The Bid has now closed at £349,843 - far exceeding our £300k target
 
Thank-you to everyone who has invested or donated however big or small an amount - and for everyone who has helped or wished us well. We have exceeded our minimum target by almost £50,000 and are now moving on to the next stages of converting Bath City into a community-owned club. Well done to everyone!

Now that we have secured the required £300,000 minimum target, these are the next steps towards community ownership.
 
Please note – the Supporters Society does not own the club yet. We have the funds and we have an agreement, but there is still a process to go through.
 
The Big Bath City Bid and the Bath City Supporters Society are now effectively one and the same thing. If you bought community shares in the Bid, you will now become a community shareholder and member of the Society.
 
NEXT STEPS:
 
DRAWING DOWN FUNDS
 
  • The Society is now drawing down funds from Microgenius and Crowdfunder, including chasing up the (very few) payments that have temporarily failed. We expect to have the final total sum in our secure Bath Building Society account by 21 October at the latest. We will repay those who chose not to reconfirm next week (w/c 10 October). 
ISSUING COMMUNITY SHARES
 
  • Once we have the final list of community share investors, the Society will issue community shares to all successful applicants. A Community Share Register will be created and community share certificates will be sent out. All community shareholders will also be added to the Society’s Members Register. 
  • As per the prospectus, we will only be able to fulfill additional benefits (such as names in the programme, supporters roll of honour etc) once the Society has completed the purchase of a majority stake in the club. 

SOCIETY GENERAL MEETING
 
  • The Society will call a General Meeting in late November in order to elect a Supporters Liaison Officer (SLO) who will serve on the future club board of directors. The date of meeting, SLO role description and election nomination process will be announced in October. 
  • This meeting will also be a chance for members to form a constitutional working group. This group will develop recommendations for the community-owned club’s democracy and governance arrangements, to be voted on at the 2017 Society AGM. 
  •  Members will also be able to contribute non-binding resolutions (Members’ Votes) for consideration and debate at this meeting. 

CLUB GENERAL MEETING
 
  • The current board will call a General Meeting to seek approval to issue 300,000 new ordinary shares in Bath City FC Ltd and to allocate them to the Society. We expect this meeting to take place no later than late November or early December. 
  • If the motion to issue new ordinary shares in Bath City FC Ltd is passed at the EGM – and we have sufficient share ownership between committed parties to expect this to happen – then the Society will purchase 300,000 shares. Along with its existing shares and pledged voting rights, it will then have a majority stake in the Bath City FC Ltd. 

AFTER THE SOCIETY BECOMES THE CLUB’S MAJORITY SHAREHOLDER
 
  • In December, a new Board will be formed. This will include six Society appointees (Nick Blofeld, Shane Morgan, Sally Harris, Nick Thompson, Jon Bickley and the SLO-elect), as well as three of the existing Board – Paul Williams, John Reynolds and Andrew Pierce. Nick Blofeld will become chair of Bath City FC. 
  • This new Board will meet during the transition period before the share purchase is completed in order to begin preparation for the new ownership structure. 
  • On purchase of the 300,000 shares, the additional £300,000 of interest-free loans will become available, phased over three years. 

The board’s key priorities are: 
  1. Recruiting the new paid General Manager to run the club on a day-to-day basis.
  2. Formally creating and recruiting the volunteer working groups that will drive the club forward
  3. Consulting with fans, the local community and Society members about what form the redevelopment of the main stand and car park will take. 

Thanks once again for all your support. We look forward to seeing you at Twerton Park soon.
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Let's give Bath the football club it deserves...

Let's transform Bath City for good!

The fans, citizens and friends of Bath need to raise £300,000 by 28 September in order to turn Bath City FC into a community-owned football club. If we're successful:

  • Supporters will take a majority stake in the Club and put democracy and community at its heart from day one

  • We will appoint a Community Impact Director whose responsibility will be to ensure Bath City works with charities and good causes across the city to use the power of football for the benefit of disadvantaged members of our community

  • The Club will wipe out a swathe of debts and gain access to new finance which will secure its medium term future while we work on a partial ground redevelopment

  • A new Board will be created bringing in new skills, contacts and expertise, with six of its nine directors democratically accountable to supporters

  • Supporters and the community will be given a real voice in the Club’s future with more transparency, more ways to participate and more chances to give and demand feedback

Please help us to change Bath City into a power for good in the community and help secure its long term future.
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Watch the Official Big Bath City Bid Promotional Video!

Let's give Bath the football club it deserves!
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