Accrington Cricket Club
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Appeal To Clear Brewery Loan
Friday February 27th 2015

Dear Supporter,

You may recall previous discussions about a proposal to raise funds to repay the Thwaites brewery loan entitled “The First Eleven” which basically involved trying to find 11 members prepared to make interest free loans of £5,000 each to the Club.

At that time we understood that Thwaites would require the whole outstanding loan to be repaid before they would negotiate improved supply terms. At 31 December 2014 this amounted to approximately £63,000. We were unable to get firm pledges of loans for that amount.

We now understand that Thwaites would now be prepared to negotiate improved terms if we were in a position to make a substantial partial repayment of the total outstanding. Whilst it would be preferable to be able to clear the total loan and free the Club from the brewery tie altogether, we consider it worthwhile to have another attempt to try to raise loans from members. Several other Lancashire League clubs have successfully gone down this route including Rishton, Church and, most recently, East Lancs.

In order to minimise administration of this proposal, we are seeking commitments to loans in multiples of £1,000 with a minimum loan of £1,000. The loans will be interest free and will be repaid using the cash flow saved by reducing or eliminating repayments to Thwaites. Until we have a clear view of how much we can raise and what Thwaites revised arrangements will be, we cannot be certain as to repayment terms. The Club will repay the loans as quickly as possible and will use any windfall cash receipts (e.g. from asset sales) to increase repayments. Should any lender unfortunately pass away, any balance outstanding will be repayable as a priority.

Some members have already subscribed to Supporters’ Bonds which pay interest at 2% per annum and were also raised with a view to repayment of the brewery loan. These funds are still held intact in cash reserves and will be used in any settlement with Thwaites. Any holder of these bonds may convert them into the new interest free loans if they wish.

In order that we can be confident as to how much we can offer Thwaites in loan repayments, we would be grateful if you could please contact Stephen Davies or Alven Burrows as soon as possible as we need confirmation no later than 31st March 2015.

 

Yours sincerely

David Lloyd
President
Accrington Cricket and Tennis Club

 

 

 

The Club