Bromley born business man with a number of interests including CEO of Apogee Corporation Ltd – the UK’s largest independent Europe-wide managed service provider for print and previous founder and CEO of Balreed Digitec Group.
Below can be found an interview with Robin Stanton-Gleaves from July 2017…
Robin, for supporters who aren’t aware would you share with us your professional background and how you became involved with Bromley FC?
“Following a successful career in sales I took the decision in 2004 to stop working for someone else and to start my own business. The business was called Balreed Digitec and after 11 years of running it with 8 offices UK wide and 250 staff I sold to Apogee Corporation who I am the Joint CEO of today.”
“My involvement with Bromley FC came about through a chance meeting with Mark Goldberg in 2015 and an introduction to Jerry. Later that year I invested some funds into the club and started to attend games and get to know people in and around the club.”
How did you become a Director of Bromley Football Club?
“As I spent more time in and around the club I began to get the ‘Bromley FC bug’. My initial investment was due to my emotional attachment to Bromley having gone to school across the road from the club. As a legacy Millwall fan I was not allowed to attend their games as a 12 year old and so on Saturday afternoons I found myself watching Bromley FC. I later learnt that one of my school friends who I attended games with is still attending each week these many years later; Patrick Smith.”
“As my tenure grew it became evident that some of my business acumen and years of experience could be utilised within the club and together with Jerry Dolke and Jon Plassard we formed a new board of Bromley FC to help drive the club forward both on the pitch and behind the scenes.”
Yourself and the Board announced the club’s main objectives back in February 2016, how do you think the club is progressing with its targets almost 18 months on?
“I share an ambition with both Jerry and Jon that with the right mix of development, growth and financial decisions we can get the club into a position where it can stand on its own two feet. I do believe supporters should be aware that without regular monthly financial donations the club cannot operate in a solvent manner, and this must change. The three of us believe this is possible and have a plan to get to this position. The introduction of the new 3G pitch and planning permission of the new stand are just our first steps. With this plan we can then take our ambition on to the pitch full speed and make a genuine attempt to get into the football league. This is where I believe Bromley FC can be and I have a personal objective to be part of the team to achieve this. Bromley FC and the town of Bromley deserve this and I believe can sustain this.”
As progress continues how do you and the board judge the success of your combined influence at the club?
“As Jon mentioned in his interview (click here>) we are very clear about our objectives and we want the club to deliver success on the pitch in a sustainable manner. We have a lot of work ahead of us but as I said before with the right mix of development, growth and financial decisions we can get the club into a position where it can stand on its own two feet and challenge for the football league.”
Thank you for your time Robin. To finish, do you have a message for our fellow supporters?
“I believe the rebirth of the Academy last year, and the growth of it this year is part of the firm foundations of the future of the club. This profiles our club to the younger generation as well as helping us to develop our own talent. We must widen the appeal of the Club and our Academy to help attract more players and supporters at this influential age.”
“With the Academy being based at Hayes Lane and the development of office space under the new stand, the plan is to create a “community hub” at Hayes Lane and this will allow other daytime activities to evolve, which in turn helps us open the doors of our club to many more people who can come and support us on match days.”
“From the supporters feedback it became apparent that the match day experience needs to be looked at and again with the right focus and work around this we will be able to accommodate more of our supporters needs.”
“The secret is to grow our fan base and match day attendances collectively, and we all need to play our part in this, but the club need to create the vehicle for this both on and off the pitch.”
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