gazza and simon

[CANV EFM]

i notice that wealdstone are getting into bed with stadia and bank of scotland to the tune of 5 or 6 mill as well...what are these guys up to? the profits from the crowds beers food etc stay with the football side along with 25 per cent of the revenue from the new leisure facilities..now im no hotelier but can a facility of that sort in billericay generate enough revenue to repay a 6 million pound loan? nice place billericay, all hilly with trees (you notice that kind of thing coming from C.I.) but its a commuter town and hardly a hotbed of big local business (thats mainly in basildon)..how many big business conferences can they hope to generate? unless everyone in riccay is having their wedding reception there next year.... ok i dont know all the facts and as i said i have no idea on the revenue generated from these kind of ventures, but it does seem mighty ambitious.. what do you guys think? or are there any experts on this kind of thing out there who can shed some light on it?? <img src="graemlins/images/icons/confused.gif" border="0" alt="" />

[Simon BTFC]

Ambitious, that's us!<p>We're not looking to build a hotel mind, but the issue is that the club are looking to generate revenue on non-match days. Stadia Management Ltd. have a proven track record with this kind of development in Scotland - playing a major part in Livingston's rise to prominence. Billericay has nothing to speak of in the way of Banqueting/Conference type facilities, certainly nothing of the type we're looking to build! the £6m loan is a concern, but large banks are not in the habit of throwing money away, so the Bank of Scotland must think they'll see their money again!<p>There is a sizeable market in conference facilities at the moment, one of my colleagues is travelling to Basildon for a training day soon (poor sod), so if the facilities are properly managed we should be able to grab our own slice of that money.<p>It's definatley an exciting time to be a BTFC fan, but not going to get carried away, we've not yet got planning permission!

[Simon BTFC]

And if you want to know more, visit

http://www.billericaytownfc.co.uk/features/ground1.html

[Guest]

Thanks Simon, it certainly sounds ambitious.<p>Could Billericay be the new Livingstone?

[Simon BTFC]

Like I said we're not getting carried away yet - this development if it goes through will give us two things that (I think) will asure the future of Billericay Town FC - The conference standard ground and the financial income. With or two closest rivals (geographically - Chelmsford and Basildon) having all kinds of problems with their grounds we've got the opportunity to establish ourselves as a major force in Essex football. <p>The down side is that the playing side hasn't been great this season - but as we (unlike for instance Grays) are aiming for the Conference we have GOT to get the ground grading first.

[GazzaBTFC]

Drank a bottle of red wine last night so I can't be bothered to reply.....................<p>Yuck................

[CANV EFM]

you cant get a hangover on one bottle of red...unless you drank it at 3.30 am?.... also who is this john main character you are trying to get onboard? ex southend director...

[GazzaBTFC]

Hey CANV, I'm well past my sell by date so a bottle of red does it, okay....<p>Groan

[Simon BTFC]

C'mon Gaz, I had a bottle of red for Sunday lunch after a weekend of non stop boozing in Swindon - felt fine yesterday! Old age catching up with you is it?