Chapter 12: Chapter 12
Dressed in a fine suit that was far more formal than his usual attire, the young manager walked through the automatic doors of the company headquarters. Waiting for him inside was representatives of the consortium who owned his club, who would operate mainly as silent supporters in the upcoming meeting. It would be up to him to convince the company that it would be a worthy investment, the role of the consortium was to facilitate the meeting and if successful discuss the financials. The reason he was here was simple and that was that the money had dried up, the recruitment had been spectacular so far and Henke had negotiated well but they were over budget and the squad wasn't complete. The agreed sales of Sunjic, Woods, Bacuna, Hogan and Roberts had allowed them to sign the all the players they wanted but a few positions were still empty. The club had squeezed every penny out of the players it had and were on the right track, but alternative funding was required. The consortium had already provided everything they could and that had led to this meeting from an idea he had considered when he first returned to the club.
The headquarters were those of Gymshark, the British fitness apparel company which was based in Solihull. Paul Richardson one of the key members of the consortium had previously worked as a director for the company and with his connections was able to get the young manager in a room with the company's CEO and founder, Ben Francis. It was up to him now to show them what Birmingham City could offer the company and why they should invest. The meeting started very cordially with introductions being made either way when the big question was finally dropped.
"Mr Suleyman, as you probably know we are a growing company and the way in which we invest our capital is of crucial importance, so I'm curious why would we invest in your club?"
"The reason you should invest in us is manifold, but to summarize it boils down this being the greatest form of marketing you could ever have. I don't have to be an expert in business to know that often what makes the difference between those companies which soar to the top and those which languish is their marketing strategy. The greatest products mean little if the consumer doesn't know about them. This is the reason that Red Bull is involved in every sports club they can get their hands on and Gymshark work with a plethora of fitness influencers. The real question is hence does the identity of the company and the club match in a natural and genuine way. Gymshark is a youthful fitness brand who pride themselves on transparency by documenting every step of journey and allowing the customers to feel a deep connection with the brand. Their social influencer marketing is also very genuine with them fostering a relationship with specific influencers who grow to love the brand rather than it being a disingenuous advertising campaign. BCFC are very similar, a local club through and through who are impactful in the community and really strive to make a change. I'm not one to blow my own horn, but I'm the youngest manager in the history of the championship and if you've been paying attention to the transfer rumours, we are forming the youngest teams in the whole country. Gymshark has the ambition to become the UK's answer to Adidas and Nike. To truly challenge those two giants in the industry, it is important to match them in football space as well and we would become the weapon with which Gymshark would do that. The club doesn't lack for ambition either, if that was your concern, we plan to be in the premier league within the next three years and challenging the top within five years. The plan for how that would be achieved is already in existence and it is only a matter of watching it unfold. The local connection only makes this partnership more appealing and to work together from the beginning will only make the payoff worth more."
A silence came over the room when he stopped speaking and he took that moment to look around at the faces of those present. The consortium members were quietly excited having had no idea the sort of speech he would deliver and the level of detail he had gone into on why the company should support them. The other side were slightly perturbed and quietly analysing the risk of such a venture for a fledgling company. The only person who was open with their emotions was Ben Francis who had a feral grin on his face. That expression alone told him that he made the right decision giving the speech rather than Henke. The role of securing funding truly belonged to his technical director, but he had asked to take this one himself as he felt that directly appealing to the young CEO would be more effective. The risk aversion of old business directors was completely different to the young founder who had grown his company from his basement, and he wanted to draw him in with a grand dream, which he felt like he achieved.
"Why come to us, we've never designed a football kit before?" Ben asked seeking for any weakness in his pitch.
"I'd never managed before this team, you'd never built a company before Gymshark, if people were only allowed to do what they had already done, we would never have any innovation. I always bet on people, and I haven't been wrong so far" he answered back, showing his personal philosophy as clearly as he could.
"I think that's about all I need to hear, I've got one last question that I ask at every interview though. Tell me one concern you have about working with us?"
"The CEO being a Villa fan is a bit problematic but I'm sure we can fix that" he replied with a teasing smile on his face.
The joke was received well when the young founder burst out laughing and then said it would be a bigger challenge to get him to switch teams than it would be for the club to win the premier league. The rest of the meeting was very much about the specifics of the deal which would be put in place, which didn't interest Yusuf too much. The founder who was quite proud of the company headquarters decided to show him around while his employees discussed the specifics and the two became much better acquainted. He also received tips in how to best be transparent in your operations and document each part of the process which he planned to implement as soon as he could.
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