Monday 18th December, 2023 at 5:54pm
The Annual General Meeting of Partick Thistle Football Club takes place on January 11, 2024, with annual report papers submitted to shareholders today in advance of the meeting.
Included within those documents are the club’s latest annual financial statements as well as a strategic report prepared by PTFC directors for the year ending May 31, 2023, which we include in full at the end of this update for the benefit of all supporters.
In addition, there are a number of items of importance within the shareholder documents which we wish to share with all Partick Thistle supporters today as follows:
1. CLUB FINANCES
It is regrettable but should be of no surprise to supporters that the club accounts for the year 2022/23 (ending May 31, 2023) show a significant loss. These financial results are challenging and do not make easy reading, an annual operating loss in excess of £350,000, which would have been a £600,000+ loss without our Scottish Cup progress and televised cup tie at Ibrox against Rangers. Much has been said on this already however the positive news today is that thanks in no small part to your incredible support, we have recovered to some extent to ensure the club is on a stronger financial footing today, yet with no complacency and only more hard work ahead of us. Nothing but more of the same will guide us further from that negative position which is clearly not sustainable nor a place we ever want to be again.
2. CLUB OPERATIONS
Since summer 2023, the PTFC Board has been carrying out a comprehensive review of all club operations, and that work continues into 2024. We must thank everyone who works at the club – from staff employees and consultants to contractors and volunteers – for their ongoing commitment to the club and their cooperation as we continue with this process.
During this root and branch review, we identified some gaps whereby more support was required to strengthen the core team working with CEO Chris Ross, which led to new roles being advertised in recent months. These new appointments have and will add necessary skills to the office and events team to support existing colleagues and ensure the club can continue to make progress towards our collective aim of being a best-in-class club off the field.
We continue to review all costs and when contracts allow, we proactively seek savings or service improvements.
3. BOARD APPOINTMENTS
We are delighted to announce that, at the forthcoming AGM, we propose the addition of four new directors to the PTFC Board, bringing relevant skills and experience and strengthening the board’s ability to deliver. These proposed appointments are:
Elliot Gilmour – Elliot is the founder and Managing Partner of Spitfire Consultancy, a business specialising in operational transformation for large organisations, with current clients including Volkswagen Group, where he helped design their headquarters in Germany, and the Red Bull Formula One Team. Prior to starting Spitfire, he held senior management roles with Nissan, BAE Systems and British Steel. Elliot would be tasked with delivering improvements to the club’s governance (leading on the corporate governance document) as well as operational systems, processes and workflows. His son currently plays for the club’s Thistle Weir Youth Academy.
Elaine Hamilton – Elaine is the Managing Director of Maia Optimal, a business she recently established to provide strategic marketing and business development advice to SME business owners in the professional services industry. Prior to that she worked as the Business Development Director for McCrea Financial Services, having previously worked as the Head of Business Development for Celtic Football Club for five years, negotiating contracts for the club with Carling, and working closely on the Nike kit deal for the club, as well as several other global organisations. She has been helping out at Thistle on a volunteer basis for the last three months, the driving force behind improvements to the hospitality areas at the Wyre Stadium at Firhill and would continue to focus on commercial areas of the club, with the aim of achieving significant revenue growth.
Donald McClymont – Donald’s name should now be familiar to Thistle fans following his part in an initial £500,000 investment into the club back in October. Donald is the CEO and founder of club sponsor, indie Semiconductor, a NASDAQ-listed company based in California with operations also in Scotland. His first Thistle match at Firhill was a 1-1 draw vs. Clydebank in the late 1980s and he is one of a very select few to have attended both away matches in 1995’s famous Intertoto Cup adventure, in Linz and Metz. Donald has given us notice in writing that he will be taking a seat on the board as is his right as an investor, and we have started the Scottish FA approval process to confirm his appointment, which we anticipate being formalised in January.
Stuart Callison (The Jags Foundation representative) – Stuart has been the Chief Executive of St. Andrews Ambulance for 15 years, prior to which he held other leadership roles within the Public Sector and is a Chartered Accountant and qualified lawyer previously having worked as both an auditor and a solicitor. As a long-time director of The Jags Foundation, as well as bringing significant leadership experience to the board of Partick Thistle, as a respected representative of supporters, we believe his appointment will preserve the strong relationship built with TJF during the time Andrew Holloway served on the Club’s board.
Stuart’s prospective appointment as the representative of The Jags Foundation will see him replace Andrew Holloway, who has confirmed will step down from the PTFC Board at the AGM. We thank Andrew for stepping up to support the club and the Board during such a challenging period and we will thank him in full again upon his departure.
We can also confirm that it is the intention of both Caroline Mackie and Richard Beastall to stand for re-election. Douglas McCrea when originally joining the board in June 2023 had advised the board it was his intention to commit to no more than one season and has confirmed that if re-elected he will remain in post until later this season. We welcome this commitment which will allow him to aid the settlement of the new board.
We firmly believe that these appointments will strengthen the club and allow the PTFC Board to build towards the shared vision of a becoming a leading fan-owned Scottish football club.
4. SUPPORTER REPRESENTATION ON THE PTFC BOARD
Finally, there is a commitment from the club for at least two additional fan representatives to join the PTFC Board with a view to them being in place ahead of the start of the 2024/25 season. Further updates on this will be provided in due course.
As announced last month, the PTFC Trustees have recently presented proposals to the club for a new Club-Trust Agreement. The proposals are based on extensive research, led by The Jags Foundation, into best practice at other Football Clubs across the UK.
The detail on this continues to be worked through, and the club is also working on a Corporate Governance Manual to embed best practice.
We are confident these changes will make a positive impact on Partick Thistle feeling fan-owned to every supporter. It is anticipated that the Club-Trust Agreement will be presented to Trust beneficiaries for consultation in January.
5. STRATEGIC REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MAY 2023
The year ending 31st May 2023 was a truly momentous one in the history of Partick Thistle Football Club. The wishes of the late Colin Weir were delivered with majority ownership of the club gifted to the beneficiaries of the PTFC Trust.
This group was extended to include all season ticket holders over the age of 16, along with members of The Jags Trust, The Jags Foundation and the ’71 Club.
However, ownership brought with it responsibility. It became apparent, to the new board upon reviewing cashflow forecasts in December 2022, that the club did not have sufficient working capital to complete the season.
The board immediately prioritised funding, the urgency of which was temporarily eased by our progress in the Scottish Cup and later by our memorable run to the final of the Premiership play-offs. The additional income generated by these cup and play-off fixtures, which included seven live televised games, postponed the time that investment was required from March to the middle of the new financial year.
After talking to several different parties, the board agreed to proceed with a proposal which resulted in the injection of £500,000 via preference shares, with the ability to raise a further £500,000. The first tranche of this investment was completed in October 2023.
This proposal allowed the club to field a competitive squad in this season’s cinch Championship, whilst ensuring funds would be in place to complete the season. Without this investment, neither of these outcomes would have been possible.
The board have since turned their focus to building the infrastructure required to develop a club capable of getting to and ultimately competing in the Scottish Premiership.
This includes making necessary improvements to the Wyre Stadium at Firhill, particularly in terms of health and safety, alongside the development of the stadium’s hospitality spaces. We are also looking at plans to develop the city end of the ground and to create new hospitality spaces within the existing stadium footprint.
The commercial team have worked hard to deliver growth in advertising and sponsorship revenues for season 2023/24 resulting in an increase of more than 25% when compared to the financial year covered by this report.
Another focus has been to recognise, develop and protect our footballing assets. We have undertaken to sign key players to contracts which recognise their value and contribution to the football club both now and in the future. This focus also includes the development of closer mutually beneficial agreements with the club academy and the women’s team.
The board are working closely with the trustees of the majority shareholder, the PTFC Trust, on agreements to formalise the working relationship between the supporters’ organisations and the club board. These will seek to improve governance and determine how future club boards will be constituted. This will include elected fan representatives on the club board.
In summary, whilst the last year has been turbulent at times, the board are confident that we are entering a more settled period and are looking forward to working closely with all shareholders to continue to build a proud legacy for our football club.
