Guildford Heat appoint new chairman

http://guildfordheat.com/report-detail.asp?id=332

Guildford Heat Basketball Club are delighted to announce the
appointment of its new chairman, Bobby Banks. Mr. Banks, 42, is an
American financier who has lived in London for the past 7 years. He is
currently the founder and Managing Partner of Onda Capital Partners, a
London-based FSA regulated financial services boutique. Mr. Banks was
previously a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs where he spent 9 ½
years in both the New York and London offices. Mr. Banks left Goldman
in May of 2000 and joined JP Morgan Chase in London as Head of the
Telecom and Media investment banking business in Europe, the Middle
East and Africa ("EMEA"). He subsequently was head of Equity Capital
markets for EMEA for JP Morgan Chase. Mr. Banks is a passionate
basketball fan and former US collegiate player.


Mr Banks was introduced to the Heat some eight months ago, followed
their results steadily and attended several games with his two young
sons before being invited to make an investment and get involved
within the club. In his first comments on behalf of the club, Mr Banks
had this say, "Growing up in the US, I have played and enjoyed
basketball my whole life. For me, the Heat represents a unique
opportunity to combine my passion for the game with helping to guide
the premier team in British professional basketball. Seeing my two
boys react so enthusiastically to a game they don't really know,
experiencing the incredible atmosphere generated by the Heat's fans at
Guildford Spectrum and watching the team's passion and success on the
floor was just too much to resist. I truly believe that basketball has
a tremendous opportunity in this country. It will be hard but seeing
the reaction to the sport and the team by the fans is a real
indication of the opportunity. Our goal with the Heat is to
consistently have the premier team in British basketball, on and off
the court, to develop the team to be competitive in Europe and to have
more than one Heat player representing Great Britain on the 2012
Olympic Team. We will only be successful with the continued support of
our great fan base. I am looking forward to spending time and getting
to know as many of the fans as I can."


Commenting on behalf the club, Commercial Director Andrew Bird had
this to say, "We are delighted to welcome Bobby Banks as a shareholder
and Chairman. We have spent 2 years developing what we believe to be a
sustainable business model for a community-based professional
basketball club and we are under no illusions that this can only
continue if we can attract major investors who share our goals and our
passion for the sport. Bobby brings a wealth of business experience
from the worlds of sport & entertainment that we believe will help
strengthen our foundations and allow us to expand our efforts both on
the court and off. Bobby clearly recognises that the team that plays
on the court in front of 1,000 noisy fans is the pinnacle of a
triangle that has an extremely broad base, starting in our regional
schools and junior development programmes. We need to feed the base
and raise standards across the board to guarantee that the basketball
legacy we have created in this part of South East England will be
there for future generations to enjoy."


Head Coach Paul James: "As head coach and a former player I am truly
excited about the opportunity to be working alongside a man who has
had the benefit of playing the game at a high level himself, which he
did in the Ivy League at Dartmouth, a Division 1 NCAA programme. Add
to that his truly charming character and tremendous experience
garnered while working on Wall Street and in the City makes this a
real chance for the club to take major steps forwards. These are
exciting times for the club."


Mr Banks now has a substantial minority interest in the club with the
rest of the shares owned by over 100 fans and the other members of the
Board of Directors.