From The Post Website Bristol Rovers chairman Nick Higgs has taken his search for fresh investment to the Middle East. Higgs has been conducting an on-going attempt to attract outside investment in the club and has this morning appeared on the front page of a Bahrain newspaper inviting interested parties to invest in a ‘sleeping giant’. “It is a sleeping giant,” Higgs told Gulf Weekly. “There is an opportunity to come in at grass roots level for not a huge investment to start with and to be able to take this club to the highest level if they so wish. “You don’t have the problems of buying into a big Championship club or Premier League club with a huge debt burden, inheriting problems that have gone on before. “We have a clean sheet now, the bones of an international standard stadium and the catchment and ability to bring in a lot of local support. We have full planning permission and are ready to go with a new 22,000 all-seater stadium. “It can extend to 26,000 very cheaply and 35,000 if the club makes the higher echelons and needs it. And, with a population in wider Bristol of 1.2 million people it pays to have that ability to be able to extend because if we can bring success to this club that’s the sort of crowds we could be getting.” Higgs, meanwhile, continues to work through the ‘legal niceties’ of a sale of the current Memorial Stadium site to Sainsbury’s in order to fund the building of the proposed stadium on land at the University of West England. And the Rovers chairman has hinted for the first time that he is keen to bring his time in the boardroom to an end after over six years at the helm. “I think it’s a good time for investors to come into the club,” he added. “I think it would be fantastic for Bristol and the surrounding area to have some investors who have the level of funds we would need to kick on,” he explained. “We have invested our own money to get to where we are and it would be nice for someone to realise that now and take it to the next stage. “As a fan it has never been my intention to be here forever as chairman, I just wanted to get the club on a level footing again and get the stadium in the process of being built.” He added: “This is a great time now. It could be a modest investment to start with and it would be tailored to how far they wanted to take the club. “It depends on the investor; the interest he has on taking the club to the highest level, whether he wants to take it as a stepping stone, kick-start the stadium whilst we are waiting for the rest of the things. “Bristol is the fifth biggest city in the country and we’ve got to have top class football here at some stage and that is the main focus for having this new stadium. I think the interest it will create when it opens will be phenomenal.”
Wouldn't mind a bit of investment but I don't want the club ended up like a business its what's wrong with football today
The article from GulfWeekly http://www.gulfweekly.com/articles.aspx?articleid=33320 Oil Cash for Gas By Stan Szecowka Posted On » January 14 - 20, 2015 (Volume:14 / Issue 2) Footballing minnows Bristol Rovers, known throughout the soccer world as The Gas, are hoping to attract a soccer-mad Gulf consortium of investors to help it realise its dreams of playing in the English Premiership in a proposed £30 million-plus (BD17 million-plus) super stadium. Club chairman Nick Higgs believes the club, currently flying high in the Vanarama Conference – the fifth tier of English football – offers a ‘fabulous investment opportunity’ and better than most available higher up the footballing hierarchy. The businessman, who made his fortune in the construction industry, said: “It is a sleeping giant. There is an opportunity to come in at grass roots level for not a huge investment to start with and to be able to take this club to the highest level if they so wish. “You don’t have the problems of buying into a big Championship club or Premier League club with a huge debt burden, inheriting problems that have gone on before. We have a clean sheet now, the bones of an international standard stadium and the catchment and ability to bring in a lot of local support. “We have full planning permission and are ready to go with a new 22,000 all-seater stadium. “It can extend to 26,000 very cheaply and 35,000 if the club makes the higher echelons and needs it. And, with a population in wider Bristol of 1.2 million people it pays to have that ability to be able to extend because if we can bring success to this club that’s the sort of crowds we could be getting.” The club has linked up with the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) to develop a regional sports stadium designed to satisfy the standards of the governing bodies of football and rugby, as well as being a potential venue for concerts. It is also set to be a 24-7 ‘cash positive’ operation with a conference centre, banqueting hall, gymnasium and shops plus bars and community facilities to attract 20,000 students, locals and the many newcomers moving into the developing area employed by the expanding Ministry of Defence facility close-by. UWE and Rovers have been working on the groundbreaking agreement to build a new football stadium for several years on land adjacent to the university’s Frenchay Campus, as part of the UWE New Campus Masterplan. The proposed UWE Stadium will be located on 9.3 hectares of the land purchased from computer firm Hewlett Packard back in October 2008, and consent to build it has been granted by South Gloucestershire Council. Various planning objections and appeals to the club selling its current Memorial Stadium in north Bristol to Sainsbury’s had stalled the project. They have finally been overcome and although contracts have been signed, retail analysts suggest that the supermarket giant’s interest in store expansion has cooled in the wake of market share pressures from expanding cut-price operators. ‘Legal niceties’ are currently being hammered out between the parties. Mr Higgs said: “It’s taken longer than I wanted but I am confident it will go ahead. Where it was cash neutral, we may have a small deficit now because prices have gone up and we may have to raise some money. “I think it’s a good time for investors to come into the club.” Last year a consortium was put together with investors from Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE which seriously considered taking over troubled Championship side Leeds United before stepping back. However, in 2012, Middle East-based private equity group GFH Capital finalised a deal for a protracted takeover of Leeds, before selling a 75 per cent stake to Italian businessman Massimo Cellino, last year. The Football League has now decided to ban him after it ruled he had failed its ‘owners’ and directors’ test’. Bristol Rovers looks like a less fraught proposition altogether. Mr Higgs says he would love to attract interest from Bahrain and the neighbouring Gulf States. “I think it would be fantastic for Bristol and the surrounding area to have some investors who have the level of funds we would need to kick on,” he explained. “We have invested our own money to get to where we are and it would be nice for someone to realise that now and take it to the next stage. As a fan it has never been my intention to be here forever as chairman, I just wanted to get the club on a level footing again and get the stadium in the process of being built and get the club on a stable footing to move forward. “This is a great time now. It could be a modest investment to start with and it would be tailored to how far they wanted to take the club. “It depends on the investor; the interest he has on taking the club to the highest level, whether he wants to take it as a stepping stone, kick-start the stadium whilst we are waiting for the rest of the things. “Bristol is the fifth biggest city in the country and we’ve got to have top class football here at some stage and that is the main focus for having this new stadium. I think the interest it will create when it opens will be phenomenal. “The last time we had any success in tournaments we took 40,000 fans to Wembley and 36,000 to the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.” The potential is already clear to see as more than 8,000 fans turned up to watch the club, officially nicknamed The Pirates, draw with Torquay United on a bitterly cold and rainy New Year’s Day. Formed in 1883, the club was relegated from the Football League last season, but have high hopes of returning at the first time of asking. They only lost four of their 26 games played before the Christmas period and now sit in second spot. Off the pitch, the club has continued to attract the highest crowds by a Vanarama Conference side. On many occasions the attendance levels have bettered almost all those in League Two and many of those in Football League One. The UWE Stadium land will be leased long-term to the football club and was previously set aside for a business park. “The facilities will bring huge benefits for our students, staff, and importantly, the communities that we serve across the Bristol and South Gloucestershire region,” said UWE’s Vice-Chancellor Steve West. UWE has a history built on partnerships and collaborations dating back to 1595 when the Bristol Society of Merchant Venturers’ Navigation School was founded. Over the years UWE has continued this tradition in order to grow and transform itself to meet the demands of modern day students and higher education teaching
Mcnamara has contacted Higgs and tweeted this.... "Spoke to Nick. Not expecting to be inundated with offers from oil-rich investors, but didn't see any harm in doing interview."
I think he only did the interview because it was with Stan Szecowka who was deputy editor of the Evening Post about 6 years ago and who now works for Gulf Weekly.
More details today from Higgs on why Higgs has done this and about our finances..... Is a good read!! Higgs has been attempting to bring financial investors on to the board and yesterday featured on the front page of a Bahrain-based newspaper inviting interested parties to take the opportunity to awaken the "sleeping giant". Higgs told the Bristol Post yesterday: "I don't think that anything will come from it, but we are and have always been looking for fresh investment. There was no harm in doing an interview with the guy, who is a Rovers fan and a friend of (director) Barry Bradshaw, from that paper. It is no secret that we are looking for investment. I've said that in about 20 other interviews. The club is not up for sale as such, but we are inviting people to talk to us and invest if they wish to do so. We have a few directors who will ultimately want to stand down over time and it would be good for us to get some fresh blood in to help us move forward. As I say, I don't think anything will come of the article and anyone who does is probably being overly-optimistic." When asked whether the continued search for fresh investment was a sign that the club was in a financially desperate situation, Higgs replied: "No. Absolutely not. Would we have gone and spent serious money on Jermaine Easter if our financial situation was desperate? We also paid a substantial sum to Kidderminster for a good young prospect in Nathan Blissett a couple of months ago. Yes, we've had to make a few financial cutbacks on things such as the wage bill after we were relegated at the end of last season. We've lost a bit of money on the Football League contributions and other bits and pieces, but, on the whole, the finances haven't been all that much different to what they were last year. A number of high wage earners left the club at the end of last season and the crowds have held up very well, so things have probably been better than expected. I have always said to the manager that we would back him financially in January if we were in the promotion mix at Christmas, and that is exactly what we have just done. We all want to get promotion back to the Football League at the first time of asking, but it is not a promotion or bust scenario. We'd of course have to look again at the budgets and reassess the finances in preparation for another season in the Conference if that were to happen, but it wouldn't be a disaster or spell the end of the club or anything like that." When asked whether he was working towards an exit strategy if he could get a deal done that was right for the club, Higgs replied: "There is nothing planned or on the table at this point in time, so I don't have a plan on that either way. My priority at the moment is purely to try to get the stadium built to move the club forward. That is what I am here for and that is what I will try to do." http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Bristo...pecting-lots/story-25858215-detail/story.html
These 2 points.... "... we are inviting people to talk to us and invest if they wish to do so. We have a few directors who will ultimately want to stand down over time and it would be good for us to get some fresh blood..." "My priority at the moment is purely to try to get the stadium built to move the club forward. That is what I am here for and that is what I will try to do." To me it comes across that Higgs will fight for the stadium and then as soon as he gets it built, he will leave. He is admitting his priority is the stadium. He has taken his eye off the on field matters which is one of many reasons that got us relegated. I think another director is overseeing the on field matters while Higgs is just dealing with the stadium. I can see in the next 5 years most of our current directors will be gone. At least the current board is gasheads. New people joining the board may not be gasheads and that worries me with what their intentions are. I dont want our club to be someones play thing who walks away after leaving us in trouble after a few seasons.
Don't think our situation could be much worse right now lol might as well see what happens - might not be soo bad with new ownership if it ever comes along
Any investment will be easier once you are back in the Football League. I think you never know with these things - get the name out there - as that tweet said, can do no harm
Come on, every club in league and non league football (that bit includes you ) is looking for 'middle eastern' investment. You just don't come across as the 'sleeping giant' described. Sorry but this seems like Higgs on a last ditch, I got to get my sorry 'arse out of here' attempt at whoring himself to the world..
You talk such crap! Bristol (and i mean both teams) is a sleeping giant with potential if they can make it to the big time. Investing in BRFC would be a cheap option as we don't have 50 million of debt unlike you lot. But i do agree Higg's wants out.
