Change of direction by the SRU chief executive is worth following
Published on 17 Nov 2011
THE HERALD reports
Kevin Ferrie

IN a fascinating TV programme last week, Richard Reed, the entrepreneur who started the ethical brand, Innocent, defended himself against the suggestion that he and his partners had effectively sold out when they allowed Coca-Cola to buy a major share in the business three years ago.

His defence was that the drinks giant had come in during a crisis that threatened the future of their company, offering financial support and access to expertise without interfering with the running of a business that prides itself on its principles of pursuing green issues and offering major support to charities.

What he seemed to be describing was a near idyllic situation for anyone in business. Someone else takes the risk while those running things feel relatively safe to chase the rewards. The conglomerate is, it seems, providing the wherewithal and supporting resources, while leaving them alone to run their business.

Which brings us to Scottish rugby and the way that Mark Dodson, the new Scottish Rugby Union chief executive, seems to be proposing to run the professional clubs, Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors.

If everything he has said and indicated is to be believed then his policy is to keep both clubs under SRU ownership, at least for the foreseeable future, which means the governing body will continue to cover most of the costs from the revenues generated mainly, it should be remembered, by professional players in Test matches.

However, the day to day running will no longer be second guessed from HQ, a fundamental difference from what has gone on in the past.

Dodson has missed no opportunity to declare his intention to let the clubs develop very separate identities from the SRU while remaining under the governing body’s ownership and protection. That is similar to what happens at the two most successful clubs in Europe, Leinster and Munster.

Those claims seem very much supported by the decision of Nathan Bombrys to leave his post as head of commercial affairs at Murrayfield to take up the job of managing director at Glasgow, replacing Kenny Baillie.

In the past Bombrys’ move would not be seen as a step up, so his move indicates that he, at least, believes the professional clubs are being given a new level of autonomy and that the changed job designation is much more than superficial.

That he will be given the backing necessary to be successful in the job is also supported by recent evidence of the response to last week’s setback when Dodson failed in one of his early goals – to keep Richie Gray in Scotland – when Glasgow were allowed to sign Samoan internationalist David Lemi.

While the rumour mill suggests that John Barclay is poised to join Gray at Sale Sharks, there is a promise of much more to come in terms of providing the funding to keep and recruit top talent. If so then it really will start to challenge what has been the conventional wisdom, that no entrepreneur in his right mind would want to invest in a professional team that Murrayfield retained control of.

Perhaps it is time, as Reed and his partners were forced to do, to look at things differently and see the opportunity this represents in these austere times, to the sort of individuals who have a desire to own the executive toy that is a sports club.

It is generally accepted that those who do so must allow their hearts to rule their heads since there is no way of making money from such an enterprise. However, what if a new type of partnership is available, one in which investors have exposure to risk minimised to the point of being negligible, while still boasting the chance to benefit from their creativity.

If Dodson can persuade would-be investors that the money they spend would go into developing the brand, that their basic running costs would be covered and their biggest resources paid for by the governing body and that any profits would subsequently be shared, what could be more attractive.

With full-time professionals also having helped generate Scottish success in the British & Irish Cup last weekend, that would also be the sort of environment that might prove ideal for the co-operative model championed by Al Cranston, the former Border Reivers chief executive, which offers everyone involved in the sport the opportunity to buy a share in the professional game.

As Dodson rightly said the other day, there is a buzz around Scottish rugby at the moment which was reflected in last weekend’s results. Every indication so far is that he is both willing and able to seize upon the opportunity presented by that swift change of mood since the early exit in this summer’s World Cup in New Zealand.

This article was posted on 17-Nov-2011, 08:12 by Hugh Barrow.