QPR 1st, the Queens Park Rangers Supporters trust, is asking Loftus Road PLC shareholders to sign up to its ShareBank scheme, which is designed to give supporters a bigger say in developments at the club.
Under the ShareBank scheme, shareholders sign their allocations over to QPR 1st. The strength that the Trust gains through having control over a large number of shares is then used to raise issues with the PLC on behalf of QPR supporters and Loftus Road PLC shareholders. Ownership of the shares is formally transferred to QPR 1st, although a clause in the scheme allows shareholders to reclaim their shares at any time.
Trust spokesman Leon Stent said: “The supporters trust is a completely democratic organisation, set up to represent the views of its members and supporters in general. By building up a large bank of shares, QPR 1st is much better placed to carry out that task. At the moment, Loftus Road PLC shareholders might find that it is difficult to get their voice heard by the PLC. By pooling our resources, we hope to be able to speak with one loud and unified voice.
“Despite the club being out of administration, there are still plenty of issues of concern to supporters that we need to get the club to address by proper consultation. For example, there is the whole issue around the future of Fulham and the groundshare arrangement, as well as how the club is servicing the £10 million loan that the PLC took out to get us out of administration.
“Loftus Road PLC shares are not currently trading publicly and the Company is due to announce the date of it’s AGM soon, so we think this is the ideal time for shareholders to sign up to the ShareBank scheme and get their voice heard by the board.”
Details about the ShareBank scheme are available on QPR 1st’s website, here, by sending an email to shares@qpr1st.co.uk or by writing to QPR 1st.