The Robins Nest Forum

New Head of Commercial on the way, starting week after next apparently, good to see a swift appointment made.

Someone local who was interviewed the same time as Hobin.

https://www.hartlepoolunited.co.uk/news ... pointment/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Fuller wrote:https://www.hartlepoolunited.co.uk/news ... pointment/

When hartlepool is more of a pull then Cheltenham, what is going on off the pitch at this club?

though this maybe a personal/logistic situation for him.

longmover wrote:

Fuller wrote:https://www.hartlepoolunited.co.uk/news ... pointment/

When hartlepool is more of a pull then Cheltenham, what is going on off the pitch at this club?

though this maybe a personal/logistic situation for him.

A Chief Operating Officer sounds like a role with more responsibility and greater power than a Head of Commercial and so he would be a bigger fish in a smaller pond.

According to the club statement/addressing issues last week, the club said that a job opened up closer to his family. So he has done a Carson.

Red Duke wrote:

longmover wrote:

Fuller wrote:https://www.hartlepoolunited.co.uk/news ... pointment/

When hartlepool is more of a pull then Cheltenham, what is going on off the pitch at this club?

though this maybe a personal/logistic situation for him.

A Chief Operating Officer sounds like a role with more responsibility and greater power than a Head of Commercial and so he would be a bigger fish in a smaller pond.

Fair point, I presume he would have applied for the job not long after 'starting' at CTFC, so sounds as though he wouldn't have been at the club for long anyway if he was just biding his time for a role such as hartlepool. Be interested to see how long he's there.

Seems as though we've dodged a bullet here.

Shade wrote:According to the club statement/addressing issues last week, the club said that a job opened up closer to his family. So he has done a Carson.

promoter talk I reckon, file under 'wilcox'

Shade wrote:According to the club statement/addressing issues last week, the club said that a job opened up closer to his family. So he has done a Carson.

Surely Preston to Hartlepool is not a daily commute

I just checked and it's a similar distance from Preston to Cheltenham (2 hr 45 mins) as it is to Hartlepool (2 hr 30mins). The job closer to home excuse is bull s#!t.

Assuming his family are in Preston, which I am not sure you or I know.

We don't want to dwell on the past in any areas of the club... ever forward.

I was gonna say, just because his previous club was Preston doesn't mean that's where he lives!

I have dealt with him this season and all I can say is I am glad some else is coming in. I wasn't impressed and I am excited who comes in.
People say this and that about John finnigan but he was very good with the local people and businesses

Anyone heard any news on the new Head of Commercial?
Thought they were starting this week?
Official site still showing Steve Hobin as the man in charge....

This'll be him. It popped up on my feed.

Welcome to the club, Tom Adams.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasoadams/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I thought it was strange to appoint someone who'd have to relocate from the north so I'm not surprised that it didn't last.

Head of commercial requires someone with good knowledge of local people and business and how to get £££ out of them. The fact this guy worked for Gloucester RFC in a commercial role means he must have plenty of contacts. Someone relocating and starting from scratch would need a year or two to get up to scratch in my opinion and a club like us can't really afford that time. Surely we need someone like this chap with a network that he can nurture and plenty of people he can call upon when we need to find someone to be a ball sponsor at the last minute, for example.

All these commercial folk are full of good ideas but what the role really demands is solid graft and someone with the tenacity to go out and find the £££.

DWx3 wrote:This'll be him. It popped up on my feed.

Welcome to the club, Tom Adams.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasoadams/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I thought it was strange to appoint someone who'd have to relocate from the north so I'm not surprised that it didn't last.

Head of commercial requires someone with good knowledge of local people and business and how to get £££ out of them. The fact this guy worked for Gloucester RFC in a commercial role means he must have plenty of contacts. Someone relocating and starting from scratch would need a year or two to get up to scratch in my opinion and a club like us can't really afford that time. Surely we need someone like this chap with a network that he can nurture and plenty of people he can call upon when we need to find someone to be a ball sponsor at the last minute, for example.

All these commercial folk are full of good ideas but what the role really demands is solid graft and someone with the tenacity to go out and find the £££.

Reading his LinkedIn profile, it would appear that he is working for us and Gloucester Rugby at the same time.

It says that he started in August and has been working for CTFC for 2 months! I am not so sure how LinkedIn work their timescales out.

I guess he's just neglected to edit LinkedIn to show that his employment at GRFC has finished. There's no way the two roles could be compatible as both clubs are after the same companies for their £££. Incidentally, he may have a kind of non-compete clause in his contract with GRFC to prevent him from working with GRFC sponsors at another professional sports club. However, LinkedIn actually helps people to get around this as your contacts belong to you and not your employer so he can legitimately reach out to any contacts via LinkedIn and GRFC can't do anything about it.

He even got congratulations and good luck message from Steve Hobin

Ralph wrote:He even got congratulations and good luck message from Steve Hobin

I believe they worked quite closely during Steve Hobin’s short time at the club.

Let’s hope he gets support for whatever his ideas may be from the Board. We’re sadly lacking on the commercial front and need dragging up a few levels.

Met tom today. Really good first impressions. Very professional. I think he will do really well

Anyone know how much responsibility the Head of Commercial has for catering outlets around the ground, or is that a different department?

Anteros wrote:Met tom today. Really good first impressions. Very professional. I think he will do really well

Please ask him to sort out the ticketing (long queues) and catering

Robin wrote:

Anteros wrote:Met tom today. Really good first impressions. Very professional. I think he will do really well

Please ask him to sort out the ticketing (long queues) and catering

Two catering observations today:
1. Reports that cold soft drinks ran out before half time behind the C&G, with people finding out after queuing up at HT.
2. Pre-match the Supporters Liaison Officer was promoting a new food option which sounded interesting. Someone I know wanted to try them but pre-match there were not any in the Colin Farmer because they had all been damaged/burnt and at half time when they tried again there just weren’t any ready for sale.

These are basic things and make the club look either like they don’t care or are incompetent.

RegencyCheltenhamSpa wrote:

Robin wrote:

Anteros wrote:Met tom today. Really good first impressions. Very professional. I think he will do really well

Please ask him to sort out the ticketing (long queues) and catering

Two catering observations today:
1. Reports that cold soft drinks ran out before half time behind the C&G, with people finding out after queuing up at HT.
2. Pre-match the Supporters Liaison Officer was promoting a new food option which sounded interesting. Someone I know wanted to try them but pre-match there were not any in the Colin Farmer because they had all been damaged/burnt and at half time when they tried again there just weren’t any ready for sale.

These are basic things and make the club look either like they don’t care or are incompetent.

Soft drinks are in short supply everywhere currently including supermarkets. Might be they couldn’t get stock.

ctfc-fan wrote:Soft drinks are in short supply everywhere currently including supermarkets. Might be they couldn’t get stock.

Given that the caterers employ one person behind the PRE whose sole job is opening cans of warm beer and pouring them into plastic cups, I think I'd go for the crippling incompetence option.

Robin wrote:

Anteros wrote:Met tom today. Really good first impressions. Very professional. I think he will do really well

Please ask him to sort out the ticketing (long queues) and catering

Ticket situation needs some more attention. One queue to collect pre-bought and buy a ticket? That just doesn't work. The queue was extensive and two supporters from a club with no game yesterday were understandably unimpressed when it came to collecting their tickets. So next time, separate queues to collect and buy. Or have walk up tickets available to buy only at the ticket office.

Why can we not have digital tickets like Crewe? Can the 500 club fund something like this potentially?

Here's a line. Let's let this sit for a bit to give somebody a chance... I now want to see this subject / link off my screen. (But some some of us still carry pounds...)

Tom Adams now gone? Didn’t last long either.

Who’s next? It seems to be a poisoned chalice this Commercial role…

Broadway Brian wrote: ↑10 Jan 2022, 21:15 Tom Adams now gone? Didn’t last long either.

Who’s next? It seems to be a poisoned chalice this Commercial role…

It’s a bit of an impossible role. Being tasked to sew a silk purse from a sow’s ear, but being told there isn’t any money for a needle or thread.

Just bin the role till there are funds available (its not like the club have ever taken it seriously anyway). Either the club are lying to candidates that funds are available or there's an issue with the working environment at admin level, two heads of commercial gone in 6-7 months suggests an issue.

What’s Finners up to these days?

Blast from the recent past this evening as Hobin popped up on BBC Look North on a piece about Hartlepool raising money to donate stuff to Ukraine.

A new head of commercial has been in place for a few months now apparently.
Richard Harris, previously at the Professional Cricketers Association in a commercial role.
Good luck Richard.