Speedway Related Co Finances

[geoff100]

2 hours ago, woofers said:

True, you don't hear of many football clubs ceasing......and that is probably where the analogy with speedway ends.

And when they do get in trouble esp with the tax people courts give them more time to sort out .

[Speedtiger]

On 2/13/2019 at 11:59 AM, woofers said:

The subscribers to the new company, British Speedway Promoters Ltd, are listed below with details from their latest available financial statements on Companies House.

These financials are basically the value of the company at the end of the 2017 season, the accounts for 2018 will not be filed until much later this year.

					Net worth
Company	Club	Accounting date	Audited	Form	2017
Belle Vue Speedway 2017	Belle Vue	31.12.17	No	Micro Entity	(270,730)
Berwick Speedway Promotions	Berwick	New Co
Birmingham Speedway Company	Birmingham	New Co
Edinburgh Speedway 1986	Edinburgh	31.12.17	No	Micro Entity	(164,226)
Glasgow Tigers Speedway	Glasgow	30.11.17	No	Abridged	598,136
Wight Warriors Speedway	IOW	31.12.17	No	Abridged	(54,841)
Cearnsport	Kent	30.6.17	No	Abridged	143,509
Newspeed 2003	Newcastle	30.11.17	No	Micro Entity	22,302
South West Power Promotions	Plymouth	31.12.17	No	Micro Entity	(73,946)
Poole Speedway	Poole	28.2.18	No	Micro Entity	76,881
Redcar Borough Bears	Redcar	28.2.18	No	Abridged	(202,501)
Somerset Speedway 2011	Somerset	28.2.18	No	Micro Entity	(21,831)
Crewsline	Stoke	30.4.18	No	Micro Entity	(580)
Swindon Speedway 2013	Swindon	30.11.17	No	Micro Entity	(103,033)
Slade Tipton	Wolves	28.2.17	No	Abridged	20,600
LJM Asset Manangement	Workington	31.12.17	No	Micro Entity	217,598
Scunthorpe Raceway	Scunthorpe	31.12.17	No	Abridged	8,110
Heathens Speedway Club	Cradley	30.11.17	No	Full	(33,791)
MFT Team	Mildenhall	New Co

Blimey, I thought the sport was in a bad state BUT this financial information is stunning...and NOT in a good way. Time to call in the  liquidators...!!

 

[Humphrey Appleby]

11 hours ago, woofers said:

True, you don't hear of many football clubs ceasing......and that is probably where the analogy with speedway ends.

It happens a fair bit at non-league level, where some glory-hunter throws money at a club to climb the pyramid, despite the fact it's never going to be sustainable once they stop subsidising the club. Almost unheard of at Football League level though because generally there's more history and sustainable interest behind the clubs there, plus there's arguably more due diligence checks. 

But even the top level of British speedway is probably equivalent to only the 6th tier (Vanarama League North or South) of English football these days. 

[Speedtiger]

34 minutes ago, Humphrey Appleby said:

It happens a fair bit at non-league level, where some glory-hunter throws money at a club to climb the pyramid, despite the fact it's never going to be sustainable once they stop subsidising the club. Almost unheard of at Football League level though because generally there's more history and sustainable interest behind the clubs there, plus there's arguably more due diligence checks. 

But even the top level of British speedway is probably equivalent to only the 6th tier (Vanarama League North or South) of English football these days. 

Looking at these figures NO one in their right mind would want to own or invest in a Speedway club. It is clear the BSPA has brought this disastrous situation on themselves and I don’t see them finding a solution, it’s a shambles and plain madness. The mind boggles, even the clubs not showing substantial losses are only making peanuts. 

[mikebv]

52 minutes ago, Humphrey Appleby said:

It happens a fair bit at non-league level, where some glory-hunter throws money at a club to climb the pyramid, despite the fact it's never going to be sustainable once they stop subsidising the club. Almost unheard of at Football League level though because generally there's more history and sustainable interest behind the clubs there, plus there's arguably more due diligence checks. 

But even the top level of British speedway is probably equivalent to only the 6th tier (Vanarama League North or South) of English football these days. 

How very dare you...

Stockport County have had over 4000 in their place this season, and rarely drop below 3000..

And got over 7000 I think for the play offs last year...

Imagine any UK Speedway team getting those crowds...?

 

[Humphrey Appleby]

26 minutes ago, Speedtiger said:

Looking at these figures NO one in their right mind would want to own or invest in a Speedway club. It is clear the BSPA has brought this disastrous situation on themselves and I don’t see them finding a solution, it’s a shambles and plain madness. The mind boggles, even the clubs not showing substantial losses are only making peanuts. 

It's not entirely their fault as some things have been beyond their control, and the sport lacks influential patronage as leverage. And speedway has suffered from changing lifestyles and interests along with many other businesses.

But promoters can be blamed for collectively failing to control rider wages which are probably the biggest cost and are something they absolutely can influence. 

[Humphrey Appleby]

30 minutes ago, mikebv said:

How very dare you...

Stockport County have had over 4000 in their place this season, and rarely drop below 3000..

And got over 7000 I think for the play offs last year...

Imagine any UK Speedway team getting those crowds...?

 

There obviously are teams (normally ex-Football League) that can command decent attendances at that level, but it's really only a small handful. Look at the average attendances of other clubs in that league and they're far more akin to speedway ones. 

[Derwent]

In the case of Workington the numbers include Laura's other business interests such as her property management and construction businesses, it is not purely the speedway business.

[SPEEDY69]

I am almost certain that these figures contain a lot of inaccuracies, so much so that conclusions really can't be drawn.  Most tax returns I've seen, including business ones, never show the real amounts of money flowing, the value taken out or offset against costs that are lower in reality than stated.  This is even more true of cash businesses where income can be difficult to audit.

Accountants are paid a lot of money for a reason!

[uk_martin]

Not one set of accounts has been audited, and only one set described as "full". 

Hardly the stuff to engender trust and confidence is it?

And of course Terry Russell's company is  running at a loss again. (shock) 

[dontforgetthefueltapsbruv]

32 minutes ago, uk_martin said:

Not one set of accounts has been audited, and only one set described as "full". 

Hardly the stuff to engender trust and confidence is it?

And of course Terry Russell's company is  running at a loss again. (shock) 

Accounts dont have to be audited unless the turnover reaches certain levels and no speedway club will be close to that position

[Byker Biker]

Could all the qualified accountants on this forum please put their hands up? That way the unqualified accountants will know what to believe.

[arnieg]

Hand up here. [ACA]

You can therefore trust everything I have said on this thread. 

[dontforgetthefueltapsbruv]

1 hour ago, arnieg said:

Hand up here. [ACA]

You can therefore trust everything I have said on this thread. 

Given that I cant put my hand up for Byker () and you can - could you please clarify my point about when companies have to have the accounts audited

14 hours ago, dontforgetthefueltapsbruv said:

Accounts dont have to be audited unless the turnover reaches certain levels and no speedway club will be close to that position

I wouldnt want any misunderstanding as a result of my lack of qualification

[woofers]

5 hours ago, dontforgetthefueltapsbruv said:

Given that I cant put my hand up for Byker () and you can - could you please clarify my point about when companies have to have the accounts audited

I wouldnt want any misunderstanding as a result of my lack of qualification

 

[woofers]

From Gov.uk :

For accounting periods beginning on or after 01/01/2016 to qualify for audit exemption, a company must qualify as small, in relation to that financial year. In other words it must meet any two of the following:

• annual turnover must be not more than £10.2 million
• the balance sheet total must be not more than £5.1 million
• the average number of employees must be not more than 50

 

So that criteria will cover many, many companies in the UK. However lenders and shareholders, if different from the directors, will usually require an annual audit.

Edited February 17, 2019 by woofers

[toontrader]

Am I right in thinking that riders cannot be counted as 'assets'in the accounts as they could retire at any time. So the financial position of clubs with good rider assets will look worse. For example Poole used to own about 17 riders

[arnieg]

18 minutes ago, toontrader said:

Am I right in thinking that riders cannot be counted as 'assets'in the accounts as they could retire at any time. So the financial position of clubs with good rider assets will look worse. For example Poole used to own about 17 riders

You can do whatever you want (within the limits of generally accepted accounting principles) with rider assets as long as you have a clearly stated and consistently applied accounting policy.

 

Normally that policy is to write off transfer fees against the P & L account in the year of acquisition but I can provide an example of a publicly listed company in a comparable business that capitalised its expenditure on transfer fees and then amortised the cost over the lifetime of the player's contract. (Tottenham Hotspur plc circa late 80s)