Sir, Sadly Towcester was an ineluctable disaster just waiting to happen. The greyhound fraternity appear somewhat incredulous at the demise. It surprised me from a business perspective not one iota. Those who thought it was the panacea for the sport appeared to be correct for the past two years, and, it has to be said, they ran a very good Derby competition, but all that glitters is not gold.
Let’s look a little closer into the business acumen of those running the place. As long ago as 2001 they had a pre tax loss of £2 million. In 2016 a further loss of £1.9 million, that after borrowing £1.6 million, recent years a loss of pre-taxed £2.4 million. £15 million was diluted and dissipated into shares, that tranche resolves nothing but adds more financial pain. There is nothing arcane in commenting that Towcester was a financial trap door waiting to lose the burden, where was the due diligence essential in any successful business?
There is a very close nexus in business between success and disaster, sadly iterations don’t apply, one strike and you’re out. Unlike Jonathan Kay, who once informed me in an email that I “talk rubbish,” on greyhound matters, I wonder who is talking “rubbish” now? Every time I visited the track I raised my eyebrows at what I saw there. Free entry, massive tote queues, so many staff members, many allocated in the wrong viable places. I have no idea, or am I privy to the contracts that they were paying to Mark and Kevin, etc. Many took a naïve, putative view that Towcester was the games salvation. Now after this shambles some trainers have been offered other tracks, probably with vast travelling commitments, others there have been defenestrated to fend for themselves. Mark Wallis has the responsibility to his staff and owners and sensibly has gone to Henlow, which will be an ideal marriage and security for all concerned.
At the Derby, in the marquee, I paid £185 for nothing more than a basic Wetherspoons carvery, valued with a tip worth no more than £20. it just doesn’t make any sense at all. My local pub manager would make a better fist or running Towcester, his pub is utilised day and night, Spanish classes, St John’s Ambulance, Judo, fitness classes, funeral wakes, wedding parties, all earning top revenue, why wasn’t the excellent facilities at Towcester utilised more to earn revenue? The place just haemorrhaged money, via really poor business and management skills.
To the best of my knowledge my successful family company doesn’t give away Scania lorries, 24 servicing and parts, plus having a 600 payroll every month, with some staff having been there since they were 15 and ready to get their “gold watches.” The Beatles said “money can’t buy me love,” correct of course, but it buys you reliable and motivated staff. God only knows just what went on at Towcester, but I suppose it will eventually all come out? Greyhound racing is now in a mess but there are successes, Nottingham is very well run, Sheffield, Newcastle, Henlow and the Ladbrokes/Coral tracks are viable.
 I myself stood for the GBGB board two months ago with 50 years management and business expertise and guess what, of the 5,500 voting slips, 4,100 owners couldn’t even be bothered to post an envelope to get representation, resulting in an 83 year old being elected, who, to the best of my knowledge has never run a multi-million pound family business. There are some running greyhound racing who’s whole business expertise CV would just about cover the one side of an OXO cube. The GBGB have a fantastic managing director in Mark Bird, what a mess he’s inherited to sort out again via the mistakes of others. I wonder just what is around the corner and is the next debacle in greyhound racing, but as they say, you “reap what you sow” in life, reminding me of the publisher who told J.K Rowling, when she took her first manuscript of Harry Potter to his office, to “go away and learn how to write at night school,” Towcester should have gone away and learned how to run a business.
Mike Kelly
Birmingham B14