HEARTS ACHE
Budge asks staff to take 50-per-cent wage cut amid crisis
HEARTS owner Ann Budge last night asked players and staff to take a 50-per-cent wage cut in a desperate bid to stave off financial meltdown.
Sportsmail understands that the Tynecastle club had been budgeting on a windfall of up to £1million from their now postponed Scottish Cup semi-final against Hibernian next month, as well as remaining home gate receipts.
But with football on lockdown until further notice because of the coronavirus crisis, the club has been denied those vital income streams — forcing Budge to take cost-cutting measures which will send shockwaves throughout the Scottish game.
She said in a statement: ‘In order to try to prevent a staff redundancy programme and to protect as many jobs as possible, I am proposing to implement a club-wide salary reduction programme.
‘We have asked all full-time employees,
managers, coaches, players and player backroom staff, with effect from the beginning of April, to accept a 50-per-cent cut in their monthly salary. No one’s full-time salary will fall below the living wage. ‘In other words, if the 50-percent reduction would take anyone’s salary below this threshold, the full-time salary will be set at £18,135. ‘Given the uncertainty of the whole situation with which we have been presented, we cannot say how long these measures will be in place. ‘We will, of course, be continuously reviewing the situation. Staff and players alike, who feel unable or unwilling to accept this revision to their contracts, will, of course, be offered the option of contract termination.’ Hearts reported staff costs of £8.2million in their annual report for the year up to June 30, 2019, but that was before they splashed out on a host of new signings, including experienced internationals like Conor Washington, Liam Boyce and Steven Naismith, the latter signing a permanent four-year deal following his loan spell from Norwich City for the previous 18 months. After sacking Craig Levein last October, they also forked out compensation to land new boss Daniel Stendel — despite his sacking from Barnsley — and to allow him to assemble his own backroom team. Now the Premiership’s bottom club, who have already threatened to take legal action if the season is ended prematurely and they are relegated on current league positions, have become
the first major Scottish side to admit they are in trouble. Budge, who helped save Hearts from the threat of insolvency when they were placed in administration in 2013, admitted the club were in a dire situation because of ‘unprecedented and challenging times’. Her statement continued: ‘As you will appreciate my priority is the health and well-being of our people and, as chairman and CEO of the club, I must also do everything in my power to ensure that we keep our club safe and financially sound. The Scottish FA has now suspended football for the foreseeable future and, whilst there is no specified end date to this, it is most likely that the game will not resume until July/early August at the earliest. ‘In addition, the latest government measures regarding social distancing and restrictions on large gatherings mean that the impacts of this will be felt across our entire business. As such, I need to act swiftly and take steps now to ensure that we, as a club, can weather this storm while trying to ensure we are ready to resume operations as and when we move into calmer waters and football restarts. ‘I cannot stress strongly enough that we need everyone to get behind the club to help us through this.’ Budge added: ‘If I was not absolutely convinced that this is necessary for the future sustainability of our business, I would not be asking our employees to face these cuts. ‘Never has it been more important to stand together.’