|
Post by Deleted on Apr 21, 2008 11:09:47 GMT
As our tables strategy unfolds over the next few months, a regular update on all developments will be provided by Simon Tinto.
On this board you will be given the opportunity to respond with your opinions, good ideas (or bad ones - which are better than no ideas at all ;D), questions and answers.
So watch this space !
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2008 8:54:44 GMT
REDHILL & DISTRICT BAR BILLIARDS LEAGUE
TABLES BULLETIN No. 1
It is common knowledge that Bar Billiards Ltd have decided to increase their investment pool tables and that, in order to expand their interest in that sector, they are selling off their Bar Billiards tables. It reflects poorly on the game we play that in some Leagues there has been an lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth (“Bar Billiards RIP” and “Part of me is dying and I don’t know how to feel” are two of the more emetic messages I’ve seen), but not in Redhill where we in the process of rising to this challenge.
The following strategy was laid down early in 2004 to cover precisely the situation we have faced since the news broke at the end of March this year. Nine very generous benefactors have raised the £11,000 we needed to buy all eleven tables in our League. This money comes in the form of short-term, zero-interest, unsecured loans and needs to be repaid in full by the start of next season. We are now therefore issuing 110 £100 Bonds in order to generate the revenue we need to repay our benefactors.
The bonds will be repaid as follows. Each Bond holder will receive a numbered Bond Purchase Certificate; once a year all the numbers will be entered in a random draw carried out publicly, probably at Presentation Night; at least 25 numbers will be drawn each time and those bonds will be repaid in full and with 10% interest. This will be repeated annually until all bonds have been repaid, hopefully over four years, but possibly five. It is essential that as many people as possible participate in this project and all members are asked to consider buying a bond. If you wish to do so please contact me on 01737-768905. If you are already committed to buying a bond, please accept my personal thanks on behalf of the League.
So far 56 bonds have been sold. Bobbie Davis was the first to fill in a Bond Purchase form and hand it to me at the EGM on 7th May. She did so in that gentle, understated way of hers - not because she fancied making a profit on her investment, but because she understands, as well as any of us, that this League isn’t just about spending 17 or 18 minutes at the table trying to outscore your opponent. Thank you Bobbie – and I know you didn’t do it for the money. You did it for your friends and so has everybody else.
By acquiring the tables we simultaneously achieve two things. Firstly we secure the future of the Redhill League and secondly we become our own tables operator. Each pub and club with one of our tables will pay a monthly rent of £40, giving us an annual revenue of £5,280. At least £2,750 of this will be set aside to repay 25 bonds with 10% interest; annual Public Liability Insurance will cost £180; and £1,500 will be ring-fenced to cover the cost of refurbishing and maintaining the tables to the standard we are used to. This leaves a surplus of around £850 which could be used for extra work on the tables if necessary, or to repay some more bonds. For the purpose of clarity and in order to avoid confusing these monies with the League’s other revenue, all financial transactions relating to tables will run through a separate bank account. The Treasurer will present separate revenue and expenditure statements to the Annual General Meeting.
A small team of experienced members will over the next couple of months carry out an inspection of every table in the League and assess what refurbishment needs to be done before the start of the 2008/09 season. If you have any requests on this subject regarding your own home table, please contact me on 01737-768905.
For many years we’ve had an incredibly comfortable ride, thanks to Bar Billiards Ltd in general and Ken Hussey in particular. Now we are on our own, but our strategy will succeed because you, the members and friends of the Redhill League have individually and collectively decided to regard this, not as a disaster, but as a great opportunity. Your magnificent support will help to shape our future and, in the years ahead, we will surely look back on the spring and summer of 2008 and say that this is the finest thing this League has ever done.
Simon Tinto June 1st 2008
|
|
|
Post by bigtj on Jun 2, 2008 18:58:51 GMT
Well said Simon and very forward thinking of the Redhill league. With the possibility of other table suppliers going the same way, prehaps it s something other leagues can think about.
Knowing you I am sure you would be only to willing to offer advice as to how to go about this, and as usual you have pushed bar billards forward.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2008 11:15:54 GMT
REDHILL & DISTRICT BAR BILLIARDS LEAGUE
TABLES BULLETIN NO 2
BOND PURCHASE In the first of these Bulletins I reported that 56 of the 110 bonds available has been spoken for; that figure has now risen to 82 and I’m confident of reaching our target by mid-July, so many thanks to all the most recent purchasers. Once we reach our target we can begin repaying our original benefactors.
COLIN FROST League Treasurers rarely get a mention in dispatches, but Colin Frost has done outstandingly well in setting up the financial side of our strategy. This ranges from opening a special account for all income and expenditure on tables to collecting and banking revenue from benefactors and bond holders and making arrangements for the pubs and clubs to begin their monthly rental payments to the League. He’s done a difficult and detailed job superbly and I want to place on record my personal gratitude for his great support in a tough time. Thanks, Colin – you’re a star.
DAVE CONSTABLE So is Mr President – as if we didn’t already know it. Dave Constable is to lead a team of experienced members, including Andy Finn and Vernon Sparkes, who over the next few weeks will inspect all our tables and decide what refurbishment and maintenance needs to be done before the start of the new season. Your input in this process matters to us so if you’d like to meet Dave’s team to discuss your own home table, please call him on 01737-225400.
CAROLINE & GENETTE When this strategy was launched at the EGM in early May, I made the point that we need to mobilise our most valuable asset, which is you – the membership of the League, and that anybody who has the skills or facilities to play an active part will not be turned away. Not much more than five minutes after Terry closed the meeting, Caroline Jones and Genette Nicholls stepped forward and offered to jointly take charge of designing and producing Bond Certificates for all purchasers. This is exactly the kind of practical support we need and therefore my thanks also go to two more stars.
On the same subject, Ted Edwards asked the EGM what would happen if a bond-holder died before his or her bond had been redeemed. Good question, Ted, and thanks for asking it. Gary Powell suggested that if I go under a bus the money should go to the bus-driver (Gary, your star-rating has taken a dive!), but I’ve added the following to the Terms & Conditions of Purchase. “In the event of the death of a bond-holder, prior to his or her bond being redeemed at an annual public draw the bond (with 10% interest added) will become part of the deceased’s estate, to be redeemed and disbursed by the estate’s legal executor”.
BAR BILLIARDS LTD Our purchase agreement with Bar Billiards Ltd includes an offer to give a group of Redhill members some instruction on table maintenance and refurbishment. This will take place at the company’s workshop in Ascot, probably on Friday 25th July, although this date has yet to be confirmed. Petrol and out-of-pocket expenses will be covered by the League. Anyone wishing to take part in this should contact me on 01737-768905.
Simon Tinto 23rd June 2008
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 6, 2008 11:56:44 GMT
REDHILL & DISTRICT BAR BILLIARDS LEAGUE
TABLES BULLETIN NO 3
BOND PURCHASE A total of 93 Bonds have now been spoken for and we have received payment for no less than 77 of them. My thanks go to all those who have paid – as well as a reminder to the others that we do need to collect yours as soon as possible. Please send your payments to me at 11 Cavendish Road, Redhill, RH1 4AL. Many thanks in advance. We now need to mount a final push to reach our target of 110 bonds sold. A Bond Purchase Form is attached to this email for the attention anyone who is not yet committed to buying one. Please also wave it vigorously in front of anybody you think might be able to help us to our target.
DAVE JONES & IAIN MOUNTAIN Dave and Iain spent a few hours at Bar Billiards Ltd on 25th July receiving some instruction on the maintenance of tables. A family commitment meant that Clive Thompson was unable to make it, but Chris Saville from Dover & Deal BBL joined Dave and Iain. Unfortunately all the tops at the factory had already been recovered so there was no hands-on refurbishment, but they did at least spend some time discussing potential problems with the timing mechanisms as well as how to recover the table and cushions.
Dave reports that it was an interesting experience, despite the absence of any practical learning, and that now we have to put theory into practise. He’s also suggested that recovering a slate can be quite time-consuming and might best be done off-site, in which case why not buy a spare bed and cushions to replace an existing set and refurbish the old one elsewhere? The old bed and cushions thereby become the spares. This very intelligent idea is pretty much what Bar Billiards Ltd did for us for 60 years and, having recently become our own tables operator, it’s essential that we offer a service as close as possible to what we’ve all been used to. I’ll investigate Dave’s excellent idea with Bar Billiards Ltd and the League and will report further in the next Bulletin.
CHRIS SAVILLE My old friend Chris Saville has raised the possibility of setting up a joint purchasing agreement that might also include another old friend, Pete Sainsbury, who has bought the Tunbridge Wells tables. This would initially involve the joint purchase of high quality baize, although it could extend to other accessories if necessary. Green baize is a costly item and if we buy it only on our own behalf we’d probably have to invest well over £1,000 to secure the minimum quantity. However, by sharing the cost with Pete and Chris, who runs tables in Dover & Deal, far less of our capital would be tied up, which in turn improves our cash-flow. The League Management gave this proposal the go-ahead at the end of July and Chris and I have an agreement in principal to proceed. Again, all developments on this issue will be reported in future Bulletins.
Simon Tinto – 5th August 2008
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2012 23:21:32 GMT
Redhill League are proud to announce that all the Bonds have now been re-paid - a whole year ahead of schedule.
Quite a success story !
|
|