THE HERALD REPORTS

SRU act quickly to centralise commercial arm
KEVIN FERRIE July 25 2009
The Scottish Rugby Union insisted yesterday that appointing a Murrayfield-based commercial supremo would be beneficial to both their professional teams after confirming that Glasgow Warriors are parting company with their chief executive.

Stating that Ian Riddoch was departing to "take up new challenges", the governing body indicated that his departure - revealed in The Herald yesterday - was linked to a management re-structure that will result in all major commercial decisions for both Edinburgh and the Warriors being taken in the capital.

"I'd like to thank Ian Riddoch for his contributions to Glasgow Warriors over the last two years and we wish him well in the future. We plan to appoint Ian's successor in due course," saidGordon McKie, the SRU's chief executive.


"We have recently reviewed all commercial and marketing activities within Scottish Rugby and have concluded that a new structure is needed to better co-ordinate the selling of all relevant commercial inventories including pro teams across the organisation. To this end, a new head of commercial will be appointed to lead the team who in turn will be responsible for selling all commercial inventories across the organisation."

In saying so, McKie and his officials were insistent that they will put in place a structure that supports both professional teams and that a replacement for Riddoch will be appointed. However, his successor's role will be to focus on growing attendances at Firhill as well as building the team's identity within the greater Glasgow area.

To that end Riddoch said he believed the groundwork had been done during his time in office. "The Warriors now have a long-term playing venue at Firhill andwill shortly move into their new world-class training facilities at Scotstoun," hesaid. "This will provide the necessary consistency and facilities the club needs to continue its progress and challenge the leading rugby teams in Europe both on and off the field.

"The last two years have been all about building strong community foundations to ensure that the Warriors are ideally placed to flourish in Glasgow. There are strong signs from the schools, grassroots rugby clubs, the media, the business community and the public that the Warriors will continue to go from strength to strength."

The timing of his departure merely serves as a stark reminder of how understaffed the Glasgow Warriors operation is compared with the provincial teams in Ireland, Wales, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa; Riddoch was supported by only one full-time member of administrative staff.

Since the decision was made to go down the district teams route - Glasgow and Caledonia Reds subsequently merged, as did Edinburgh and Borders - a repeated criticism has been the lack of autonomy offered to those teams in terms of building both identity and commercial support.

The most pertinent comparison has been with Ireland, which made much the same option at the same time in opting to put its provinces rather than clubs into cross-border competitions.

While owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union, each of them operates as independent entities with the result that Leinster and Munster are now among the leading lights in Europe, each winning the Heineken Cup in the past two seasons. In spite of the concentration of resources into two rather than four teams, Scotland's teams have qualified for the Heineken Cup knockout stages once between them in the 14 years of the competition's existence.

More on Ian Riddoch's departure

With little over a week until Glasgow's first pre-season game the club have lost their chief executive Ian Riddoch.
Riddoch's resignation accompanies an admission from the SRU's top official that the organisation's marketing and business procedures are in need of a drastic overhaul.

Responding to Riddoch's departure, SRU chief executive Gordon McKie said that a review of the governing body's trading practices had concluded that major changes are needed.

McKie said in the Telegraph: "We have recently reviewed all commercial and marketing activities within Scottish Rugby and have concluded that a new structure is needed. To this end, a new Head of Commercial will be appointed."

The Times reports Dominic McKay, the director of communications, denied this was a significant change of tack, saying it was more of an adjustment to difficult trading conditions. “The role will be to manage all the commercial properties of the SRU, including those of the pro teams,” he said. “It will leave the chief executives of both Glasgow and Edinburgh free to concentrate on things like brand identity and attendances.”

The new appointment will result in all major commercial decisions for both Edinburgh and the Warriors being taken at Murrayfield rather than by the pro-team's chief executives.

The Scotsman claims the removal of the those resonsibilities is to be accompanied with a drop in salary. It appears Riddoch's response was a swift 'no thanks', but Edinburgh CEO Nic Cartwright is believed to have accepted the new deal.

In the Herald Riddoch said: "The Warriors now have a long-term playing venue at Firhill andwill shortly move into their new world-class training facilities at Scotstoun. This will provide the necessary consistency and facilities the club needs to continue its progress and challenge the leading rugby teams in Europe both on and off the field.

"The last two years have been all about building strong community foundations to ensure that the Warriors are ideally placed to flourish in Glasgow. There are strong signs from the schools, grassroots rugby clubs, the media, the business community and the public that the Warriors will continue to go from strength to strength."

This article was originally posted on 25-Jul-2009, 07:17 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 25-Jul-2009, 13:27.