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Birmingham City Fan's Forum minutes

11th January 2006



The inaugural Supporter Forum was held for the Supporter Representatives to meet the panel and inform the club of their views and concerns, in line with Premier League rules.


1. Perry Deakin welcomed the group and began by introducing the panel of club
representatives. He then ran through a short presentation, informing the group of the club’s vision and desire as how the panel will work with Supporters for future meetings. It was confirmed that the representatives would be invited to attend quarterly meetings at St Andrews.

2. Superstore

The quality of the current 05/06 season kit was raised, with supporters feeling the shirts were of a poor standard. Jo Raynes and Perry both informed the panel that the club has received positive feedback in relation to the current kit, and that Jo had only had 20 shirts returned to the superstore, of which 18 of those, having been tested were confirmed to have been washed at an incorrect temperature.

It was confirmed that the 2006/07 was already in the early stages of production and would be available to purchase June 06.

Samples of shirt designs are to be sent to the club within a couple of weeks, supporter panel to be invited to view three styles.


E-mail confirmation of date of kit viewing to be sent to the panel.

3. Safety Issues

The panel felt that there should be representation at future meeting’s from West Midland’s Police, who would be able to answer questions in more detail.

The panel raised the question of 12 noon/ early kick off’s and why Birmingham City FC seem to have so many. Brian informed the group that this decision is made by WM Police.

The selling of bottled beer was raised; supporters felt that this would be more cost effective and beneficial for catering to provide this as opposed to pints. Both Nino and Brian confirmed that the club was not in a position to sell this due to safety issue’s however this matter would be raised at the next Safety Advisory Group meeting which consists of representation from WM Police, WM Fire Service and the Local Authority.

A discussion took place on the parking of cars on match day’s in St Andrews Street. Brian confirmed that the club has recently paid for double yellow lines to be put along this road; however Disabled supporters were now using this road to park. Brian also confirmed that the issue of the lack street lighting within St Andrew’s Street was currently being looked at.

West Midlands Police to be invited to attend future meetings


4. Stadium Management / Maintenance Matters

Why are there no TV’s in the concourse area’s of the Olympic Gallery? Matt confirmed that 14 TV’s had been stolen within this area on two occasions and therefore there were no plans to install further TV’s.

5. Commercial Matters

The panel felt that there was an apparent lack of atmosphere this season, and the new stadium announcer was not popular.
Perry confirmed that Darren Porter had recently taken over as the Stadium Announcer and informed the group that it does take time in order to learn a new job. Perry also confirmed that the matchday music has reverted as an attempt to assist with pre match atmosphere.

Why do the club charge supporters pay £52.50 for the Away Travel Club?
Perry confirmed that demand was extremely high when the scheme was first introduced and confirmed that this will be looked at for next season.
The £1 handling charged was raised and why this applies. The panel was informed that this applies as any booking fee does when tickets are purchased for all types of entertainment and will remain in place.

6. Ticketing

Clarification on the date in which tickets go on sale was requested as people were under the impression that tickets were to be sold some 6 weeks in advance, but that this had not happened at the Liverpool/West Ham games. Rachel confirmed that this was due to both Liverpool and West Ham has been slow in confirming their requirements with us.

Are there any plans to implement an electronic entrance system at turnstiles. It was confirmed that there is a huge expense for this scheme and until the decision on a new stadium has been made it would not be looked at.

The panel felt that the cost of season tickets for the current season was too high and that there were no real added benefits to becoming a season ticket holder?

Perry confirmed that the club was fully aware of supporter’s feelings in relation to this matter and that a package with added benefits was being looked at for the 06/07 season.

7. Catering

Nino confirmed that Lindley Catering had recently taken over the stadium catering and also confirmed that he was looking at recruiting new staff for the concourse areas.

Problems with the speed of service are currently being addressed.
posted by kwacky at 11:23 am

 

posted by kwacky at 5:36 pm

 
My Dad and stepmum took wee legal out on Saturday. When they came back, my stepmum had a chat with me about my Dad's forthcoming retirement.

There's no doubt that my old man is absolutely bricking it about giving up work. He's worked for the same company since leaving school, making his way from apprentice sparky to running the Stoneleigh office which includes him being responsible for the Royal Show and the Town and Country exhibitions. Over the last few years he's had some health problems and he's had a bit of struggle with the guy who will replace him (son of the founder of the Co).

Shortly after my paternal granddad retired he was struck with Alzheimers. Seeing such a physically and mentally strong guy dissolve in front of the family took a lot of of all of us, especially my Dad. My Dad hates hospitals at the best of times so you can imagine what he went through having to see his father being spoon fed and Dad being ignored as his Dad thought I was his son.

By all accounts, members of my family have distintive eyes. I'm not sure what it is, a twinkle, or the shape, but it's there. You can see it when the family get togeher. Even though Georgie has blue eyes, you can tell she shares the family trait. One of the most touching times during my Granddad's illness was during visiting. I was there with my Dad and his mother. Gramps was rambling and talking to me about moving my motorbike out of his garage as it was leaking oil (I didn't have a motorbike then, he was thinking of my Dad's Vincent when Dad was in his early 20s) mid sentence he stopped, took my nan's hand and in an instant the old twinkle came back in his eyes "sorry for any trouble I'm causing, but no matter what I say or do, I'll always love you". Not a dry eye in the house.

Anyway, I'm drifiting. Dad retires this year, probably after the Town and Country Show and he's painfully aware that he needs to keep his mind active. He likes playing computer games so he's treating himself to a very high spec PC. He's got a house out in Turkey so he'll be going out there a lot and he's also talking about taking up fishing again (as a side note, my old man is left handed. As he taught me how to fish, I fish left handed!)

My old man is a Bluenose. He's only been once since we got promoted (that famous night game against Arse) as he thinks the Premier league is turning into a a UK version of American Football.

So my stepmum has decided to get my Dad a season ticket for next year.

Poor sod
posted by kwacky at 6:36 pm

 
From Captain Blue - A True Blue Brummie

Firstly, I don't know where I'm going with this - I've sat on the train home, with lots going through my head and this is some way to try and piece it all together into something resembling sense.

Roughly 20-odd years ago, my Old Man took me down The Blues for the first time. He sat me on a crush barrier in The Kop, and I'm sure he'd have said something like this....

"Right, this is St Andrews where The Blues play. I'll tell you now son - they'll break your heart. But you'll come here lots and in time, you'll grow to love them"

As he always is, Dad was true to his word. I went there lots and sure enough, I grew to bloody love them dearly. And he was also right when he said they would break my heart.

Starting school, it was drummed into me by other lads that we played second fiddle to that team in Aston. We were Blues, we'd won f*ck all and they were just great. Sod that - I knew it took something special to be Blue and I Kept Right On.

I'll always remember the day that we went into receivership. My Old Man picked us up from school and as we always did on a Friday, took us to the newsagents for some sweets. He said that bad things were happening at The Blues. The Mail said something like "Blues going Bust". I was only 8 or 9, but even I knew that we were about to sh*t out.

But, something happened to The Blues that I had NEVER seen before. Our luck had suddenly changed and we were saved by a White Knight in the form of Messrs Gold, Gold and Sullivan. Overnight, the gloom lifted and bizarrely, we were on our way.

From there, it was a wonderful rollercoaster. People came and went. We (as years before) went up and down. It was certainly a new experience for our club but as fans, we never lost sight of our goal. We wanted our boys to be up there - fighting amongst the best in the land, giving them a bloody good run for their money and giving them a bloody nose when we could.

Poor old Barry Fry never got the chance to see if he could take us there. TF, to his credit, tried but was always the nearly man. Then along comes Steve Bruce. He had baggage and many were dying to see the man fail. To his eternal credit, he held his nerve. Somehow, we ended up in Cardiff. What happened next can only be described as the best day in the life of many a Bluenose. You all have your own experiences and it's a day I'll never forget. I'd just been diagnosed as having ME and ended up in bed for 2 days to recover after the final. Did I care? Did I f*ck. My boys had reached the promised land.

So, we're here. It started out like the dream we always envisaged. We were mixing it with the best the country, and possibly Europe, had to offer. We made a fantastic habit of running V*lla all over the shop. We saw players play for and against The Blues that before, were just fantasy.

It's not lasted. We've been in a slump for two years and it's taking it's toll on the St.Andrews faithful. It's created an apathy that I've never experienced before. There's a horrible feeling of resignation surrounding the club that just isn't right. On this basis, I throw down the following challenges:

Steve Bruce - You had the guts to re-join The Blues. You knew the risks, you knew the consequences. You were also aware of the pressure. Despite years of underperformance, you knew that the demand for success was massive. Hell, you began to deliver. You did the unthinkable and delivered us to the promised land. Things haven't worked out as such, and whilst you've been unlucky in some areas, you've made serious mistakes. Despite this, you are a good guy and I'll not actively look for you to walk. The thing is, it's too late to replace you. History has shown that we are now entering sh*t creek without a paddle. Therfore, you are the captain of the ship. What you do over the next 3 months will either consign you to the history books as another nearly man, or you'll fight to live another day, entering Brummie folklore as the Bluenose Houdini. Only you know how you can achieve the latter - it's your choice.

Birmingham City Football Club and it's custodians - As the people in charge and ownership of out club, you realise that relegation would be a disaster. Again, history shows that a relegated team rarely bounces back that easily. I don't know how things lie with you folks. I'm pretty sure that the grand plan doesn't involved another spell amongst the dead mean of the Football League. So, your challenge is thus - demonstrate what being up top means to you. For starters, spouting off in the press about what we're gonna do etc. just isn't good form - Mr O Mellberg perfectly proved that. It's simple really - you need to rally the fans. We're proud, passionate people. Whilst we love our club dearly, we're not easily fooled. At times, I realise that we've had our gripes. But, for the sake of the club, I implore you to now ensure that we pull together and put all our energies into remaining a top flight club.

The Players - Not much to say really. You know what is required. Many haven't delivered when needed, and quite simply, that is not acceptable. From you all, we require, nay demand, 100% passion, pride and determination in everything you do. Anything less, and you'll wish you hadn't been born.

Finally, the most important people - The Fans - This is it. The Premiership. Every one of us dreamt about reaching this place. Now, I'll be the first to admit that it's not been the football utopia we thought it may be. It's ridiculously expensive, a poor customer experience, usually less atmosphere than the bloody Moon, more hassle from police etc. but ultimately, it's surely where we want to be? All those years of hurt and pain, waiting for that chance. We'll we're bloody here and now is the time to stand be counted. Yup, we pay our money and have the right to call them anything under the sun if they apply anything less that 100%. But, I implore you - now IS the time to rally behind our boys. We could end up going down, but I will be buggered if we are going down without a fight. I personally will do anything to give us a chance of staying up here. And, I challenge you all to join me. Together, we can and will make that difference. Whilst we have that chance of staying up, we have to do anything we can. Never leave the ground slagging of boys if you haven't given everything you can. I know you've paid your money and you have the right, but (with all and absolute respect to the owners) this is OUR club. We are the ones who will mourn if we go down, but f*cking hell, we are the ones who will party if we managed to stay up. You know it makes sense.

I'll leave you with a phrase that to me, has been incredibly important...

"Aerodynamically, the bumble bee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumble bee doesn't know it so it goes on flying anyway"

We may be down amongst the dead men. We may be right up against it. But hey, f*ck it, we're Brummies (technically, even you Slammer). We have never done what we are supposed to. We always go against the norm. So, just to keep things in the natural order, let's have a shot in doing the unexpected. You never know, it may just happen.
posted by kwacky at 11:07 pm

 
NEC facts… (Thanks to Southy and others from Small Heath Alliance for the following)

The company has two equal shareholders: Birmingham City Council and Birmingham Chamber of Commerce & Industry, each with four directors on the board. The chairman is a business representative from the Chamber. Birmingham City Council owns the land and buildings associated with each of the venues.


http://www.necgroup.co.uk/media/pdfs/facts1.pdf


NEC Profile...

The NEC Group is one of Europe’s leading venue management companies, at which more than 1,000 national and international events take place every year across The NEC, The NEC Arena, The ICC, The NIA and Symphony Hall.

Jointly owned by Birmingham City Council and the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry, The NEC Group generates over £700 million of economic spend in the West Midlands region, with an average turnover in excess of £130m.

Profile



The NEC:
•
Birmingham City Council raised loan stock capital, based on NEC Ltd. business plans to build the original complex and the 1989 three-hall expansion.
•
The initial complex of seven halls (opened in 1976) cost £40 million.
•
The 1989 expansion (three halls) cost £56 million, including a grant of £12 million from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
•
The 1993 expansion (four new halls, plus other infrastructure development) cost £90 million, and was funded by a loan raised by NEC Ltd. from private-sector venture capital with Birmingham City Council guaranteeing loan repayments. The ERDF contributed a grant of £18.5 million.
•
The 1998 expansion of four new halls cost £62 million and was funded through the National Exhibition Centre (Developments) Plc, a partnership between Birmingham City Council, Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry and EMAP Business Communications - a unique partnership between public and private sectors.

http://www.necgroup.co.uk/corporate/story/Home.asp?p=8


“Roger Dickens is to be the new chairman of The NEC Group. He will be taking over from Roger Burman, who retires from the board in January 2005 after 20 years. A prominent business leader, Dickens plays a very active role in the West Midlands business community. He was formerly president of the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry and chairman and founder of Birmingham Forward. In addition, he is a former chairman of the West Midlands Regional Industrial Development Board and the West Midlands Regional Group of Chambers.”

http://www.emeca.com/newsletter/download/nl_04dec.pdf

Page 53

Council Accounts

i. The City Council is guaranteeing repayment of the full amount on the principal of and interest accruing on the NEC Ltd loan stocks raised for the construction of the International Convention Centre, the National Indoor Arena and Hall 10 at the National Exhibition Centre. At 31st March 2005 the amount of the loans guaranteed was £215M (2004:£215M). At 31st March 2005, the City Council had a provision of £65.9M (2004: £56.0M) in respect of the repayment of principal on loans raised for the construction of the International Convention Centre, National Indoor Arena and additional halls at the National Exhibition Centre (see note 14). Since 1 April 2005, the City Council has acquired the £215 million loan stocks in exchange for new £215 million City Council bonds maturing in 2030. This transaction is described in detail in Note 28.

ii. The City Council is guaranteeing payment of the full amount on the principal of and interest accruing on the National Exhibition Centre (Developments) PLC loan stock raised in May 1997 for the construction of the four new halls at the National Exhibition Centre. The amount of the loan guaranteed is £73m (2004: £73M), due in 2027.


Page 57

THE NATIONAL EXHIBITION CENTRE LIMITED – DRAFT COMPANY ACCOUNTS

The City Council holds 5,000 £1 shares (50%) in the company, the purpose of which is to promote and operate the National Exhibition Centre, the International Convention Centre and the National Indoor Arena. At 31st March 2005, the City Council was guaranteeing loans of £215M (2004: £215M) to the company (see notes 19 (i) ). The Company did not make any profit or loss before or after tax during the year to 31st March 2005 (2004: £0).

The Company’s net assets at 31st March 2005 amounted to £11,000 (2004: £11,000). The National Exhibition Centre limited is a regulated influenced company under the Local Authorities (Companies) Order 1995 (S.I. 849). This means that a number of finance and propriety controls apply in relation to NEC Ltd activities.

In Agreements dated 17th March 1986 and 17th December 1987, as amended by an agreement dated 4th April 1996. Birmingham City Council has agreed to ensure that finance will be available in such a way and of such amount, as will make certain that the company will remain solvent within the meaning of Section 123 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (that is that it will be able to meet its debts as they fall due). During such time as all or any part of the loan stock referred to in note 19 of the financial statements, in issue at the date of the agreements, or any interest costs or expenses payable in respect thereof remain to be repaid or paid. During 2004/05, the City Council made reimbursements totalling £20.313m to the Company NEC Ltd, (2003/04, £21.512m). There was no qualification to the audit opinion on the latest audited accounts of this company.


Page 57

THE NATIONAL EXHIBITION CENTRE (DEVELOPMENTS) PLC – DRAFT COMPANY ACCOUNTS

The Company was set up to provide an additional 30,000 square metres of exhibition space in four new halls. The new building has been financed by a loan stock issue of £73million to the company which is guaranteed by the City Council. The City Council was allotted 450 of 1,000 ordinary shares of £1 each and 50,000 of 100,000 preference shares of £1 each in the company. The City Council has loan notes totalling £1.6 million in the company and has agreed to make available additional loans of £3.1 million should the Company require further funds. The loss before and after tax for the year to 31st March 2005 amounted to £14,000 (2004: £14,000). The net liabilities at 31st March 2005 amounted to £1,142,000 (2004: £1,128,000). There was no qualification to the audit opinion on the latest audited accounts of this company.


Page 61

28. Post Balance Sheet Events

i. On 21st April 2005 the City Council acquired all £215m of NEC Finance plc bonds described in note 19 above, in exchange for the issue of new City Council bonds of £214,971,000 (a few small holdings were acquired for cash). As a result of the transaction the City Council will receive interest at an average rate of 12.26% to September 2016 and will pay interest on the new bonds at 9.675% to April 2030. The provision in the City Council’s accounts to fund the repayment of the NEC Ltd bonds will no longer be required but £30m of the provision will be retained to fund the repayment of the NEC Developments plc bonds. By a separate agreement dated 4th August 2005, NEC Finance plc agreed to purchase from the City Council £14,925,718 of its own bonds for cancellation. NEC Ltd in turn purchased an equal value of its own bonds from NEC Finance for cancellation. The nominal value of NEC Ltd stocks outstanding and guaranteed by the City Council is therefore £200,074,28.


Page 66

Group Accounts

The City Council has a 50% interest in the companies making up the National Exhibition Centre Ltd. Group. In addition, the council acts as guarantor of the company’s borrowing and underwrites its operating losses. The company made no profit in the year ended 31st March 2005, (Nil: 2004). The group balance sheet has been produced by consolidating the assets and liabilities of the City Council with those of the NEC Ltd. Group on a line by line basis. The major effect of this is an increase in long term borrowing from £2,259 million (2004: £1,284 million) to £2,519 million (2004: £ 1,549 million) and in fixed assets from £4,846 million (2004: £4,042 million)to £5,095 million (£4,295 million). Additionally the Council holds a 45% stake in NEC (Developments) Ltd. The group revenue account shows the Council’s share of the Company’s loss in 2004-05 while the Group Balance Sheet includes the Council’s share of the Company’s accumulated deficit consolidated on a net equity basis. The accounts of the NEC Ltd. Group have been prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (UK GAAP) and the provisions of company law.

The accounts of the City Council have been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice for local Authorities (SORP) produced by the Charted Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy and endorsed by the Accounting Standards Board. Legislation relating to local authorities does not currently permit full compliance with UK GAAP.There are, therefore, a number of differences of accounting treatment between the Council and the NEC Ltd. Group. The major difference is that the Council’s accounts reflect the full implementation of FRS17 (Retirement Benefits), compliance with which is not required for Public Limited Companies until financial periods beginning on or after 1st January 2005. The effect of such compliance by the NEC Ltd. Group is disclosed in Note One below. Further details on the Council’s relationship to NEC Ltd. may be found in Notes 19 and 24 to the Council’s Balance sheet. Group Financial Statements

Accounts

posted by kwacky at 8:03 pm

 
BCFC v BCC

Blues take on the Birmingham City Council

OPEN LETTER FROM KARREN BRADY TO THE BIRMINGHAM CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

02 March 2006


Dear Mr Blackett,

I have recently had sight of your letter to Chamber of Commerce Council Members “A casino for Birmingham. Which bid to support?” and would like to register with you, my absolute indignation and profound disappointment with you personally and the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce for its inability to conduct a fair and representative process on behalf of its member organisations and the city it represents.

I cite the following objections:

• Your letter clearly attempts to influence the outcome of the vote by expressing a preference in advance.

• Your letter states that nil returns on the vote are assumed to be a vote in favour of the NEC as opposed to non-participation.

• Your letter is wholly inaccurate and is misrepresentative of our position. The document makes very selective use of the facts from each bid, skewing the overview to make the NEC project seem stronger by comparison.

• As an example, when summarising the financial benefits of each proposal, you only mention that the Stadium is expected to pay the Council a dividend of £4-5 million a year. Here’s what you don’t mention:

o That Las Vegas Sands have committed to invest £117 million in creating a state-of-the-art Stadium for the city.

o That total investment in the Birmingham Sports Village will be more than £340 million.

o That the project will save the Council an estimated bill of £55 million, which it currently faces to clean up contaminated land on the site.

o That the Birmingham Sports Village is designed to help Birmingham attract major sporting events, such as the Commonwealth Games (which created 20,000 new jobs in Manchester) and teams preparing for the 2012 Olympic Games.

• You accept unchallenged, MGM / NEC’s assertion that their proposal will generate profits for the Council, as owners of the NEC, of £35 million a year. Yet, this figure is based on the success of both the Casino and the NEC and is not guaranteed – unlike the money from Las Vegas Sands, which will be paid up front.

• When it comes to transport, you express concerns about the Wheels Park location, but make no reference to the fact that we are committed to undertake a full transport impact assessment and work with our partners to make the necessary investment in local transport infrastructure. In contrast, you say you are satisfied with the MGM / NEC plan, even though, at the recent presentation, your own members expressed concerns over the traffic impact the proposal would have and the NEC has made it clear that they will not be making any investment in transport infrastructure.

• Birmingham City Football Club / Las Vegas Sands agreed to present to the Chamber of Commerce on the basis that both bids would be treated equally and fairly; a principle quite clearly abandoned in support of the NEC.

• You personally assured us that the Chamber would not, under any circumstances, be making any vote or public decision until the KPMG study had been concluded.

It is very disappointing that the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce is recommending that its members support a Solihull proposal over a proposal in the heart of Birmingham, which will directly benefit both the Birmingham public and Birmingham business. It is quite clear that the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce’s relationship with the NEC has been exploited to the full and in an underhand manner. It is not acting on behalf of Birmingham’s commercial, social and economic interest by reviewing a proposal built on regeneration that has far greater chance of winning a casino licence for this region but merely acting as a mouthpiece for an NEC bid that fails to meet the Casino Advisory Panel’s criteria.

In order to ensure that the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce & Industry conducts its vote in the appropriate way, I demand that your members are re-issued a document that contains the full factual information relevant to the vote and corrects the inaccuracies in the initial letter. Members must be encouraged to vote as individuals, uninfluenced by the Chamber’s impartiality and advised that a failure to reply will count as an abstention and not a vote in favour of the NEC.

Karren Brady

Managing Director

Their reply


AN OPEN LETTER

Ms Karren Brady
Managing Director
Birmingham City Football Club Plc
St Andrew’s Stadium
Birmingham
B9 4NH



Dear Karren,

RE: CASINO BIDS

Thank you for your letter 28th February. It is important that I respond to the serious issues you raise. I will do this in the order you detailed them:

• Expressing a preference. It is common practice for the Policy function of the Chamber to make recommendations to the Members of the Chamber. There are many and varied topics that we deal with and Members expect to benefit from our assessments of issues.
• Nil-Returns. On such a high profile and important issue as the casino opportunity for Birmingham, it is important to encourage a maximum response rate to a vote. The nil return mechanism is designed to ensure any Member with a different view to the recommendation realises the importance of their vote being registered. On this issue, I am confident that we will have a high response rate to the point that “nil returns” will not have any bearing on the outcome. We are working hard to ensure we hear from as many Council Members as we can.
• Use of facts. As the note makes clear, the full facts of each Presentation are to be found in the Minutes to the Council meeting of 21st January. You will be aware that we invited both yourselves and the NEC to ensure the Minutes were an accurate record of each Bid, before we distributed them. The note also makes clear that, in the interests of brevity, the analysis would not repeat all the facts in detail. But to reiterate, the complete facts are available to Council Members wishing to remind themselves of everything that was said.
• Financial Benefits. Whilst not quantified in value, the note does point out that the football stadium would be owned by the City Council. I note that in the Minutes there is also no reference to the value of the Stadium. The remaining points you list are detailed in the Minutes whilst the note acknowledges the “great buildings and marvellous sports facilities” that your bid would produce.


2/..

• NEC profit contribution to the City Council. The note does say that the City will own the football stadium. The note does not assess the risk of income streams falling short of NEC/MGM Mirage predictions, but then there are a myriad number of other risks to both bids that the note does not seek to address, either. In terms of balance, it should also be noted that the note does not feature the £1.1 Billion figure (described in the Minutes) that the NEC claim their bid will create in total income to the region.
• Transport. Again, the Minutes describe your intentions to carry out an impact study. It was a point of differentiation that the NEC has already completed a study (having engaged Ove Arup) and that the NEC believes the results of this study suggest the existing infrastructure could support the development of a casino.
• Decision-making process. We were very sad to hear of your sudden illness and consideration was made to cancelling the football club presentation. In recognition that both the Casino Advisory Panel (CAP) selection criteria and the KPMG study would not be available for the Council meeting we were pleased to offer deferring a vote on both bids, which we had been planning to take on the 31st January.
At the conclusion of both presentations, I explained to Council that we would be deferring our decision for these reasons. There was a clear message from the floor that the Council was anxious to make rapid progress on choosing between the bids and it was pointed out that time would be tight to do this.

It had been our intention to await the findings of the KPMG study, which it was hoped, would make a clear recommendation. Self-evidently, being guided by this would have made much sense.

However, following the publication of the CAP selection criteria, it became very obvious that the ambiguities in these guidelines would make any clear cut, full-blooded recommendation highly unlikely.

Therefore, in the interests of ensuring the Council arrived at its own conclusions and in recognition that time was running out, it was decided to complete an internal review with a recommendation, which resulted in the note you have seen. What should be stressed is we await the votes from Council. It is completely possible that Council will decide the football club bid rather than the NEC proposal is better for business in Birmingham.

In the light of Council Members having had the opportunity to hear both presentations and that the full facts of each presentation have been documented in the Minutes (with the approval of both the football club and the NEC) there is no information of a material nature that Council Members are missing. It is normal practice for the Policy function to make recommendations. We have ensured Members have a free vote and we are encouraging all Members to express a view.



3/..

Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry has a responsibility to ensure our Members have their voice heard on the important issues impacting upon the future of the city. We have a reputation for tackling difficult and challenging issues from which others might shy away. Perhaps the most difficult issues are where the interests of individual Members compete, as in this case. In these circumstances, we work very hard to be even-handed but it is inevitable that one Member will be disappointed with the result. It is premature to know the result of this vote but for the reasons described above, I am confident that our Council Members are informed sufficiently to take a view.

Yours sincerely,



Jerry Blackett
Policy & Communications Director
posted by kwacky at 7:45 pm

 
Tax Explained (thanks to Stevedog)

VAT was introduced back in the early 60's and there are people out there who still do not understand how it works.

Here is a simple primer (which I have copied from the Wysuckie College for the Totally Dumb accountancy course):

If you are rich and you have a rich man's hobby, for example sailing yachts, flying or setting up a recording studio, then you set up a company to cover this activity. If Customs and Excise query this, you get your accountant to submit a business proposal and projected business plan and they soon fall in line and grant a VAT registration.

Now you can indulge yourself in your new hobby to your heart's content and now and then you take in a little outside work to help cover costs and keep things looking kosher.

But why would you want to do this? Well children, gather round and I'll tell you.

You see, poor people pay taxes. When they earn money, they pay income tax and when they spend money, they pay Value Added Tax. So when a poor person earns £20,000, he only gets to keep about £16,000. Becasue he has to pay VAT on most things, that £16,000 is really only worth about £14,000 to him.

Now lets see how a poor person goes about buying a valve compressor. Well, the price is £1,200, except that he has to pay £1,400 because he is poor. But he had to earn £1,750 to buy that £1,200 compressor.

The rich person not only does not have to pay the £200 VAT, but the entire compressor becomes part of his business and therefore is 100% tax deductable.

This is very important in the UK because in Britain, you can carry losses forward from one year to the next - and the next - and the next . . . So if our rich person 'looses' £100,000 on his studio in 2006, he can sell that house he was renting out at a £100,000 profit a few years later and do so completely tax free. If we factor in interest costs and opportunity costs (i.e. he could have invested that money) that compressor now only cost him £850 or there abouts.

But of course there is so much more to the story.

If our rich person records the local band Raving Jim Grunt and the Pubes and they make it big and earn him a great deal of money, you might be tempted to think that our rich person would start paying taxes for a change. You would of course be totally wrong.

Because he had the Pubes in the studio, he did of course earn £5,000, but the rights are held by Raving Jim Grunt and the Pubes Publishing, Luxembourg. This is fortunate because the management and the record company all have their holding companies for their internation rights in, yes, you've guessed it, Luxembourg.

Even Raving Jim Grunt has his rights company there, though we leave it up to him to handle the Pubes.

These comapnies do not make a profit. They pay out their revenues as wages to, well, their main shareholders. Except that there is almost no income tax in Luxembourg. Particularly if you have children.

Which brings me to our rich person's other hobby . . .
posted by kwacky at 4:11 pm