TOPIC: CUOSC Statement Re: Investment

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Statement from CUOSC
February 11, 2025


THE LATEST PROPOSAL FOR LOCAL INVESTMENT IN CARLISLE UNITED

Background

In our most recent official statement issued on 6 January we indicated that an outline proposal for substantial local investment in the Club had been developed during December last year and discussed with the directors of the holding company. At that stage the intention was to put more detail into that proposal ahead of further dialogue with the Club. Further meetings to discuss these investment plans have now taken place and the CUOSC Board would like to bring members up to speed with where things currently stand.

It might be helpful firstly though to reiterate the steps which led to where we are at present on the local investment front. It was about eighteen months ago that CUOSC reps were introduced to Andrew Lapping by John Nixon and Andrew Jenkins. A firm investment proposal was subsequently developed which was supported wholeheartedly by the CUOSC Board and the membership but, as we know, those plans did not come to fruition. Nevertheless, the Club made it clear some months later that it was still seeking local investment. In early November 2015 CUOSC was presented with a couple of local investment suggestions by the Club. After consideration the CUOSC Board felt that those ideas did not go far enough towards achieving the required long term financial security and stability for the Club. Consequently, it was agreed by the Club that CUOSC would pursue alternative and more financially beneficial investment ideas prior to further discussion taking place.

The Current Investment Proposal

Pursuing other ideas led to the investment proposal which is presently on the table, amongst the aims of which are to :-

. put CUFC firmly in the ownership of the local community ( i.e. fans and businesses ) via an investor consortium model

. raise £2m of new investment through the business community and CUOSC

. ensure the future financial stability and solvency of our football club

. protect the asset of the football ground for future generations of fans

. make CUFC an attractive concern thereby providing a platform for future investment

. set out and achieve ambitious targets relating to investment and revenue generation

. build upon the momentum of current success on the playing side to create and maintain success across the Club

The proposal envisages that the investor consortium will be made up of CUOSC and around 12 - 15 major business investors. The strategy is for these key players in the local business world to raise £1.5m and for CUOSC to raise £0.5m from its members, other fans and smaller businesses. This arrangement would result in an expected shareholding of 25% CUOSC, 75% business community depending on the amounts actually raised by the respective parties.

The Club's Response to the Proposal

Following further meetings with the Club it has become clear that the CUFC Holdings directors do not wish to pursue the current proposal. This is particularly disappointing for the CUOSC Board as the proposal :-

. was developed to deliver on the agreement with the Club that CUOSC would seek to identify and present fresh investment ideas

. would result in a financial contribution to the Club roughly ten times greater than the Club's November '15 proposals

. would eliminate the Club's over-reliance on the generous financial contributions from Andrew Jenkins and relieve him of that unacceptable burden which was stated by the Holdings directors to be one of their major aims when they first raised the Lapping possibility with us

. is felt to be very much in the best interests of the community's football club and in keeping with the on pitch improvement this season and the team manager's ambitions for further progress

What Next?

The CUOSC Board and the business investment group have indicated to the Club that their offer of investment will remain in place should there be a change of heart in the near or mid-term future. We hope that the consortium's plans will be welcomed and supported by CUOSC members and the wider fan base. Those involved in the consortium are genuine fans of the Club and, like all fans, want to see it progress and to be in a better financial place for the long term.

As it isn't realistic to provide too much detail in a statement such as this, the CUOSC Board wants to arrange a members' meeting to take place in the next couple of weeks or so to provide the opportunity to learn more about the present proposal and for us to receive feedback on it. We will be joined at the meeting by Robin Brown and Graham Mossop who are leading on this initiative on behalf of the business investors alongside the CUOSC Board.

We will be in touch with members in the next few days regarding the venue, date and time of this meeting. Although the focus will no doubt be on the local investment possibilities, other CUOSC/CUFC matters will also be on the agenda.

In the meantime, here's hoping for 3 points at Newport on Saturday as we seek a return to League 1 next season, via the play-offs, or otherwise!



Contact details:
Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Phone 07999 737390
Web: www.cuosc.org.uk
Facebook www.facebook.com/Cuosc2015
Twitter @cuosc

"Reluctant custodians".

The reluctant custodians have now probably turned down more investment offers than they have made good decisions for the club.


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Reluctant to sell more like.

What a fking surprise!!

It's time for the numerous potential investors went very public about the continuing blocking of investment offers by the custodians.
The three amigos only have their own selfish agenda at heart and not the future prosperity of the club. Time to make their continuing ownership of our club a very uncomfortable place for them to be and expose them for the dispicable people they are.

Disappointed? Yes.
Surprised? Am I hell.

Well done to the trust for letting everybody know about the shenanigans going on with those 3, and finally communicating with its members.

I agree they wouldn't of sold to any offer.

But does anyone other than NS and few old board members know the finer details of this offer?

Who were the businesses?
Who was involved?
Why didn't the trust make it more public?
Why has none of the trusts investors came public?

Lots of questions.

you really couldn't make this stuff up!!!

Get your list of questions off Barry and go to the meeting and ask them mullen.

Mullen103 wrote:
And the opportunity to ask them all at the Members' meeting, as mentioned in the statement.

melbourneblues wrote:
I've never met barry in my life I just agree with a lot he posts on the other site and the majority if not all is correct.

I'm not wasting my time Melbourne going to meeting after meeting as I used to and nothing happened. I'll just twins on here instead, laugh if it wasn't so serious and get a bad head hitting it against a brick wall-)

These parasite c*nts will only relinquish their grip on the club though their deaths. The club will unfortunately die before them though.

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Doesn't surprise me in the slightest sadly that it has been knocked back. Looks like the board will have to wheel out the invsible billionaire again.

I would question the raising of 0.5m though and where it was going to come from, they do realise Brookazade is dead now?

The what next bit sounds very soft, expect no more than a strongly worded letter going in to the club by the looks of it.

Does KCs reluctance ti sign his contact have anything to do with this continuing farce me wonders.

He isn't going to sign as long as these idiots are in charge because he doesn't suffer c*nts like that.

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loser wrote:

Probably get passed on in their wills as well

That decision in full:

Jenkins: It's a NO from me, because I'll only get X% of my money back, which will concretise my losses. At the moment I can pretend it's not a sunk cost. It's a psychology thing. Plus I wont be in charge any more.

Nixon: It's a NO from me, because my shares are worth crap all because any money will go to pay off Andrew's loans and I'll lose my golden ticket to the FA/FL trough parties into the bargain.

Pattinson: Eh, y'wa?

@joncolman In tomorrow's @cumbnews, exclusive comment from the men behind a £2m investment offer to Carlisle Utd which they say has been rebuffed #cufc

It's now time for CUOSC to stop being polite and pretending to be friends with the other three on the Holdings board. When the Lapping deal was rejected it would have been a bit more difficult for CUOSC to justify an aggressive stance but now that the three are directly treating CUOSC with contempt it should be much easier. The three are enemies of the club and should be treated as such. It's time for those who can to make life as difficult for them as possible. They'll only be forced out via aggressive means.

We need to call on Andrew Lapping to go public with full details on how the three stalled and dragged their feet during his attempts. Those of the latest attempt, and anyone else who has tried, also needs to go public.

The News and Star should aim to run one back page spread a week for as long as they can with statements from various people on the dealings that they have had with these f*cking parasite pieces of sh*t.

John Nixon, Andrew Jenkins and Steve Pattison. We knew you read this board or have your a*se lickers reporting back to you.

The majority of those who care about the club hate you. They know that you are in it for yourselves and have no intention of relinquishing control whatever offer comes in. Look no further than the 4,000 who have stopped going since you were given the club for free. You have no interest in anything other than pursuing your own selfish agendas at the expense of the club.

Time to f*ck off. There's only so much you can take the p*ss before life gets very difficult.

At the end of the day regardless of whether we think this deal is right for the club, the trust have gone about it in the right way and who was involved the majority can agree that AJ, SP and JN haven't the clubs best interests at heart and are other things I can't print disrespectful so and sos.

Instead the clique continues by putting forward a pathetic AB proposal and accepting it but doing no digging or communication with the trust on the proposal.

The trust renamed themselves the official supporters club but it now sounds silly especially as the clubs owners won't work with them and used them so to speak. Should of remained independent for the time being anyway.

The bloke that offered to buy Jenkins shares is now very close to becoming seriously involved in the new Darlington so depending what happens there may become public.

Plan is to spend money to get them in the league and to play back at the darlo arena on better rates pay per attendance than before.

Irrelevant though. Lapping has said he wouldn't go public but he should hopefully brown should twist his arm.

As long as three amigos can have their days out they don't give a flying fook about the future of the club especially when only one of them is paying for the majority.

It must be nice!

Mullen103 wrote:
Make your mind up Mullen, on the other thread you're slating them for not having made it public before it went to the club.

I'm looking forward to shaldon's take on this...

chesterviabothel wrote:
The problem with Shaldon and indeed the board is that they seem to assume that they know best, they're the business brains and we know nothing. They don't seem to consider the possibility some of the fans and message board members are actually business people, people who know what they're talking about.

So, cut the crap, stop being condescending and stop treating the fans with contempt.

kellsblue wrote:
I don't entirely agree there Kells. In that I don't think shaldon's words on here are actually somebody's opinion but more a poorly constructed persona to put a voice to the "silent majority". Whether that persons name is Steve, Keith or someone entirely different I don't know.

chesterviabothel wrote:
Should of said whether or not they went about it on the right way, which for me they never.

But it doesn't matter as it was never going to be accepted anyway

I would say they went about it in the right way. Had they of held a meeting to inform members of the detail before launching the bid then those details would of been common knowledge on here and every other social media outlet before the meeting even got close to finishing.
Instead they have made a bid had it rejected and are now going to inform members of the details and hopefully decide on what action to take next.

As usual, everyone chucks the toys out the pram instantly.

Need to see the meat on the bones before deciding if the Trust bid was even a good one! 12-15 investors, only 2 named in the paper today - Robin Brown (System) and Graham Mossop (JJ Electrical). Can we have the names of the others asap?

CUOSC raising £500k a key part. As mentioned, they've raised sod all in recent times, so suddenly producing half a million is unlikely?

Paper also says that CUOSC are understood to have rejected a six figure investment plan from the current owners. Interesting...

I'm all for getting new blood in at the top, but prefer to see the details before rupturing my spleen...

UTB!

I've heard one or two more of the names involved and to be honest I think the board are right in knocking it back.

I haven't seen all the details but from what I've heard it would have been a bit of a short term fix.

Having said that some would say anything would be better than the present situation!

I'm agreeing a lot with ccu lately, somethings going wrong

I want change, the majority want change, people would get behind an offer from anyone no matter how much it was or who it was if it meant the 3 owners went.

However as CCU says we have only 2 names out of 12 and some of the names i have heard are very dodgy indeed and don't have a pot so to speak.

How the trust expect to raise 500K when they haven't been anyway near the 50k in 10 years to pay NS off baffles me!. Plus i don't think there'll get anyway near the number of members this year when season ticket members have to pay, theres no benefits to them being a member.

Do people really want the trust to own the club! after all they have done in the last 10 years.

The trust calling themselves the official supporters club with these owners in charge was a pr disaster!

Think that is the most sensible post I've seen you write on here Mullen.

CCU wrote:

As has been said before, investors do not like being named, unless they are investing. There are other ramifications from your name being plastered everywhere as an investor. In this case they are NOT investing.

It appears the only reason they are not investing has absolutely nothing to do with common sense but sheer bloody selfishness on the side our BOI (Changed from BOD to BOI as Board of Idiots)

CCU wrote:
Will get back on tonight and scan through and answer what I can - this investment plan is mentioned in the statement. It was approx 10 times less than the one proposed by CUOSC.

So we have the CUOSC version of events and now it is incumbent on the board to clarify the situation as they did so eloquently with the Andrew Lapping bid and I would hope with an equal dash of venom. Their rejection of the Lapping deal was at best deeply insulting and as close to libel as It is possible to get. If it is as stated there are some mirky individuals involved in this latest proposal I would at least expect them to be treated in similar fashion, then at least we can sleep sound in the knowledge they have the best interests of the club at heart and not pursuing personal agendas, but however hard I try, something in my bones tells me the latter is the case - or in one case at least.

thesilentone wrote:
They're either investors or they're not. What they got to hide?

You should be asking the club what they have to hide...and their feeble excuses to keep rubbing their own egos sitting in their ivory towers. i see the silence is deafening from them as usual. Ive knocked the trust but at least this time they have came out and clarified what has been going on.

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CCU wrote:
Nature of the beast, nothing you or I can do about it............

What I don't understand is how the consortium thought £2m cash for investment in the club = existing shareholders handing over their shares. Any viable plan has to have attractions for the 3 existing shareholders and has to address the AJ and Pioneer loans in a way acceptable to AJ. Thereafter it has to leave money for investment in the club. Laffy's plan tried to deal with these issues but wasn't attractive enough for AJ.

Given the financial windfall from the 2 cup runs and player sales, I think AJ will feel no pressure whatsoever to consider any investment plan that doesn't pay him and Pioneer out in full. The key to investment is timing and frankly this consortium however well-intentioned has its timing as badly wrong as it could get.

Why do the investers have to go through the Trust though. Surely they would just go direct.
Makes no sense to me an comes across like earlier bids when it was a bit clouded for some reason.
And to answers Mullen's point - believe me, you can always get taken over by worse than what you have!

Chuff me, is JM involved with the Trust?

Yeah Jim is involved,i used to play football with him,good bloke.

Norman Steel on radio cumbria explaining himself and the proposals.

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No rush to accept any offer unless it was so good it was stupid to turn it down.

Unrepentant blue wrote:
HAHA good one.

It is SO good obvious now that AJ/JN have no exit plan, they will keep going until,they run out of money or god forbid they are no longer with us. I do believe they both "believe" they are doing the best for the club but fear this will end in administration one day

I don't think the current board will ever see the Club fall into administration.But that is not the point in my view.

It's pretty clear the last few years have taken its toll on the Club-heavy losses,relegation,reliance on benevolence,lower sponsorship-virtual entrenchment in a slow lingering spiral.The board addressed some of the issues but there is a long way to go and the real issue is whether they are tooled up for it.

Part of this process has to be to make the Club an investable proposition-thus far,the evidence is that there is appetite for new investment out there but not with the present regime in charge.If there is,where is it?£150k is clearly not enough to allow the Trust to dilute.

The new offer is very clear-there is up to £2m available but the existing regime would have to make way.

The big question therefore is why is the new offer unpalatable in the absence of any alternative?