How Bolton Wanderers boardroom has changed for the better

Just five years ago, Bolton’s owner had not been to the stadium in months following angry fan protests, players had not been paid, and the club had been handed a last-gasp reprieve at the High Court over an unpaid tax bill after a “mystery buyer” pledged to pay off debts.

The person giving those assurances turned out to be Laurence Bassini. And Bolton fans need no reminder how that turned out.

Happily, the ownership structure of one of the league’s founder members is now an entirely more stable and proactive proposition, one discussed in glowing terms by the EFL as part of their ongoing campaign to improve football governance.

But that is not to say there are not questions to be asked of Football Ventures and the shareholders they have brought on board since 2019, nor of their strategy for returning the club to the Championship or even beyond.

A discussion point emerged recently when paperwork submitted at Companies House earlier this month, declaring the current make-up of the club’s parent company, Football Ventures (Whites) Ltd.

At the same time, a profile interview by the Bloomberg news agency also highlighted some of members involved in the BMLL group, a consortium which had steadily increased its stake over the last couple of years.

The investors, made up primarily of around 25 families who work at Trafigura, a multi-national company who are one of the world’s largest suppliers of commodities metal, minerals and oil, had not previously sought any public profile. Within the course of a brief interview Ben Luckock, brother of Football Ventures board member Nick Luckock, confirmed they were not involved in front line decision making.

Nevertheless, their investment has to date now procured a stake-holding of between 25 and 35 per cent in Football Ventures, second only to FV chairman, Sharon Brittan. And that has raised legitimate questions from supporters on what their future involvement may entail and what are their motives for investing.

Chief executive Neil Hart says the BMLL group’s input has been required to keep the club competitive in League One and will be if they intend to move into the Championship. But the net effect of their greater shareholding on the running of the club has been minimal.

“It has been business as usual,” he said. “The documents which people have clearly picked up on at Companies House are a paperwork exercise, let’s be frank about that. We have to operate within the rules on governance.

“For many years before myself and Sharon came to the club, they were in breach of all those rules, didn’t do the things they should be doing. So, yes, we file stuff, and yes, we are communicating where we are at from a shareholding point of view because we have to do that, legally.

“What you have seen over the last couple of years is that the BMLL group have invested in the football club and that investment has been fabulous and required. We want to be competitive and want to move the club forward.

“That has delivered a dilution of some of the existing shareholders’ shareholdings.

“But nothing has changed day to day. Sharon is still the controlling party with her consortium. She is still the chair and will always be that; we all work brilliantly together.

The breakdown of shareholdings in Football Ventures (Whites) Limited, BWFC's parent company (Image: Newsquest)

“Sharon, Nick and I talk to the BMLL group wherever they are in the world. We have regular dialogue with them and they are an amazing group of people to work with but they are not involved day to day – they trust Sharon, Nick and myself to run things smoothy, alongside Ian Evatt as well.

“We are all aligned and pointing in the same direction.”

Initially introduced as the “Swiss consortium” in notes within the club’s financial accounts, their first investment into the club in January 2022 amounted to around £775,000 and has increased thereafter.

Prior to Football Ventures’ arrival in 2019, Bolton’s boardroom over the previous two decades had been a difficult environment to explain, starting with the considerable input of lifelong supporter, Eddie Davies, whose collection of offshore companies and trusts often made for an opaque view of the club’s actual financial state.

After that, Sports Shield’s takeover in 2016 and the consequent power struggle between Ken Anderson and Dean Holdsworth – aligned with the legacy involvement of Davies’s Trust – complicated matters even further.

The club’s administration in May 2019 turned out to be one of the most complex in footballing history and left behind a fanbase who would forever keep a critical eye on the corridors of power as a result.

Football Ventures have spent much of the last five years repairing the damage caused by the final few years of that stormy period, mending bridges and restoring faith in the town team.

Hart says he and the consortium will continue to give supporters as much information as possible but ultimately that they have to trust in their ability to run things the right way.

He said: “In terms of transparency, we have always been as transparent as we can. I am here now answering questions, and I do represent Sharon and the other shareholders when I talk on their behalf.

“I think they respect that we need to address some of those points.

“We try to give as much transparency as possible and I think that the supporters, on the whole, do trust us. If you look at what Football Ventures have done since they walked through the door, what I have done since taking my job, what Ian Evatt has done as manager, I think it has all been in the greater interests of the football club.

“We have put it on a strong foundation. The finances of the club and the operation of the club is probably the best it has been post-Premier League era. And I don’t say that lightly.

“Yes, there is a lot of commercially sensitive information that we can’t put out there, but they just need to trust that we know what we are doing.”

Hart spoke to The Bolton News this week about owner funding still being crucial to the successful running of the club in League One, particularly if it intends to challenge for promotion.

READ MORE: Sustainability 'near impossible' says CEO Neil Hart.

He believes the incentive of getting Wanderers into the second tier, and eventually to take the final step back into the Premier League is the motivation behind BMLL’s involvement, just as it is for Football Ventures.

“In terms of motives, it is clear the investment opportunity in this club,” he said. “Everyone can see where this club can go – the size of the fanbase, the infrastructure etc, etc. We are a very plausible and attractive investment opportunity.

“We realised that opportunity with the BMLL group so there is a motivation from an investment point of view but I think there is also a motivation from a point of doing good.

“There is an opportunity to continue to revive a sleeping giant here and that is a huge motivation for shareholders, the board, Ian Evatt – it is a collective goal and will continue to be into the future.

“I think they are enjoying the journey, they come quite regularly to games and I think they are due again before the end of the season. They enjoy spending time with us and me, Ian and Chris Markham will do an update for them to say where we are up to on certain things, the work we are doing, which gives them a bit of insight.

“They are definitely additive. And they provide the investment which, quite frankly, is required.

“This is a football club and it requires investment. I can’t say it any more black and white than that."