15 May 2015 | Cricket
Glamorgan County Cricket Club officials have re-affirmed their commitment to achieving a sound financial footing after a Cardiff Council scrutiny panel upheld the decision to approve a write down of 70% of the Club's debt.
Glamorgan Chairman Barry O'Brien, Treasurer Hamish Buckland, Chief Executive Hugh Morris and Finance Consultant Simon White attended the meeting to answer questions posed by the panel.
The Council's decision paves the way to conclude agreements with Allied Irish Bank and former Chairman Paul Russell.
The outcome of this process is of paramount importance to our objective of achieving long-term financial stability, said Glamorgan Chairman Barry O'Brien.
The staging of international matches in Cardiff is of great benefit to the Welsh economy and projects our city and nation to a global television audience of millions.
We have secured a prestigious package of major matches that includes the first Investec Ashes Test of 2015, the ICC Champions Trophy in 2017 and the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2019.
Our reputation for the successful staging of major matches has been hard-earned and we fully intend to bring more games to Cardiff to drive even more economic impact, reputational enhancement and community legacy for the City.
Glamorgan Chief Executive Hugh Morris remains determined to build a squad with a Welsh core capable of achieving on-field success whilst making strides towards balancing the books with increased commercial returns.
We have realised the Club's ambition of hosting a series of high-profile international fixtures but the investment in the venue has left us with an unsustainable level of debt, said Hugh.
Continuing to enjoy the benefits of hosting the biggest fixtures whilst balancing investment in our professional team, our venue and our community programmes is entirely possible if this writedown is approved.
Seeking a writedown of debt is not something we are proud of but the stark reality is that is absolutely necessary if we are to move forwards.
We will now proceed to put the final arrangements in place to conclude our deal with creditors knowing that we can look towards a more prosperous future.
The onus is very much on us to re-examine how we work with cricket fans, the business community, our public sector partners and local people to make Cardiff and Wales proud of their cricket Club.
We are more than aware of our responsibility to ensure that the right people and systems are in place to put this Club back on the front foot and we have assured Cardiff Council that there is a collective resolve to do all that is necessary to achieve our vision of success.