We can now update SMISA members on our plans for who will represent them on the club board once the majority shareholding in the club has been bought.
It’s now only two months until SMISA completes its purchase of the majority shareholding in St Mirren, meaning we can forever keep our club in the hands of those who care for it most – you, the fans.
One of the key questions we need to resolve between now and then is who will represent SMISA on the club board from the summer.
Currently, SMISA has two reps on the eight-person SMFC board. As of the summer we will be entitled to four of the eight.
We this year defined SMISA’s future role (you can see it here), based on your feedback, and one of our key responsibilities is to help the club remain a well-run business.
As we’ve said before, fan-owned does not mean fan-run – the club board will oversee the running of the club. SMISA’s job is to make sure the people doing that on our behalf are the people we judge best qualified for the job.
So with that in mind we have asked two of the current club board – Gordon Scott and Alan Wardrop – to become the additional two SMISA reps from the summer.
In doing so we considered a number of issues. We have always said continuity and stability would be key and that we won’t make change for the sake of change if things were going well at the point of takeover.
St Mirren has made a profit in each of the past four seasons, while improving its league position year-on-year.
With the additional skills and expertise available to the club through our partnership with Kibble, we believe the club has the right people and structure already in place to build on that in the new fan-owned era.
While SMISA members will in future have the right to approve or reject new SMISA appointments to a vacancy on the club board, those already on the board are not new appointments.
The SMISA committee interviewed both Gordon and Alan against the existing job description for a SMISA-appointed club director, to ensure all parties were comfortable with the extra responsibilities this would involve for them.
Both are successful businesspeople who have played key roles in St Mirren’s recent successes, as well as long-standing SMISA members and lifelong fans with the club’s best interests at heart.
We are confident both will continue to provide good leadership and oversight of the club on SMISA’s behalf, while also ensuring our members’ views are considered in club decisions.
What happens next
SMISA will complete the purchase of Gordon’s remaining shares on July 27. From then, we will own 51% of the club (Kibble will be the only other major shareholder, with 27.5%).
The shareholders agreement – which requires the club to refer certain issues to the major shareholders – will only apply to SMISA and Kibble (Gordon will no longer be party to this).
Gordon and Alan will join David Riley and John Needham as the four SMISA reps on the club board from the summer. The rest of the club board – Tony Fitzpatrick (chief executive), Chris Stewart (club secretary), plus Kibble representatives Jim Gillespie (club vice chair) and Mark Macmillan, will all continue in their current roles.
Who fills the role of club chair is for the board to decide, but they have agreed Gordon will remain as club chair for the time being to help aid the transition to the new era.
However the future set-up will be different from in recent years, when Gordon was also the club’s owner. While the chair remains a key role, no one individual will be in charge – the board as a collective will be responsible for club operations.
Our website has a guide to how fan ownership will work outlining the roles of the various parties.
It has been a long road to get to this point but the journey to fan ownership is nearly complete. We are excited for what the future holds for our club and hope you are too. We thank you again for everything you have done to make that possible.