The Hearts supporter who first approached Ann Budge during the Tynecastle club’s desperate battle for survival back in the dark days of the Vladimir Romanov era has predicted the Scottish businesswoman will forever be remembered as a giant of Gorgie.
Hearts announced yesterday morning that Budge has informed them of her intention to step down as their chair following the AGM in December and so bring an end to her 11 year involvement.
The former IT entrepreneur bought a majority shareholding in the stricken Edinburgh outfit for £2.5m through her Bidco 1874 company back in 2014 and so ensured that it exited administration and avoided going out of business.
Bidco transferred a 75.1 per cent stake to the Foundation of Hearts seven years later and instantly made the William Hill Premiership side the largest to be fan owned in the United Kingdom.
Alex Mackie, a chartered public finance accountant and the owner of insurance brokers Edinburgh Risk Management, was one of the five founding members of the Foundation of Hearts in 2010 and was its original chairman.
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He knows how important Budge was to the success of the embryonic fan ownership group and believes that his old associate is owed a debt of gratitude by every Jambo.
“I knew from the beginning, from the very first time that we met, that Ann Budge was right for the foundation and right for the club,” he said. “We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her. The position we're in just now is far better than we could have anticipated at the start. I can't overemphasize how much we are indebted to her.
“Back in the early days of the foundation, my wife and I had our business at one end of Dean Path in Edinburgh and Ann had her Newell and Budge business at the other end. So I knew of her. But it was Gary Mackay (the former Hearts and Scotland midfielder) who suggested I get in touch with her. He knew that she attended games with her daughter.
“Part of my vision for the foundation early on was to bring in people with talent who could cover all the bases of what we needed for a fan ownership group - we needed a lawyer, we needed an accountant, we needed a marketeer, we needed someone who understood about corporate governance and football, we needed someone who was involved in IT.
“We got to a position where we had to move the foundation to a new level and needed to find people to man the board who worked at a high level in their respective fields and who the fans would trust implicitly. The Save Our Hearts boys and the fans who were driving things had never formed a legal entity before. So I was conscious of this.
Mackie continued, “That was always our vision from the very start – that good, professional, credible Hearts fans would not take the club back down the same road that it had been down. We didn’t want success to mean the club getting into major debt. That is what happened in the late 1990s right into the 2000s.
“I think that is what Ann liked about us, that we wanted to have an adherence to a high level of corporate governance. We never pressed her for money by the way. We always thought the fans would come up with the money. But things accelerated with the banking crisis and when Ukio Bankas (the Lithuanian bank that was owned then Hearts owner Romanov) went into administration she stepped up.
“I am eternally grateful for her doing that because I was running a business with my wife, and still am in fact, and had a lot of plates spinning. But we always knew that Ann was on board. She advised us and brought other professional people on board who gave us invaluable advice.
“I can remember having a two hour conversation with our solicitor about whether the foundation should be a community interest company or a company limited by guarantee. We have now greenlighted the arrival of Tony Bloom into our midst with 29 per cent of non-voting shares. But the foundation still has controlling interest and can still hold the club accountable.
“But from the first moment that I met Ann I knew she was right for the foundation, that she would do well for us and that we could trust her. I am saddened that she has decided to step down, but I understand why. She has done her stint and has done very well. In fact, she has done a great job. I couldn’t say anything negative about her at all.”
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Not all Hearts fans feel the same way despite the enviable position the Tynecastle club are now in. Budge, who stayed on as chairwoman after the foundation became the majority shareholders, has come in for criticism from the stands in recent seasons as the team has struggled both at home and abroad. But Mackie feels the flak has been completely unjustified.
“A lot of people who own or run football clubs are full of ego,” he said. “They think they know how to run a football club, but football clubs are unique entities. The one thing about Ann was that it was never about ego, it was always about the fans. She knew they needed the club, knew it was part of their lives. She was grounded and did what she did on their behalf.
“Fans need leadership and Ann provided that leadership at that time. Now she has to pass the baton on to somebody else. But she was great for the football club and I am sure she will still be around on match days going forward.
“There are people who have been pillars and giants of Heart of Midlothian Football Club over the years and Ann Budge is undoubtedly one of them.”
