Rangers egm WILL be put off if too many fans descend on London...

[ian1964 10,458]

...says nomad Paul Shackleton

 

12:12, 11 February 2015

By Gary Ralston

 

CLUB’S financial adviser confirms fears that if too many go to the meeting the showdown will be delayed.

 

RANGERS nomad Paul Shackleton has confirmed the club's general meeting will be postponed if too many fans travel to London.

 

The Rangers Supporters Trust are echoing the call from the Three Bears by asking shareholders to box clever and proxy their vote as they bid to overthrow the board.

 

The Trust wrote to Shackleton on Friday to express their disgust at the decision to hold the meeting in London on March 4 and to ask for an explanation why it was moved from Glasgow.

 

Shackleton, of WH Ireland, refused to answer, but he did confirm fears that if too many attend, the board will adjourn the meeting and hold on to power for a little while longer, keeping Dave King and his allies on the outside looking in.

 

Shackleton wrote: "In the event that a meeting is overwhelmed or disrupted then it will become necessary to adjourn it. This will lead to delays and possibly more cost which is in nobody's interest.

 

"I would conclude that anybody who wants to come is entitled (and indeed welcome) to do so, but I don't see the point in actively encouraging a large physical turn out."

 

He added: "I understand there is widespread frustration about the location of the general meeting, and that the business of the meeting is highly charged.

 

"The board is, however, within its rights to hold the meeting in London, neither the AIM Rules nor the Companies Act prevents this. For cost reasons it is normal market practice for there to be a smaller venue than the theoretical maximum number of voters.

 

"Many small PLCs use their brokers' or solicitors' offices, but in this case a sizeable hotel venue had been chosen anticipating that there may be more attendees than usual."

 

The Millennium Gloucester Hotel in Kensington have performed a u-turn and will no longer host the meeting in their 500 capacity conference venue amid concerns over disruption to guests.

 

The Rangers board are seeking another venue in London but Shackleton, like the Trust, is warning any fans who do attend not to expect the drama of a west end production and that some directors may not even attend.

 

Shackleton added: "It is worth mentioning the business of a requisitioned GM is much more limited than an Annual General Meeting, and therefore the event may be an anti-climax to those who are anticipating a re-run of the AGM.

 

"At the requisitioned GM the resolutions are clear and unambiguous. The directors are unlikely to add anything- they have made their case in the circular (the entire board does not even have to attend), so the meeting will comprise reading the notice and voting. It could be done in less than 20 minutes.

 

"The result will not be known at the meeting, as this has to be announced to the Stock Exchange, which I expect will be during the early part of that afternoon or by no later than 7am the following day.

 

"I am very keen the voting turn out is as high as possible; it is important the location should not restrict the vote. Everybody should vote by proxy card whether they intend to turn up on the day or not.

 

"The proxy card is returned to Capita which is the scrutineer for the vote, so it is 100% secure and independent."

 

RST spokesman Chris Graham accused Shackleton of speaking with a forked tongue, but admitted he is right when he advised fans should not travel.

 

He said: "He says everyone is welcome, but they haven't hired a big enough venue to host all shareholders. If everyone was truly welcome they would have the general meeting where it should always have been - Ibrox.

 

"We're disappointed Shackleton has still not answered why it has been deemed appropriate to host the meeting in London.

 

"However, he at least underlines the threat of postponement. We would ask shareholders not to attend, but to proxy their votes instead.

 

"We will be writing to all 5000 small shareholders this week with instructions on how to proxy their votes and instructions have also been posted on our website."

 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/rangers-egm-put-many-fans-5144167

[ian1964 10,458]

RST NOMAD response

Dear Secretary,

 

Thank you for your e-mail. I penned a response to you earlier this afternoon, but it seems that, as too often is the case with Rangers, events have overtaken us!

 

I understand that there is widespread frustration about the location of the General Meeting, and that the business of the meeting is highly charged. The board is, however, within its rights to hold the meeting in London, neither the AIM Rules nor the Companies Act prevents this. For cost reasons it is normal market practice for there to be a smaller venue than the theoretical maximum number of voters. Many small PLCs use their Broker’s or Solicitor’s offices, but in this case a sizeable hotel venue had been chosen anticipating that there may be more attendees than usual.

 

I am very keen that the voting turn out is as high as possible; it is important that the location should not restrict the vote. Everybody should vote by proxy card whether they intend to turn up on the day or not. The proxy card is returned to Capita which is the scrutineer for the vote, so it is 100% secure and independent. Anybody who does turn up and votes in the meeting will override their proxy vote with their meeting vote, which is fine, but it won’t count as a second vote. Anybody who had not received their proxy card by, say, Wednesday should get in touch with Capita in order to get a replacement in time.

 

It is also worth mentioning that the business of a requisitioned GM is much more limited than an Annual General Meeting, and therefore the event may be an anti-climax to those who are anticipating a re-run of the AGM. At the requisitioned GM the resolutions are clear and unambiguous. The Directors are unlikely to add anything- they have made their case in the circular. (The entire board does not even have to attend), so the meeting will comprise reading the notice and voting; it could be done in less than 20 minutes. The result will not be known at the meeting, as this has to be announced to the Stock Exchange, which I expect will be during the early part of that afternoon or by no later than 7am the following day.

 

In the event that a meeting is over-whelmed or disrupted then it will become necessary to adjourn it. This will lead to delays and possibly more cost which is in nobody’s interest. I would conclude that anybody who wants to come is entitled (and indeed welcome) to do so, but I don’t see the point in actively encouraging a large physical turn out.

 

I hope that this answers your questions.

 

Yours sincerely

Paul

[craig 5,199]

What puclicly registered company actively encourage a low turnout at their AGM or EGM ?

 

Incompetence doesn't even begin to describe this shower.

[Laudbertz 0]

For cost reasons it is normal market practice for there to be a smaller venue than the theoretical maximum number of voters. Many small PLCs use their Broker’s or Solicitor’s offices, but in this case a sizeable hotel venue had been chosen anticipating that there may be more attendees than usual.

 

Cost reasons, fair enough, but surly the expenses of travelling to London from Glasgow would be fairly costly too.

[craig 5,199]

Cost reasons, fair enough, but surly the expenses of travelling to London from Glasgow would be fairly costly too.

 

If it came down to cost they would host it at Ibrox.... a facility which is ZERO cost to rent !!

[Laudbertz 0]

If it came down to cost they would host it at Ibrox.... a facility which is ZERO cost to rent !!

 

Exactly. Ach well, the massive post-EGM party at Ibrox which im sure DK will be more than happy to host will just have to do instead.

[calscot 0]

Seems to me that if Ibrox is considered too cold, a "normal" board should consider the likes of the SSEC which can hold up to 10,000 seated.

 

I suspect there's a chance Celtic might start using the Emirates Arena.

[MoodyBlue 0]

For something that will generally last no more than 20-30 mins, Ibrox should be used as the formal gathering place of this.

 

Free to use and if they want 'security' this wouldn't even come close to £200k.

 

They are literallly wasting money for the sake of it.

Edited February 11, 2015 by MoodyBlue

[calscot 0]

Not sure about Ibrox being "free" - setting up and removing the "stage" must have been a couple of grand plus taking on some of the costs which would be included in hiring a venue such as utilities, staff, cleaning etc. We could probably do with an indoor venue at this time of year.

[craig 5,199]

Not sure about Ibrox being "free" - setting up and removing the "stage" must have been a couple of grand plus taking on some of the costs which would be included in hiring a venue such as utilities, staff, cleaning etc. We could probably do with an indoor venue at this time of year.

 

You any idea how much these venues cost calscot ?

 

My company hires a room at the Hilton Park Lane every March for our audit committee meeting (which is, strangely enough, right along the road from the Gloucester, isn't quite as posh as the Gloucester - and our meeting is on the Monday after the EGM).... and the cost is certainly a bit more than a couple of grand. I think we pay upwards of 5k for the rental of a room which holds approximately 30 people. So you can only imagine how much it would be for a room to hold 500 people - it will NOT be cheap. Further, the utilities you speak of are more often than not at "additional expense".

 

With regards to staff.... At the AGM in December Rangers used internal salaried staff - I know as our contact from the Youth Academy was enlisted to participate in AGM duties as were others - so there would be minimal cost of staff in using Ibrox.

 

If we could do with using an indoor venue at this time of year, we certainly could have been doing with using an indoor venue in December too.... the plain reality is that this is a clear and blatant attempt to ensure that as few people as possible attend this ever-critical EGM.