already members not bothering.

In the move to greater professionalism, we need to ensure that we take them with us.