Öppet brev från affärsmannen Mark Sims till ordförande Bill Bratt
Mark Sims är en lokal affärsman som erbjudit sig att köpa 24,9 % av aktierna i klubben och tillsammans med Mo Chaudrys köp av 24,9 % av aktierna skulle de tillsammans få en aktiemajoritet i klubben, resterande 0,2 % av aktierna räknar de med att få av olika enskilda aktieägare som de tror kommer attstödja dem.
Han går nu ut i ett öppet brev där han berättar om hur illa behandlad han känner sig ha blivit av ordförande Bill Bratt. En person som han umgåtts med i många år, både i privata och offentliga sammanhang som sponsor av och supporter till Port Vale. Mark Sims berättar att Bratts motvilja mot Mo Chaudrys bud är att han inte litar på honom, han gillar honom inte helt enkelt. Han berättar att han blivit nonchalerad av Bill Bratt sedan han gick och stödde Mo Chaudry och tror att Bratt gör vad han kan för att hänga kvar vid ordförande posten. Vi tackar onevalefan.co.uk för möjligheten att publicera utdrag ur detta brev. Här följer ett utdrag ur brevet.
”-We have been good friends over the years. You know I am a lifelong Port Vale fan and I care passionately about my club.You have asked me on many occasions to help the club out financially - match sponsorship, shirt sponsorship, executive boxes etc. I have over time sponsored the club in excess of £200,000 and have done so upon request from you and willingly.”
“-I feel deeply offended and betrayed by your recent conduct towards me over the last 4 weeks. You have cancelled several meetings with me at short notice and without satisfactory explanation. You have not returned my many phone calls. You have shunned our friendship for reasons I simply do not understand. This has also been the case with Graham, who now also ignores my calls.”
“-We met some months ago and discussed the Mo Chaudry bid. You told me that you could think of no good reason why the bid was not suitable and good for Port Vale other than you did not like the man. I was at the time surprised by such a remark but you reiterated to me the view held by the Board collectively that you did not trust Mo.”
“-I therefore took it upon myself to go and see me Mo for myself and form my own view of his bid, his intentions and the person. I met with Mo and he will confirm I grilled him at some length about the bid. I found Mo an accommodating and amenable gentleman. He answered all my questions and I left the meeting with a very different impression to the one I expected given your commentsAfter several weeks of meetings and having been presented by what I felt to be honest and sincere answers from Mo and his CEO elect, I found myself wanting to be part of what I feel will be a new and exciting era for Port Vale, and so I put the idea to Mo that I would like to invest in the purchase of 24.9% of new shares if he would be prepared to do likewise, and that discussion culminated in the revised bid of last week.”
“-I am disappointed you have not phoned or emailed me having received notice of my bid - you have my contact details. As I say given the lengths I have gone to over the years to support you and Port Vale financially whenever called upon to do so, and given our many meetings and discussions, I am very upset you have turned your back on me and my generosity over time. No contact whatsoever Bill. I feel really let down by your actions, as I did ask you when we last met to consider my views and had I bought shares instead of sponsoring many things for you, I would have had enough power to back the bid.”
“-I have spoken to many fans, shareholders, and corporate sponsors and I can assure you there is in my opinion an overwhelming desire for change, and significant support for the revised bid. I believe you are under-estimating the desire for change amongst the fans and shareholders and the silence by the Board and the "business as usual" approach is alienating even the most ardent of Board loyalist.”
“-I love my club and would not see anything cause harm. I take your silence to me that you too don’t trust me. I have been in business for over 20 years now and in that time been a pretty good judge of people, and in my view your opinion of Mo is entirely wrong. Personally, I am disgusted at the behaviour of the board and how they continually attempt to tarnish his name through various avenues, including that of Mr Plant. However, it seems the fans have seen beyond these antics and even found some rather alleged distasteful activity that certain board members may have been involved in themselves! I am disenchanted with the current Board and believe V2001 has run its course. As laudable as its aims were in the early days, V2001 was only ever intended to be an interim vehicle to attract new investment. You and your colleagues have clung on now for far too long and in my opinion your motives for doing so have to be questioned in the face of the revised bid which embraces the V2001 Charter and offers the sort of investment a club like Port Vale should relish. At times in the past I always backed your view when investment opportunities have been brought to the club, but in hindsight I am beginning to think your negative views were little more than to protect your position – please tell me and convince me I am wrong. I can never forget the treatment given to Dave McPherson whom I personally paid £25k to scout players in Australia for the club.”
“-I ask you to step aside now and avoid the embarrassment and humiliation of a contentious EGM. The genuine fans and shareholders deserve better. You can accept the bid tomorrow and put it to shareholders for them to choose. We will send in the accountants to carry out the due diligence as one would accept with this level of investment. We can then embrace Mo's business plan and use the summer months to repair and rebuild in good time for what could be a very exciting new season.”
KÄLLA: onevalefan.co.uk
