MADEJSKI STADIUM HOTEL LIMITED

[Elm Park]

Anyone know what's happening at the Hotel, ALL the Directors have resigned, including Sir John.

[WoodleyRoyal]

It's been sold

[Elm Park]

Would makes sense but Reading Football Club (Holdings) Ltd are still shown as the shareholders and Sir J and his band are still Directors there. I'm not saying you're wrong, just that all the parts don't fit together.....yet

[WoodleyRoyal]

Would makes sense but Reading Football Club (Holdings) Ltd are still shown as the shareholders and Sir J and his band are still Directors there. I'm not saying you're wrong, just that all the parts don't fit together.....yet

only saying because of this http://hobnob.royals.org/forum/viewtopi ... 7#p4122497

[Sutekh]

Anyone know who has bought the hotel? Would it be our Thai friends under a different hat?

[Nameless]

I think this has been happening for a while, can't recall if the buyer is one of the new owners but he is definitely Thai. IIRC it doesn't really have any major implications for the hotel as the existing franchise continues.

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

John gave it to me.

[BraisingsteakRoyal]

John gave it to me.

--> Nonce thread.

[ruprecht]

I can't really get my head around why the new Thai owners have bought the football club. As we're never going to make much money it's not a very wise business investment. The only reason I can think you'd buy a club like Reading is for a bit of fun and amusement, yet they're not even in the same country to enjoy the limelight from a few country bumpkins. I guess time will tell.

[Nameless]

They are all significant business people in SE Asia with plans to become similar in the UK/Europe. They needed a means of establishing themselves here. They can use the club as a shop window for some of their products, they can use it as a networking vehicle. To do it they need a successful club as you can get a lot more people interested in joining you in the directors box to watch a Premiership game than you can a Championship one.
As I understand it they will put some of their products into the stadium (solar panels and LED lights are ones I've heard mentioned). I've not heard anything of plans to invest in the playing side but cannot see there won't be money made available. They have a representative based full time at the club who I understand knows his stuff
I'd love to know exactly how they plan to develop things, and I know the above is still a bit wooly but hopefully gives some ideas about what they are about. It's nothing official, just bits I've heard or conclusions I've drawn
I'm guessing the lack of high profile news is because they've been putting proper plans in place to unwind the TVI legacy, handle FFP and get everything back on a solid footing. Fingers crossed.

[semtex1871]

fingers clossed.

corrected for you.....

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

They can make some money by better use of the assets as well, as already happens with hotel, letting out space, with a bit of thought more can happen. Redevelopment of.the dome area, and above the car park.

[3points]

Presumably Hogwood is also a company asset. Given the major redevelopment of arborfield garrison and the Shinfield area the presumably there's a lot of money to be made in selling or redeveloping the land there.

[Nameless]

Depends on whether it would get planning permission. Without it it's just a field with some portacabins.

Iirc Hogwood was bought by SJM and leased to the club but was then sold to Anton, so is presumably now owned by the Thais. The implication there is that it has never been owned by RFC so as a club we wouldn't benefit from any sale. I wonder if this was done with a view to making a future profit.

[3points]

I would think it might be one of the easier bits of land to get planning consent for given all the existing plans down there (including the building of a new secondary school on the garrison site). Probably lots of money to be made, even with funding the new training ground (which they can probably borrow the money for)

[Nameless]

Unless it's got covenants on it, if it was prime development land surely it would have been sold to SJM at a price that reflected that, and no way would he have paid any more than he had to for a training ground.
I have a vague recollection that they couldn't get permission to put any perms ant buildings up at Hogwood, hence everything there now is basically posh portacabins.
I'm sure someone will know if there are any restrictions or plans in place.

[Colbster]

I THINK the new Arbofield school is going to be where Hogwood is

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

I THINK the new Arbofield school is going to be where Hogwood is

Funny thing is if you go to the planning section of WBC, you will see that this is incorrect. The school in on land behind Hogwood.

[multisync1830]

Unless it's got covenants on it, if it was prime development land surely it would have been sold to SJM at a price that reflected that, and no way would he have paid any more than he had to for a training ground.
I have a vague recollection that they couldn't get permission to put any perms ant buildings up at Hogwood, hence everything there now is basically posh portacabins.
I'm sure someone will know if there are any restrictions or plans in place.

The first phase is to get planning through on Bearwood to build the new training facility. This is because they are not allowed to continue with using temporary buildings as per the Cat 1 regs. This also includes houses to help pay for it. I heard they'd hoped to have it in place by Feb but that seems to have slipped.



Then they will look at redeveloping Hogwood and then the area around the ground.
You are right about solar and LED and other business synergies.

The centre to all this is:

http://www.theempireasia.com/The_People.html

[strap]

I can't really get my head around why the new Thai owners have bought the football club. As we're never going to make much money it's not a very wise business investment. The only reason I can think you'd buy a club like Reading is for a bit of fun and amusement, yet they're not even in the same country to enjoy the limelight from a few country bumpkins. I guess time will tell.

Very simple. They have their eyes on the land around the MadStad, with a view to building a large retail centre. The Football Club is merely an inconvenience and will be relocated, (and downsized to accord with our, by then, much reduced status in the Football League - or possibly non-league?), then sold off or donated to a fan-based consortium. This will allow them to make shed loads of money from their new proprty empire. Much along the Maidstone United and Dartford models, (although IIRC these were for resi rather than retail options).

Sound far fetched? Of course it does, however, it makes a lot more sense to me than them buying RFC for the good of the club, town or local area. They certainly didn't buy it to show off to their Thai mates buying other clubs in the FL, or to make money out of the football side of things.

Just my paranoid musings of course, with no basis in fact whatsoever.