Interim Chairman Panos Thomas, on behalf of the ICT Board of Directors, said: Consultant to the board, Mr Alan Savage held a press conference at the Caledonian Stadium today in which he outlined the following:
Findings
During Mr Savage’s forensic examination of the club, in which he has contributed £200,000 to the club, the following has been found:
The proposed Seventy7 Ventures deal was considered solid by former CEO Scot Gardiner and this option and this proposed deal convinced the Auditors A9 on 28th June that the club was a going concern.
It has since come to light that Seventy7 Ventures was not a credible or real option.
Draft 2024 Accounts show a £1.7 million loss and Current Creditors less current debtors is about £400,000
Mr Savage, after a lot of prevarication, brought the loans situation to a head at the close of business yesterday (Tuesday 27 August) with the majority either converted to equity or written off. However, Mr Savage noted that holders of loans worth £220,000 want repayment and are effectively current creditors.
Mr Savage noted that the quantum of the debt of the Club is now in the region of £620,000 with, based on current projections, another £400,000 will be needed by the end of the season. In round terms £1m. Cost cutting measures will be put in place but will take time to filter through.
Mr Savage noted that if Highland Council had not revoked planning application for the Battery Farm, then the club would have been solvent. However, the license was sold to generate £250,000. Mr Savage noted that he wasn’t sure if the license may be available to cover any site in Inverness or just the proposed site at Fairways and was looking for confirmation on that.
Options
Mr Savage said he will be meeting the ICTFC Board of Directors on Friday 30th August, and he also outlined options that he sees for the club going forward.
Option A. Crowd Funding Specific
7 acres of land, the club once had the lease to, are now under a lease to Propco Ltd.
Propco Ltd was bought from Tullochs/Springfield by David Cameron and Ross Morrison. The Battery Farm License is owned by David Cameron, Ross Morrison and Allan Munro and it could be worth £3.4m.
Mr Savage said if these entrepreneurs deal with £150,000 of the loanees who want payment, then he will deal with the remaining £70,000.
If these entrepreneurs are also prepared to donate £450,000 to the Club that enabled them to get these assets, Mr Savage will take care of the Club going forward as a going concern.
Revenue generated by the 7 acres through time will recover their donation. Once this revenue equals the £600,000, they will split further revenue with the club on a 50/50 basis once their overheads and costs are deducted.
If the Battery Farm licence is worth anything then, after recovering their overheads and costs, they split anything that’s left 50/50 with the club.
However, this deal would have to be done very quickly.
Option B. Crowd Funding General
The club asks the general community of Inverness, its Businesses, and the Fans to donate money to sort the huge debts out and see if we can raise the £600,000 if the entrepreneurs declined to help.
Option C. The ‘A’ word
Future
Looking to the future, Mr Savage has said he will ask the shareholders if they want him to run the club, and if they did, Mr Savage would have a mandate for full control of the club until a buyer is found. This mandate would be reviewed every three years. The Club needs and deserve certainty after 5 years of huge losses, chaos and confusion.
Mr Thomas would like to place on record his thanks on behalf of the club to Mr Alan Savage for his outstanding hard work as we reach this point, and we will update supporters with the latest developments when available.