![]() |
#1 | ||||||||
Member
![]() ![]() Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 11,524
|
![]()
As many of you know or have experienced, the moderators on the official Man Utd message board have expressed some concerns about Shareholders United. While we find it a bit strange that these individuals - given their positions - don't know the facts about us and have taken somewhat of a provocative stance against us, we wanted to address their concerns in an open and forthright manner consistent with the type of organisation Shareholders United is.
The questions were articulated by a moderator who goes by the alias 'Condor'. The answers are interspersed with his questions. Quote:
http://shareholdersunited.org/forum/...pic.php?t=1926 Further, our accounts are filed every year in accordance with the Companies Act and are available for the public to download from the Companies House website for a small fee (it's their fee, not ours so you know). http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk/31...search?link=41 There are no secrets with Shareholders United. We are an open organisation. You'd hardly get the same out of Malcolm Glazer. Try asking him for a full and complete accounting. Quote:
We think it's important to note as well that if one wanted to buy a United share through a stockbroker you could do this (and that's fine with SU) but you have to pay a transaction fee of something like £15 to £25 before you could buy the share. Hence this SU membership is very attractive for many Reds. Quote:
So it is the members of SU decide how the voting rights are exercised, not 'someone at SU' -- as if there were some secret cabal running this show. And these are people who go to Old Trafford every weekend, many of whom are members of IMUSA as well. SU is further supported by all of the major United fanzines - Red News, Redissue, and United We Stand. One of the benefits of exercising our shares collectively (through voting) is because as a bloc we have a far more substantial impact than we would by acting separately. There is one agenda at Shareholders United: to keep our club independent. If you are a member of SU, then this message is one that appeals to you. If you want to vote on your own, you are welcome to own shares privately and buy them through a broker. No one is stopping you from doing this, and actually Shareholders United are in favour of anything that gets more shares in the hands of supporters. But we think many find the Share Scheme both easier and cheaper vehicles for purchasing shares. Quote:
Note: For the record, people with private shareholdings should know that their personal shareholding is not affected by joining SU. Whether you are a member of SU or not, the shares are always owned by YOU. Quote:
The fee for additional share purchases, either on a standing order basis or ad hoc basis, varies based on the number of shares purchased. But we have negotiated a very low rate (far lower than if you were do buy shares individually) with Brewin Dolphin Securities. Quote:
Quote:
For the record though, we are registered at Companies House and the Share Scheme is backed/run in partnership with Cobbetts, Brewin Dolphin, and Co-Operative Bank and our legal advisors are Weil Gotshal LLP. Quote:
We do provide free advice and moral support to a number of other supporters trusts. And we take up grievances of non-member supporters and branches for free with the Board. Now that we've got those questions sorted, let me add one thing for the record. Correct me if I have misunderstood you, but I take the tone of your questioning as being at least mildly provocative -- as if we were carpetbaggers hawking some sort of shady merchandise. You should know and understand the following: We are recognised by the Board as the official Supporters' Trust of Manchester United FC, we have regular dialogue with them, and we are represented at the Fans Forum. We have a link from official MU website. We are supported by the Government-backed Supporters Direct, the association of all football trusts in the UK. We have received support from FIFA and the Parliamentary All Party Football Group (chair Alan Keen MP) and Parliamentary Man Utd Group chair Tony Lloyd, MP for Manchester Central. The next time you want check out our credentials, you can also try checking with the Manchester United company secretary David Beswitherick, United finance Director Nick Humby, Chief exec David Gill or even United Chairman Sir Roy Gardner. We are 18000 strong, actively working to secure the independence of our club from the true carpetbaggers - the investors who would have us solely for profit and bankrupt the club. The people who lead us have been democratically elected in a one-person/one-vote process that ensures equality of voice regardless of one's means or shareholding. Again, if I'm wrong about the tone of your comments, I apologise. But Condor I seem to recall that we've had previous conversations about this matter. We're not the ones with anything to prove or disclose around here. Our hands are clean, our books are open, our intentions are honourable and our efforts are relentless. So in the future we'd appreciate it if you treated the members of our group with the respect they deserve. All they're trying to do is save their club. Whether you follow this path is your own choice, but do not look askance at theirs. In conclusion, thank you for your questions. Please do not hesitate to contact us in the future, or post your questions to our discussion forum. FAQ: http://www.shareholdersunited.org/faq.php FORUM: http://www.shareholdersunited.org/forum/ Kind regards, Shareholders United |
||||||||
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Bookmarks |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|