I attach the following announcement I received today from Rob Reaney. I will be at the next management meeting where I am sure considerable discussion will persue. For the record I know an offer had been made but we were required by the directors to maintain confidentiality until Rob could make an announcement. I was one of the abstentions referred to in section 11. I
Matt Swindlehurst
Hello All.
For any member asking for our current situation you can tell them the following…or simply give them this statement to read…all of which will be backed up by a similar Statement in my next Chairmen’s chat:
1: The Cobbins left us £ 388,655.71 plus the £ 75,000 earlier in the year giving a total of £463,655.71.
2: No legal strings were attached, but the Trustee told us that he felt that the Cobbins would have been disappointed to see their money simply disappear into “cashflow” and had left it with the hope that it would be invested wisely and used to advance the club forward in some “significant and long term manner”. The last two legacies left to the club have arguably just being wasted. We were keen not to repeat history.
3: With this in mind we have purchased a historic property of an unusual nature….details of which will be in my next Chairman’s chat, since the building is not vacant, but is actually occupied, the vendor has asked for confidentiality until the deal is completed (a wish we must respect).
4: The Premises will cost £ 445,000 all in which includes all fees and stamp duty. It is freehold, 7,000 square feet, has around 40 car parking spaces, extensive grounds and producing £ 46 K per annum rent which nets down to circa £ 32 K after all costs. This is an instant 7 % return without us having to develop anything. It was built in 1938 and regardless of cost for a specific reason. We have had it surveyed professionally and the words “bomb proof” have been used encouraging us greatly. Its current condition is very good and the buildings spec is extremely high.
5: The premises also has vacant areas which we can use to increase our returns, as well as will allow us to move retail across to the site. We hope to increase our return to around 8%.
6: The new retail outlet will be in the form of a 1930s style motorcycle shop, will allow us to alter our current style of retail more towards paraphernalia and the odd specialist product as the members have been asking for, for some time. It will open us up to significant footfall for the first time and be an opportunity for us to raise our profile significantly. The new shop will be called Cobbins Motorcycles and will with any luck be open for Christmas trade, but will be a way to keep the Cobbins name in our memories as a tribute to them and a thank you for their legacy. It will also mean that if any member wants help to sell their motorcycle….then the club can now assist in a very practical manner for the first time.
7: This means no loss of jobs at Allen House, no wholesale move out of Allen House, and will even give us the opportunity to re-jig Allen House in the spring time and re-style it as our Library and main research centre. The library can be brought downstairs and the offices moved upstairs. I have asked my manager there for a plan of what we can achieve and want all staff fully involved with that process to make maximum use of the new space we can create with a view to making the whole place more comfortable, welcoming and function able.
8: The new place pretty much uses all of the Cobbins money up, but does not break budget. The remaining money will be used to convert the shop space and prepare the ground for that. Any further works required in the future will be self funded from the rents we draw if required.
9: The new building also has very good prospects for capital growth as the council are pouring millions into the immediate area in the next few years to create jobs. Their own report suggests that as a result, property values are likely to rise significantly over the next decade and we hope the place will therefore benefit significantly from this process.
10: The new income means that the new building will re-pay all its capitol in circa 15 years, we hope will have physically doubled in value, will allow us to open a 1930s style motorcycle shop, give us space to re-jig Allen House, means the Cobbins legacy is not simply blown into cash flow and that their name will be remembered going forward. It will raise our profile tremendously into the bargain. We are not unique as a club in terms of having a motorcycle shop, both the AJS / matchless club have one as do the Vincent club. It will however mean that retail will have a far greater chance of making a real contribution to the club both financially and profile rising wise going forward. No other motorcycle club in the world will have a building comparable to what we have just obtained, it is certainly unique within our circles.
11: The concept, or idea for this place was put to the whole committee present on the day and was passed on a vote that was completely positive, no one voted against it, and there was only two abstentions.
12: The club will then own two buildings, Allen House which will remain as our main focus, where our library can grow, our admin staff can be made more comfortable and members will be encouraged to visit more. Management meetings and decisions will remain at Allen House as will all VMCC related admin work. The second building is an investment for the club, but will allow us the space for a small shop as a bonus. Our club will certainly grow as a result of these changes, and we have obtained a new fresh stream of income that is almost entirely passive and not reliant on membership numbers for the first time. Importantly, we will have complied with the Trustees instructions and not wasted a penny of the precious funds generously donated by the Cobbins. Their name will live on through this investment, and it will mean the club as a whole will benefit in a significant manner for the long term.
13: The premises will be ours within a month, and we will strongly encourage visitors as soon as we can have the little shop open and have areas where the members can look around. The historical link in the place means that it will draw attention anyway and will be interesting to a far wider audience than just our members.
14: Finally, you should know that your committee discussed a lot of options before deciding on this path, and rejected a great many as virtually all had one draw back or another. Before criticising this decision, please think carefully about what you would have done that would be better than the solution that we have found because this ticks a lot of boxes. No solution is perfect, but this gives more positives than almost anything else we looked at or found. Fresh income (7% instant return), good capitol growth prospects, uses all the capitol, allows us to expand our business, loses no staff, allows us to re-configure Allen House which it badly needs, complies fully with the Trustees instructions, raises our profile, and ultimately is re-sellable at some date in the future should we decide to change direction. We felt as a committee that this was as good a result as we could find at this time.
Rob Reaney