2025 Annual-report

MINUTES OF THE 2025 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 57 Hosting such fixtures with equitable provision for men’s and women’s teams, and meeting ever-evolving criteria for staging international cricket, required us to continually upgrade our facilities. As members gathered for the 2025 AGM at Trent Bridge, the Chief Executive was pleased that many had had a first opportunity to see the changing shape of our Pavilion. Those familiar steps between the Dixon Gate and the Long Room no longer existed as the club commenced this extensive project. A revitalised design would blend the historic façade with modern facilities and much-needed new spaces that would revitalise the building for our members, players, support staff and match officials. This project marked the realisation of a long-held ambition to provide leading facilities, while respecting the proud history of a building which meant so much to everyone connected with our club. Yet it was also about so much more than that. Delivering this project was our number one strategic priority. Competition to stage the most prestigious international fixtures remained intense and it was essential that we continued to host men’s Test cricket, a fact underlined by our financial outturn in 2024. Our surplus of £488,000 was driven in no small part by the successful staging of the England vsWest Indies Test Match in July. Bringing this project to fruition would require some hard work, compromise and no doubt more than a little patience, but it would secure our allocation of international matches in the years to come.This included Men’s Ashes Tests in 2027 and 2031, along with a regular supply of women’s internationals. Maintaining investment in the professional and recreational game and funding capital projects that supported growth had become increasingly challenging, and some counties were in financial crisis. It was against this backdrop that the ECB had decided to secure private investment into the eight teams competing inThe Hundred. Members would recall from previous updates that the ECB retained a group of professional advisers to market a 49% stake in all eight teams. Preliminary interest was registered from more than 100 parties that included owners of Indian Premier League teams, sporting groups from across the globe, institutional investors and family offices. Informal venue visits commenced during the 2024 tournament as potential buyers worked to establish their level of interest in the proposition and their feeling towards individual teams. Our reputation as a venue that was welcoming to all, with strong member and spectator support for all formats of the game, had without doubt helped in our endeavours. Winning the ECB Business of Cricket Awards for best men’s international experience and best The Hundred experience for the second year running was also very timely. A first round of bids established which parties were interested in acquiring a stake in teams inThe Hundred, and their indicative valuations.Trent Rockets received multiple bids from a diverse group of investors which had served us well as the sales process unfolded and moved to its conclusion. Our strategic approach to discussions was to present few red lines – apart from non-negotiables such as playing at Trent Bridge and respecting the importance of our men’s and women’s teams equally. We had given due consideration to the merits of the presentations given by each potential investor and met all parties that expressed an interest, some on multiple occasions. Beyond reaching the ECB’s valuation, a key nuance to the bids received was the level of shareholding that each investor would require to conclude a deal.This varied greatly, as did the vision for Trent Rockets and the expertise provided by potential partners. Throughout the process, we had sought to ensure that Nottingham- shire County Cricket club could benefit both in the immediate and long-term by taking a considered approach to the sale of any of the 51% share gifted to us. The club shared the ECB’s ambition for the long-term development of The Hundred. Its shortened format, and the fact that men’s and women’s teams featured on the same match day, made it unique amongst its competitors.The club believed in the competition’s long- term profitability and wished to position our organisation to benefit from that in years to come. Throughout this process, our over- arching principle had been to seek the best partner for Trent Rockets: one which could support our ambition to grow the reach of both teams, but which also understood and respected the heritage and tradition of our club. The club had confirmed in February 2025 that Cain International and Ares Management were to be our partners inTrent Rockets, when ownership of the team transferred to the club later in 2025. At the time of the AGM in 2025, Ms Pursehouse continued, the club was in a period of exclusivity, and there remained much work to be done during this timeframe. All parties involved in this process were working hard in a spirit of collaboration to bring these negotia- tions to a successful conclusion. At that point, Cain and Ares would acquire the ECB’s 49% stake inTrent Rockets, while the club would retain the majority 51% stake for the long-term benefit of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. The sale of the ECB’s 49% stake in teams was designed to secure sufficient interest and investment in all eight teams, and by doing so