The 2024 AGM was held at 6.15pm on Tuesday 8 October at London Stadium Store and was attended by over 90 Bondholders.
 

Chair’s Welcome

Martine Bennett opened the meeting and welcomed Bondholders and guests.

Martine updated the meeting by thanking Bondholders for their engagement and response to surveys over the last year.  Work on tracing all bondholders has continued. The  owners of 90 bonds are’ lost’ but work to trace them is ongoing. A further 14 bonds are held by estates.

Martine stressed the importance of Bondholders keeping their contact details updated and ensuring provision is made for the Bond in their will. 

If anyone knows any Bondholder who has not yet confirmed their details, please ask them to contact [email protected].

Bond sales 

Over the last year the average sales price of a Bond was £10,000.  Thirty Bonds have been sold and ten transferred. There are 309 currently on the waiting list to purchase a Bond. 

The previously discussed change to using an auction format for Bond sales will happen in 2024/25 after further discussions have taken place with the bondholder committee and any new members. Auctions are likely to be run quarterly and the seller will be able to set a reserve price.  A 5% fee will be payable by both the buyer and seller.  All fees are held in the Hammers Bond Company account for the benefit of all Bondholders.

Company Accounts

Tony Barritt presented the company accounts.  The balance at the year-end was £14,911.86.  The only expenditure for the year was £58.80 to purchase a card reader.

FAB Representation

In the recent survey 92.5% of respondents agreed that the Bondholders should join the newly formed Fan Advisory Board. The first meeting was held on 11 September. Martine attended as the Bondholders' representative.

Committee Elections

The attendees voted to accept a motion to re-elect the ten current members of the  Committee together with two new Committee members, to represent Bondholders for the next 12 months. The committee members elected were Barbara Adams, Stephen Applebee, Tony Barritt, Martine Bennett, Richard Boast,  Lloyd Howard, Martin Jessop, Keith Knight, Michael Evans, Mike Lee, Joe O;Sullivan and Colin Sheridan. 

Q and A  with Club officials

Martine Bennett introduced Nicola Keye, Director of Ticketing, Tara Warren Executive Director, Andy Mollett, Chief Financial Officer and Cat Smith, Head of Supporter Services. Tara gave an update on the formation and aims of the Fans Advisory Board, Martine then asked a range of submitted questions on a range of subjects including concession pricing, future technological developments in ticketing and the financial benefits of European competition

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James Collins

Following the more formal business of the evening Joe O'Sullivan introduced James Collins. James shared a number of stories and experiences from his two spells playing for West Ham.  James answered a variety of pre-submitted questions, together with those from the floor during an entertaining and enlightening Q and A session. 

Closing Remarks

Martine, on behalf of the Bondholders and the Executive Committee thanked the Club for hosting the event, together with Club representatives and James Collins for an entertaining and informative evening.  James Collins then drew out three raffle tickets for lucky winners of a signed Men's Shirt and a signed Women's Shirt donated by the Club and a James Collins signed provided by the committee and signed by James on the night.

The 2023 AGM was held at 6.15pm on Thursday 12 October at the London Stadium Store and was attended by over 60 Bondholders.

Chair’s Welcome

Martine Bennett opened the meeting and welcomed Bondholders and guests. Martine updated the meeting on the activity of the committee over the last year; it had been a busy year, working on confirming and updating the Bondholder database with the aim of contacting all Bondholders.  This work is ongoing and there are still a number of Bondholders yet to be traced.  If anyone knows any Bondholder who has not yet confirmed their details, please ask them to contact  [email protected].

The database activity has led to a number of Bonds being sold. Prices have risen driven by the Club's  success in Europe and this combined with the database activity has resulted in 20 Bonds being sold or transferred in the accounting year, with over 30 already sold in the first six months of this current year. 

A change in the sales process is being considered, moving from a waiting list to an auction format or a combination of the two.  This is being considered after feedback from the floor.

Lastly, the improved quality of the database has enabled the committee to improve communication with the Bondholder, i.e. through surveys and we the committee will continue to explore thoughts and ideas.    

Company Accounts

Tony Barritt presented the company accounts.   There had been little activity on the account due to the pandemic and it has been challenging to recover the money in the dormant account held by Barclays.  The balance at year end was £2,117.51.

Tony updated the meeting with the news that since the year end Barclays have paid £200 as compensation for the delay in resolving the issue as well as a balance above the £2,117.51 due.  The new account is now in operation.

 
ISC Representative

Steve Applebee updated the meeting of his involvement with the ISC  and the introduction of the Premier League's Fan Engagement Standard (FES). As part of the FES the ISC will become the Fan Advisory Board (FAB), with the current ten representatives being joined by International, Women's SB and Junior representatives. Discussions are ongoing and anticipated to be concluded during November 2023.

 
Committee Elections

Sadly, Brendan Burke, a dedicated and valued committee member for some years, passed away earlier this year.  

The attendees voted to accept a motion to elect the nine members of the previous Committee who stood for re-election together with one new Committee member, to represent Bondholders for the next 12 months. The committee members elected were Barbara Adams, Stephen Applebee, Tony Barritt, Martine Bennett, Lloyd Howard, Martin Jessop, Keith Knight, Michael Evans, Mike Lee and Joe O'Sullivan. 

 
Nicola Keye, Director of Ticketing

Martine Bennett introduced Nicola who gave an overview of the experiences of ticketing for European matches over the last year, an insight to future ticketing technology and the challenges of meeting UEFA Finals ticketing regulations whilst maintaining Bondholder rights. Nicola answered a variety of pre-submitted questions and questions from the floor on Bondholder ticketing issues.

 
Andy Mollett, WHU CFO

Martine ∂Bennett introduced Andy Mollett, the club’s Chief Financial Officer. In answering pre-submitted questions together with those from the audience, Andy covered a wide range of topics including the financial impact of European competition, the forthcoming January Transfer Window, Financial Fair Play, and the process for signing new players. 

Steve Potts

Following the more formal business of the evening Joe O'Sullivan introduced Steve Potts. Steve shared a number of stories and experiences from his long playing career and his current role as U21s Coach.  Steve answered a variety of pre-submitted questions, together with those from the floor during an entertaining and enlightening Q and A session.
 

Closing Remarks

Martine, on behalf of the Bondholders and the Executive Committee thanked the Club for hosting the event, together with Club representatives and Steve Potts for an entertaining and informative evening.  Steve Potts then drew out two raffle tickets for lucky winners of a signed Men's Shirt and signed Women's Shirt donated by the Club.  This was followed by photo opportunities including with the UEFA Europa Conference League Trophy, on display for the evening.