Paul Barber - first impressions

[Birdie Boy]

I hope you're right, and I guess the proof will be in the pudding. I suppose ideally we'd want to see an official beer that is available everywhere and on all the promotion material, side-by-side with a local one.

Please please don't get us sponsored by Carling or Carlesburg! I can't stand the thought of only those lagers on sale and no other. Now, San Miguel would be a great sponsor and would make Vicente feel at home!

 

[The Large One]

but if I read this right, he is a hard nose business man, therefore if he struck a deal with say Carling to provide alcohol for the stadium that gives us extra funds for players or Pukka Pies etc, harveys and Piglets will be dispatched pretty quickly.

One of the things that helps the club function the way it does is the whole 'sticking around afterwards for a pie and a pint' thing. It helps the flow of people on to the trains, and makes the transport thing work pretty well.

Going the Pukka Pies / Carlsberg Tetley route will almost certainly have the dual effect of people not buying something that isn't generally wanted, meaning more people will leave early - bollocksing up the trains. There may be a short-term incentive to get some sort of 'beer deal' in, but if it has the long-term effect of alienating the fans and affecting sales, who will come out the winner?

It's one area that works brilliantly at present - why rock it? It wouldn't make sense.

Paul Barber was staggered by the beer sales when it was mentioned - at which point Martin Perry interjected and pointed out that '140,000 pints were Harvey's'. That, to me, was very telling. He then rolled his eyes and with a smirk muttered something like 'but then, one or two of us didn't think that idea would work...' They all acknowledge it's something there now exceptionally proud of.

 

[durrington gull]

He should leave me alone

Otherwise you'll OUST him from the CLUB!!!

 

[Commander]

Please please don't get us sponsored by Carling or Carlesburg! I can't stand the thought of only those lagers on sale and no other. Now, San Miguel would be a great sponsor and would make Vicente feel at home!

Apart from it's horrible.

 

[Silverhatch]

Sort F***king Azure's approach to beer and food sales and he'll be even more staggered about how many Piglets/Harveys/Dark Star etc. the Amex faithful can consume. Get the MD of Azure in and tell him/her to throw some more "trained" staff at the "Amex Opportunity" with better batch processes for preparing/serving and paying for fast moving consumer goods in a limited space of time and they'll be enough in the coffers extra for a pretty decent midfielder to protect Vicente! And if you're reading this Paul - don't think about ditching Harveys for John Smiths (Brighton's Official Ale).

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

First impressions - appears smartly dressed, tanned, with shaven hair.

I think you might be confusing him with me.

 

[The Large One]

I think you might be confusing him with me.

Except you're about eight inches taller.

 

[Rogero]

Is Paul contactable?

 

[Giraffe]

I have no knowledge of the man at all, I'm sure he will be fine though.

But it reminded me of a fan meeting with a new chief exec I attended in the 90's. Seemed keen to meet the fans, expressed similar views did the right things in the early days. I do believe he became less popular!!

However I think it is slightly irrelevant. Ultimately Bloom is the boss and provided Barber follows his remit I am sure he will do a fine job.

 

[Ernest]

I have no knowledge of the man at all, I'm sure he will be fine though.

But it reminded me of a fan meeting with a new chief exec I attended in the 90's. Seemed keen to meet the fans, expressed similar views did the right things in the early days. I do believe he became less popular!!

However I think it is slightly irrelevant. Ultimately Bloom is the boss and provided Barber follows his remit I am sure he will do a fine job.

Do you mean the chap Attilla was carrying round the North Stand worshipping him ?

 

[Acker79]

So, there's still a chance for a KFC in the ground?

 

[Digweeds Trousers]

but if I read this right, he is a hard nose business man, therefore if he struck a deal with say Carling to provide alcohol for the stadium that gives us extra funds for players or Pukka Pies etc, harveys and Piglets will be dispatched pretty quickly.

We are now moving on from a little seaside family club that the supporters knew the directors by first name and moving into teh corporate world of money generation.

Now I would hazzard a guess that 90% of our younger fans will think this is great being brought up on a diet of corporate TV, Sky etc etc and I would also think some of the fans who have been "close" to the clubs management will have their noses put out of joint.

Welcome to the Brave New World

I wouold strongly disagree. In fact I think the very commercial nature this guy brings will protect the popular Harvey's PIglet Pies issue.

If we were still the cottage industry club who had 7,000 die hard fans putting up with a dire infrastructure who had a blissful emotional attachment to a local produce then yes - I would suspect this lovely little backwater approach would probably suffer under someone like this.

However the reality is that the revenue and volume both harvey's and Piglet's pies delivered probably makes them a focus for working out to sell more? The staggering success of these loved local products porbably in my opinion makes them a very firm fixture for years to come.

 

[Ernest]

I wouold strongly disagree. In fact I think the very commercial nature this guy brings will protect the popular Harvey's PIglet Pies issue.

If we were still the cottage industry club who had 7,000 die hard fans putting up with a dire infrastructure who had a blissful emotional attachment to a local produce then yes - I would suspect this lovely little backwater approach would probably suffer under someone like this.

However the reality is that the revenue and volume both harvey's and Piglet's pies delivered probably makes them a focus for working out to sell more? The staggering success of these loved local products porbably in my opinion makes them a very firm fixture for years to come.

Not really as the sales volume makes it a prime target for bigger firms, 25000+ crowds drinking and stuffing their faces will leave companies fighting to get their products in

 

[Herne Hill Seagull]

But it reminded me of a fan meeting with a new chief exec I attended in the 90's. Seemed keen to meet the fans, expressed similar views did the right things in the early days. I do believe he became less popular!!

My first thoughts were similar. Not because I have any belief that he'll turn out similarly, it's just that you tend to get a bit guarded about people coming in when you've been through what we have as supporters. I wish him well and hope he's as good as his very fine words - if he reads Build a Bonfire and digests it, he'll learn pretty quickly that the club survived to be in a position where somebody could take it to where it is now because of the fans.

 

[Hotchilidog]

Not really as the sales volume makes it a prime target for bigger firms, 25000+ crowds drinking and stuffing their faces will leave companies fighting to get their products in

I can see some sort of an issue arising here if one of the big companies wants to get involved and pay an inflated sum for the pouring rights. The first season figures would make any big business want a pier of the action. The judgement to be made by the club is whether they think people would still turn up early and indeed stay late. Personally speaking I would be spending less time and considerably less money at the Amex if the real ale was taken away.

 

[Herne Hill Seagull]

Not really as the sales volume makes it a prime target for bigger firms, 25000+ crowds drinking and stuffing their faces will leave companies fighting to get their products in

And then, when numbers of both sold drop dramatically from current levels because they're shit, they'll be just as keen to get out again.

 

[Basil Fawlty]

When he settles in more within the Club and with the Area as a whole, I think he will be a fantastic addition to the Boardroom. Happy days.

 

[Vegas Seagull]

It's my inference, rather than his comment. He needs to get more money into the club, to take us to the next level, and there's only a finite amount that the local business community can contribute. He wasn't specific at all, but one thing someone did suggest while we were nattering before the meeting (and I'm not saying that this is going to happen - and it's not a sleight on B&H Jobs) was that we ought to be able to attract a big-name shirt sponsor.

For instance - though this wasn't mentioned at all - the stands are still not sponsored...

I'm not sure what he meant about the bad guy bit (though he did mention about not hiking prices) - possibly acknowledging that some decisions CEOs have to make aren't popular, but that - if it's in the interest of the club as a whole - he will make them.

Everything said was in vague, roundabout terms, but it looks like he's (among other things) been brought in to attract new money, attracting companies to invest in an upwardly moving set-up.

The stands will not be sponsored whilst it is called The Amex, it would blur the corporate image of 'their' stadium & they will not allow that to happen

 

[The Large One]

Not really as the sales volume makes it a prime target for bigger firms, 25000+ crowds drinking and stuffing their faces will leave companies fighting to get their products in

That seeks to pre-suppose that we'll stuff our faces to any old rubbish. I can't see that happening. We've eaten and drank ourselves silly because the product was (a) local and (b) good.

 

[The Large One]

The stands will not be sponsored whilst it is called The Amex, it would blur the corporate image of 'their' stadium & they will not allow that to happen

Really? The agreement to sponsor the stadium was struck in 2008. Even quite late in the day, it was announced by the club that 'the North Stand will remain the North Stand - all other stands will have sponsors'.

For whatever reason, that didn't happen, but if Amex did insist on that, it would have been odd for the club to announce that they were looking for stand sponsors.