Great Leighs Opens At Last ?

How's it possible to buy the course for a snip @ £10m, when Holmes turned down the Reubens' offer of £25m last October? Surely the administrators' job is to find the best possible price, isn't it? In which case, they ought to turn down this pathetic, bargain-basement offer. Where is the money going to come from to take the track past where it's been stuck at, constructionwise, and to fully finish off all the facilities, plus fund all the staffing, ongoing maintenance and repair, etc., for the future? It looks nonsensical.
 
From the RP:

AN application for a licence submitted by the new company behind Great Leighs racecourse has been rejected by the BHA.

The decision means the BHA will not allow them to enter the process to bid for fixtures next year.

Great Leighs, which in April last year became the first new racecourse in Britain since Taunton opened in 1927, has not raced since going into administration on January 16.

Deloitte, which had been handling the administration process, had a period of exclusivity with Essex businessman Terry Chambers. Chambers, a friend of Great Leighs founder John Holmes, pulled outbut is believed to have returned to the process along with associate John Attenborough.

A statement from the BHA read: "A sub-committee of the board of the British Horseracing Authority has considered a racecourse licence application from Great Leighs Racecourse Limited and has today declined to grant that entity a racecourse licence.

"Great Leighs Racecourse Limited will therefore not be entitled to take part in the 2010 Fixture Allocation Process."
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Ffos Las is a different kettle of fish altogether and really shouldn't find itself in the same situation as Great Leighs.
 
I'm looking forward to going there,although when that will be I don't know as I would imagine it won't be the easiest course to get to.
 
Ffos Las is a different class to Great Leighs. Properly funded and run by a man who loves the game. I will definitely have a runner or two there for the opening day barring accidents. Brilliant track and geographically well sited for the rapidly burgeoning Welsh trainers . Bowen, Goldsworthy,Williams, Vaughan,Thorpe,Jones,et al,plus the Irish from the ferry. Waited a long time to replace Ely ( Cardiff )
 
Great Leighs's buyer/s were in, then they were out - just in time to miss bidding for next year's fixtures list, the plonkers. Now they say they'll appeal to the BHA for a re-try, as if some 60 other real, fully-functioning courses should all chuck the fixtures back onto the table and say, "Sure, go ahead, pick up what you want. You haven't finished building the place, you're at least £28m in debt, you haven't even signed off the ownership papers, but help yourselves, lads!" Total cobblers.

Colin, that clip you've put up says it all, almost - since it doesn't note the offer to buy out the place last October by the Reubens for £25m, Holmes's rejection of the offer, the nonpayment of contractors onsite, the nonpayment of staff ditto, the noncompletion of many facilities - including the stand being in the right place, and, of course, Holmes's parcelling-off of the site into small 'ownerships' by members of his family, thus (presumably) hoping to avoid direct bankruptcy proceedings, and forcing buyers into piecemeal arrangements with his cousins and nephews, or whoever. The whole thing's got a bit of a whiff about it by now, all things taken into account, whereas Ffos Las, always properly funded and planned, and with its management accounted for since last year, is on budget and on schedule. Roll on June 18, and not just a great new racecourse, but a whole equine sports facility.

Who from TalkingHorses is turning up for the Grand Opening?
 
Might go, have to think about it, bit far for the maiden voyage of Ye Olde Beddy though.
I must stop thinking "Fossil Arse"
I must stop thinking "Fossil Arse"
I must stop thinking "Fossil Arse"
I must stop thinking "Fossil Arse"
 
Back to Great Leighs, the following statement from Paul Struthers, released today, makes interesting reading:


“The reasons for the decision to reject the recent licence application from Great Leighs Racecourse Limited are private between us, the applicant and the Administrator. Applicants need to be able to present information of a commercially sensitive nature to us in the full knowledge that we will not disclose the same.



“We will respect the confidentiality that this process demands, however we wish to make clear that we refute much of what has been said about the process in the last few days. The Applicant and the Administrator have been provided with our reasons and, even prior to the decision taken, all parties were well aware of what was required.



“There are significant matters that have to be addressed, which were identified and communicated at the end of 2008 and early 2009 when the application for a licence by the company now in Administration was rejected. These significant matters continue to apply and any application will need to deal with all matters set out in the application licence form.



“We will consider any application in relation to staging fixtures at Great Leighs that is accompanied by the relevant agreements and supporting documentation. Any application needs to establish how, when, and by whom matters are to be dealt with, as part of a plan, together with supporting agreements and financial arrangements.



“We have and will continue to provide support and assistance to the Administrators to enable them to understand the process, but ultimately we need to be satisfied of the various matters necessary to operate a racecourse in accordance with the Rules of Racing.”
 
It just means that the BHA wants to see buyers who aren't likely to also run themselves into receivership by purchasing the place, paying off very large debts to suppliers and staff, and who have sufficient funds to carry forward a continuing programme of completion to the standards required in order to be licensed, as well as meeting all routine running costs. Clearly, they've not been satisfied on that score any more now than they were last year. And I assume they won't want a purchaser who'll continue to be in a constant appeals process with the Council over the road issue.
 
krizon said:
It just means that the BHA wants to see buyers who aren't likely to also run themselves into receivership by purchasing the place, paying off very large debts to suppliers and staff, and who have sufficient funds to carry forward a continuing programme of completion to the standards required in order to be licensed, as well as meeting all routine running costs. Clearly, they've not been satisfied on that score any more now than they were last year. And I assume they won't want a purchaser who'll continue to be in a constant appeals process with the Council over the road issue.
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It also means that they feel the need to respond to what they feel are slurs on them by the people behind the Great Leighs propaganda machine; that's the part I found most compelling.
 
Even the administrators are starting to look dodgy now.

From The Guardian a couple of days ago.

The question of whether Great Leighs will ever again function as a racecourse became still more doubtful yesterday as it emerged that a deal to save the track, announced last week, has not in fact been concluded. The course, in administration since January, has no racing licence and is unlikely to reapply for one until the deal's status is clarified.

"It has been agreed, but not signed and sealed," said a spokesman for the administrators, Deloitte. "There is a deal on the table but it is not yet finalised."

There were no such caveats on Friday, when Deloitte issued a statement that "a deal has been agreed" with a consortium of Essex businessmen, who were to lease the track for 18 months. Deloitte expressed disappointment, in light of the deal, that the track had been denied a racing licence, preventing it from bidding for 2010 fixtures in next week's auction.

But the British Horseracing Authority, who refused a licence application last week, responded with anger to criticism of its decision by Deloitte and the consortium. "We refute much of what has been said about the process," said a spokesman, who added that he could not offer specifics, as the process was confidential.

However, it is believed that the BHA are especially angered by Deloitte's claim to have provided evidence of the lease in time for it to be considered as part of the licence application. Deloitte offered no response to the BHA statement.
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So they weren't buying it anyway - they were to lease it for just 18 months? From whom? Deloitte? Surely they couldn't have leased it from Holmes, as he has had to surrender to the administrators, hasn't he? And why on earth would you lease a course for a mere year and a half? You certainly wouldn't turn a profit in that time - you'd be lucky to break even. Gets curiouser and curiouser by the minute now.
 
FRESH ownership of the Great Leighs racecourse site, whose operating company went into administration in mid-January, appears to have been secured, although racing is highly unlikely to re-start before 2011.
Business advisory firm Deloitte, whose senior executives have been acting as joint administrators since January 16, is understood to have reached agreement on a deal that will take the Essex County Showground Group (ECSG) and associate companies out of administration.
ECSG had debts of upwards of £24 million when the all-weather track was closed, after the BHA refused to grant a further temporary licence to race following the previous night's fixture.
By far the largest creditor is the Royal Bank of Scotland, which is believed to have taken the biggest short-term hit under the new arrangement hammered out by Deloitte's financial partner Carlton Siddle, one of the joint administrators.
Other significant creditors include the BHA, the Levy Board and SIS. Although only the Levy Board, which is owed £1.4m for a loan for floodlights, is a secured creditor, the rest are expected to be paid up when all details are finalised.
3361.jpg
John Holmes: ECSG founder
PICTURE: Mark Cranham
Attempts to find a buyer for the track operating company have been hampered by conditionsattached to leases of vital areas of the site, including the stabling and access, which were held by ECSG founder and Great Leighs chairman John Holmes or his associates.
It is understood that a solution to these difficulties has beenfound, and that Holmes remains a key figure in a new company formed to run the site, which received universal acclaim for its Polytrack racing surface but less credit for spectator facilities. However, Holmes is likely to play a less hands-on role in thefuture.
In May, the BHA turned down a licence approach from a consortium, operating as Great Leighs Racecourse Ltd, which intended to lease the site for 18 months, with an option to buy for a pre-agreed amount at the end of that time,as a means of participating in the 2010 fixtures bidding process. Great Leighs fixtures for 2010 were reallocated elsewhere.
The new company, which will have to satisfy stringent conditions laid down by the BHA before being granted a licence to race, is expected to submit an application to take up at least 16 fixtures in 2011.
No-one was available at Deloitte to comment on Monday
 
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