Richard Skellett - Back On The Scene? (Old thread revived.... he’s not.)

[Kaiser1962]

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Hearts were never coming with us. They had their own plans to build a stadium near the Gyle. Both fell through and thank god as well for our sakes.

As it unfolded it looked less and less likely although it was considered and ground share would have been financially, if not emotionally, beneficial to both clubs.

Football, a business like no other

[blackpoolhibs]

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As it unfolded it looked less and less likely although it was considered and ground share would have been financially, if not emotionally, beneficial to both clubs.

Football, a business like no other

And the community STF saved the club for would benefit with this move how?

[Kaiser1962]

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And the community STF saved the club for would benefit with this move how?

The only benefits were reduction of operating costs of both clubs. No benefit to Leith or Gorgie.

[Caversham Green]

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That always made me laugh, he supposedly saved the club for the local community, then thought moving it to the other side of town might be good for it?

As I've said elsewhere, Straiton was an accountant's solution to the problems the club was suffering (as was the pieman's Murrayfield idea). It would have given the club the stadium it now has about 10 years earlier and without the attendant debt, just in a different location. .

With hindsight, I'm not so sure it would have been as disastrous as most people think, but the club would have lost a lot of its ethos. I suspect most of the fans would have travelled grudgingly to start with but less so if the team was successful. Down here Reading FC took the Straiton option (although there were a number of relevant differences) and both the club and the area they moved to have benefitted greatly - in fact I think it's probably the best move the club has made (apart from signing Tony Rougier obviously).

[ekhibee]

The only issue I would have had about moving to Straiton would have been the travelling aspect for some fans (but not me). Otherwise I thought it was an interesting idea. A purpose-built brand new stadium for next to nothing would have been just fine as far as I'm concerned. I certainly had no problem whatsoever about ground-sharing either. I'd also be surprised if there's any kind of statistics regarding fans who rejected it at the time and now send post after post slagging off Farmer and all for not spending enough money nowadays. Still, we've moved on and we are where we are. At the moment we have the beginnings of a decent team, even if it's taken us being relegated to find that out. If Skellett is Globalhibby I actually thought he held his corner quite well when he was on here before, but I would need to know more detaill about his plans before I could really pass a considered opinion on it.

[Kato]

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I'd also be surprised if there's any kind of statistics regarding fans who rejected it at the time and now send post after post slagging off Farmer and all for not spending enough money nowadays.

I doubt there are many fans moaning about the amount of money Farmer has spent lately - it's the amount of his and our money that has been mis-spent, and I don't mean on the infrastructure.

[blackpoolhibs]

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The only issue I would have had about moving to Straiton would have been the travelling aspect for some fans (but not me). Otherwise I thought it was an interesting idea. A purpose-built brand new stadium for next to nothing would have been just fine as far as I'm concerned. I certainly had no problem whatsoever about ground-sharing either. I'd also be surprised if there's any kind of statistics regarding fans who rejected it at the time and now send post after post slagging off Farmer and all for not spending enough money nowadays. Still, we've moved on and we are where we are. At the moment we have the beginnings of a decent team, even if it's taken us being relegated to find that out. If Skellett is Globalhibby I actually thought he held his corner quite well when he was on here before, but I would need to know more detaill about his plans before I could really pass a considered opinion on it.

Moving to straiton might have been an interesting idea, but it would have been a kick in the teeth for the people of Leith, the very reason STF apparently saved the club for?

[jacomo]

I was delighted when Straiton got canned at the time and I'm still delighted about it today. In all the disappointments, Hibs have at least held on to Easter Road, surrounded by the community that supports the club.

[ekhibee]

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I was delighted when Straiton got canned at the time and I'm still delighted about it today. In all the disappointments, Hibs have at least held on to Easter Road, surrounded by the community that supports the club.

I have always supported Hibs, my entire life, and I don't come from Leith. There are PLENTY of Hearts fans in Leith too, so before you go on about 'the community that supports the club' remember that there's fans from other parts of Edinburgh who have shown just as much loyalty to the club over the years. You disagree with the Straiton proposal, fair enough, so did the majority and I obviously respect that.

[bigwheel]

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Moving to straiton might have been an interesting idea, but it would have been a kick in the teeth for the people of Leith, the very reason STF apparently saved the club for?

i can't think of anything interesting about sitting on the bypass every two weeks, and a drink in a brewers fayre before a game...delighted we remain based at ER....

Soulless out of town stadiums are poor imitations...

[Phil D. Rolls]

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i can't think of anything interesting about sitting on the bypass every two weeks, and a drink in a brewers fayre before a game...delighted we remain based at ER....

Soulless out of town stadiums are poor imitations...

Thing is these days a lot of fans drive to ER, and have no real interest in the pubs in the vicinity of the stadium.

[Jack]

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Thing is these days a lot of fans drive to ER, and have no real interest in the pubs in the vicinity of the stadium.

Just as well cause most of the pubs around the ground are absolutely heavin before and after matches - there would be no room for them!!!

[blackpoolhibs]

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I have always supported Hibs, my entire life, and I don't come from Leith. There are PLENTY of Hearts fans in Leith too, so before you go on about 'the community that supports the club' remember that there's fans from other parts of Edinburgh who have shown just as much loyalty to the club over the years. You disagree with the Straiton proposal, fair enough, so did the majority and I obviously respect that.

And you choose to come to the Leith community where the club is based. The club was saved for the area and the good of the area and community. Hibs are a huge part of that community, its also a huge part of every Hibs fans life wherever they stay.

Moving the club would have been a huge kick in the knackers for Leith.

[bigwheel]

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Thing is these days a lot of fans drive to ER, and have no real interest in the pubs in the vicinity of the stadium.

It's not simply about the pubs. Our location has soul and character... near other city centre facilities..rather than the back of a retail park...

[Phil D. Rolls]

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And you choose to come to the Leith community where the club is based. The club was saved for the area and the good of the area and community. Hibs are a huge part of that community, its also a huge part of every Hibs fans life wherever they stay.

Moving the club would have been a huge kick in the knackers for Leith.

I think some sense of perspective is needed here. Hibs fans spend more time looking at Leith, than Leithers spend looking at Hibs. The port has plenty else going for it than Hibs. If Easter Road is the only part of Leith you visit then you might think that's the be all and end all of it. It's not.

[Ozyhibby]

I think we are staying Leith so it doesn't matter how good anywhere else might be.
Thank goodness.

[jdships]

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I think some sense of perspective is needed here. Hibs fans spend more time looking at Leith, than Leithers spend looking at Hibs. The port has plenty else going for it than Hibs. If Easter Road is the only part of Leith you visit then you might think that's the be all and end all of it. It's not.

Very well put and TRUE , especially the quote in bold !!!!!

[banchoryhibs]

It's a bit strange that this story has resurfaced again given that STF very effectively managed our debt, that the club is in a rock solid financial position and that we're slowly heading for a 51% fan ownership. (Not getting there fast enough for my liking.)

See today's Sunday Times

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/b...hibs-g6v23fdx7

I wonder if the timing has anything to do Wednesday's AGM?

Has anyone heard any whispers?

[Billy Whizz]

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It's a bit strange that this story has resurfaced again given that STF very effectively managed our debt, that the club is in a rock solid financial position and that we're slowly heading for a 51% fan ownership. (Not getting there fast enough for my liking.)

See today's Sunday Times

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/b...hibs-g6v23fdx7

I wonder if the timing has anything to do Wednesday's AGM?

Has anyone heard any whispers?

I’ve got a restricted view😄, what’s it saying

[Onceinawhile]

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I’ve got a restricted view😄, what’s it saying

Nothing much, just reads like a cv of the boy involved who says he wants to buy hibs but 2014 wasn't the right time.

[Hibs4185]

I’m sorry but sales of £12.4 million and profits of £147,000 isn’t enough to buy Hibs and make us financially secure.

A small investor maybe but not to buy from STF. Need someone with far richer pockets to give us the secure platform STF has without putting extra cash in.

[erin-go-bragh87]

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I’ve got a restricted view😄, what’s it saying

Richard Skellett felt awful when he had to tell staff that their pay packets would be short because a customer had failed to settle a bill on time.

He spoke individually to each of the 12 employees at his then three-year-old start-up, Allied Worldwide. “I wasn’t looking forward to it because I felt I had let them down,” said Skellett, “but they were amazing and supportive, and it was one of the most joyful experiences I’ve ever had in business. It brought me to tears.”

The company, founded in 1992, has grown into an international IT services supplier with customers such as Volkswagen, the hedge fund Man Group and retailer New Look. In its most recent accounts, for 2016, Allied posted sales of £12.4m and*pre-tax profits of £147,000.

Skellett grew up in the port town of Leith, Edinburgh. His father worked in a rubber factory and his mother took odd jobs. At 13, he began working 30 hours a week as a messenger boy for Mackay’s, an office stationery and furniture supplier. On one occasion, he was followed into a building by a crook who robbed the office at knifepoint.

He left Leith Academy at the age of 16 and worked full-time at Mackay’s. Skellett said the sales director, Hamish Ogilvy, “took me under his wing” and “helped me realise the dreams I was capable of having”.

Skellett moved on to the American office equipment giant Pitney Bowes, where he learnt sales, then switched to telecoms in the 1980s when the industry was liberalised under Margaret Thatcher.

While running a computer services arm of the media conglomerate Granada, Skellett grew his team from 15 to 1,500 people and earned as much as £80,000 a month thanks to incentives on the sale of bundled computer warranties.

He felt he had become “unemployable” because of his ambition: “I wanted to be creative and change the world, which doesn’t sit well in a corporate organisation.”

Skellett used his savings to start Allied and still owns 100% of the business as he has never taken outside investment. The fledgling boss quickly decided on an unorthodox business model: he would give his customers half the profits from each project, which they could use to invest in the next one. “That set us apart,” he said.

The company has grown to 700 staff in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, and Bangalore, though not without one or two bumps along the way. About three years ago, Skellett said, Allied lost $1m “by a fraud or a scam”, and as a result he “lost trust” in people.

He is also the founder of Globalution, a tech consultancy, and is about to launch Digital Anthropology, a social enterprise that aims to cultivate more working-class entrepreneurs.

In 2014, Skellett tried to buy his beloved Hibernian football club from Kwik-Fit founder Sir Tom Farmer when it ran into trouble with its banks. Farmer retained control, but Skellett still hankers after the Scottish Premiership club.

“I said from a young age that I would own Hibs — if you can build something and leave it behind, that helps you be remembered,” he said. “The timing wasn’t right in 2014, but I would definitely invest in that football club.”

Skellett splits his time between Edinburgh and Marlborough in Wiltshire, where he lives with his partner Georgina and their sons Richard, 8, and 4-year-old twins Charles and Benjamin. He also has two grown-up children from a previous relationship.

The chief executive advises entrepreneurs to find a mentor: “They can make your journey far quicker and easier.

[erin-go-bragh87]

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I’m sorry but sales of £12.4 million and profits of £147,000 isn’t enough to buy Hibs and make us financially secure.

A small investor maybe but not to buy from STF. Need someone with far richer pockets to give us the secure platform STF has without putting extra cash in.

I thought exactly the same when I read it.

[Allant1981]

was this global hibby?

[The Green Goblin]

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was this global hibby?

Yes

[Allant1981]

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Yes

cheers ta, thought i recognised the name from when he was posting here

[blackpoolhibs]

There is nothing to stop him making a contribution that would help the club, apart from wind and pish.

[big gogs]

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Fear not, we'll find out for you

I was told 10 days ago the board were trying to sell the club to Dublin based Hibs fans,didn't believe it then ,don't believe it now,I'm happy to leave the club in the hands of Tom farmer, I understand he is not in good health ,I'm not casting any doubts about the integrity of any future owners,but does any know the globalhibby.

[Onceinawhile]

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was this global hibby?

That the boy who was going to put in 100,000 a month or some nonsense?

[greenlex]

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There is nothing to stop him making a contribution that would help the club, apart from wind and pish.

wind and pish would help the club?