Re: Peter Hood says Bulls on brink of going bust. : Tue Apr 03, 2012 7:23 am  

And in the next instalment of today's PR masterclass...

I suppose we have been asking to be told more of the facts. Not sure it was these sort of facts that folk had in mind though.

There are any number of people wanting more explanation or clarification regarding aspects of how we ended up in this situation. And perhaps, more to the point, why - post a successful pledge campaign - we won't ever end up in a similar one again. I've implored the club to do so. Its not too late for that to happen, but time is fast running out.

Re: Peter Hood says Bulls on brink of going bust. : Tue Apr 03, 2012 7:27 am  

paulwalker71 wrote: Today's T&A suggests the pledge may have 'hit the wall' http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/s ... usinesses/ In summary * less than £250K pledged * only 1600 members have pledged * virtually no response from businesses / sponsors * no takeover or major investment on the cards Only 1,600 ST holders have pledged! What is wrong with the people Bradford? Wake up and do something for once rather than just sit moaning. YOU ARE ABOUT TO LOSE YOUR RUGBY LEAGUE CLUB! Your season tickets cost nothing. If you lose the Bulls you might has well hang the closed sign up at the end of the M606.

paulwalker71 wrote: Today's T&A suggests the pledge may have 'hit the wall' http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/s ... usinesses/ In summary * less than £250K pledged * only 1600 members have pledged * virtually no response from businesses / sponsors * no takeover or major investment on the cards Only 1,600 ST holders have pledged! What is wrong with the people Bradford? Wake up and do something for once rather than just sit moaning. YOU ARE ABOUT TO LOSE YOUR RUGBY LEAGUE CLUB! Your season tickets cost nothing. If you lose the Bulls you might has well hang the closed sign up at the end of the M606.

Re: Peter Hood says Bulls on brink of going bust. : Tue Apr 03, 2012 7:32 am  

paulwalker71 wrote: Today's T&A suggests the pledge may have 'hit the wall' http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/s ... usinesses/ In summary * less than £250K pledged * only 1600 members have pledged * virtually no response from businesses / sponsors * no takeover or major investment on the cards The number of pledges is fairly meaningless. Families will make one pledge for whatever they can afford. For example my sister pledged £200 to cover her and her partner, rather than each pledging £100. They were never likely to receive more than 3,000 individual pledges.

paulwalker71 wrote: Today's T&A suggests the pledge may have 'hit the wall' http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/s ... usinesses/ In summary * less than £250K pledged * only 1600 members have pledged * virtually no response from businesses / sponsors * no takeover or major investment on the cards The number of pledges is fairly meaningless. Families will make one pledge for whatever they can afford. For example my sister pledged £200 to cover her and her partner, rather than each pledging £100. They were never likely to receive more than 3,000 individual pledges.

Re: Peter Hood says Bulls on brink of going bust. : Tue Apr 03, 2012 7:54 am  

This is grim news. Friday is going to be emotional.

Re: Peter Hood says Bulls on brink of going bust. : Tue Apr 03, 2012 7:56 am  

I think there may just be more explanation and clarity in this piece than we have seen hitherto? I think, despite the general prejudice against who wrote it, it warrants careful reading? It might just help answer a number of questions, albeit leaving others still to resolve. Dave Craven wrote: There is no doubting chairman Peter Hood’s integrity, work ethic and passion for the cause but mistakes have clearly been made by the current Bulls board and some of its predecessors. However, desperate times call for desperate measures and, today, the main concern has to be concentrating all minds and efforts on getting them out of this worrying situation. Incidentally, there is a hell of a lot in that piece that accords with what I have been given to understand. Maybe, after all, the club HAS used the media to help "get the message out", as Stevo would say? The part about the role of the RFL etc is especially interesting, I suggest? And how confident are we of retaining a licence in the event of administration?

I think there may just be more explanation and clarity in this piece than we have seen hitherto? I think, despite the general prejudice against who wrote it, it warrants careful reading? It might just help answer a number of questions, albeit leaving others still to resolve. Dave Craven wrote: There is no doubting chairman Peter Hood’s integrity, work ethic and passion for the cause but mistakes have clearly been made by the current Bulls board and some of its predecessors. However, desperate times call for desperate measures and, today, the main concern has to be concentrating all minds and efforts on getting them out of this worrying situation. Incidentally, there is a hell of a lot in that piece that accords with what I have been given to understand. Maybe, after all, the club HAS used the media to help "get the message out", as Stevo would say? The part about the role of the RFL etc is especially interesting, I suggest? And how confident are we of retaining a licence in the event of administration?

Re: Peter Hood says Bulls on brink of going bust. : Tue Apr 03, 2012 8:35 am  

I must say I have never seen Morrison’s sponsor or even seen their name linked with anything in Yorkshire, maybe it is about time they gave a bit back to the community in the form of a pledge!!
May be I am wrong so don’t shoot me with this comment.

Re: Peter Hood says Bulls on brink of going bust. : Tue Apr 03, 2012 8:42 am  

It shouldn't be surprising that there's been limited response from the business community, given the current economic climate. It's also unrealistic to expect businesses, other than those owned by Bulls fans, to respond instantly to an emergency appeal. Their decision making process is likely to be much more considered.

Thinking back to when City went belly up in the 80's, IIRC the initial response to their appeal was fairly disappointing. Eventually they built up some momentum helped by a T&A campaign. The T&A were more than happy to publicise contributions made by businesses. That created a snowball effect, businesses seemed to queuing up to get their donation publicised in the paper. But that's not going to happen during a 2 week appeal.

Re: Peter Hood says Bulls on brink of going bust. : Tue Apr 03, 2012 9:01 am  

I guess we won't get the real figure in until Saturday just got to hope and pray.

Re: Peter Hood says Bulls on brink of going bust. : Tue Apr 03, 2012 9:15 am  

Adeybull wrote: I think there may just be more explanation and clarity in this piece than we have seen hitherto? I think, despite the general prejudice against who wrote it, it warrants careful reading? It might just help answer a number of questions, albeit leaving others still to resolve. Incidentally, there is a hell of a lot in that piece that accords with what I have been given to understand. Maybe, after all, the club HAS used the media to help "get the message out", as Stevo would say? The part about the role of the RFL etc is especially interesting, I suggest? And how confident are we of retaining a licence in the event of administration? Interesting that the bank debt is "only" £150k, although it would be surprising if any bank advanced a company as cash strapped as the Bulls much more than that. I still can't get my head entirely around the RFL deal. If it was an advance against Sky money, presumably some or all of that money will have since become due to the Bulls? So why did we have to pay 60% back? Rather than paying it back wouldnt it just have been offset against the money that became due to us? Or does it represent Sky money that isn't yet due to us? Who was it sang that song "There are more questions than answers"? I'm not confident that we will retain our license if we go into Administration. But I'm not that confident we'll retain it if we dont.

Adeybull wrote: I think there may just be more explanation and clarity in this piece than we have seen hitherto? I think, despite the general prejudice against who wrote it, it warrants careful reading? It might just help answer a number of questions, albeit leaving others still to resolve. Incidentally, there is a hell of a lot in that piece that accords with what I have been given to understand. Maybe, after all, the club HAS used the media to help "get the message out", as Stevo would say? The part about the role of the RFL etc is especially interesting, I suggest? And how confident are we of retaining a licence in the event of administration? Interesting that the bank debt is "only" £150k, although it would be surprising if any bank advanced a company as cash strapped as the Bulls much more than that. I still can't get my head entirely around the RFL deal. If it was an advance against Sky money, presumably some or all of that money will have since become due to the Bulls? So why did we have to pay 60% back? Rather than paying it back wouldnt it just have been offset against the money that became due to us? Or does it represent Sky money that isn't yet due to us? Who was it sang that song "There are more questions than answers"? I'm not confident that we will retain our license if we go into Administration. But I'm not that confident we'll retain it if we dont.

Re: Peter Hood says Bulls on brink of going bust. : Tue Apr 03, 2012 9:19 am  

I cant help but think that more people would be willing to put in the cash if it became clear the board/shareholders were actually putting up some cash themselves.
Its all well and good saying we are actively looking for further investment, but its the fans that are actually having to dig deep. If a statement came from the board with a message of, we have put this amount in or even a short term pledge match offer for example all pledges made wednesday or thursday would be matched by the board, that might tempt the doubters to get involved.
I'm no financial expert but i am sure some dividends would have been paid out during the good times, its only fair they give back now