Chris Heck - President of Business Operations

[Troglodyte]

7 minutes ago, Colin79 said:

should we end up struggling again

Thing is though, Heck would likely be long gone by that point. 

And he'd be in his new job off the back of all the revenues that he* increased at Villa. 

 

*In reality, Unai Emery

[Andy_10]

59 minutes ago, CVByrne said:

But what you attribute to Heck really is The Club. The Owners. Yes Heck has put his ideas to NSWE, he has to as he was hired by them and NS has to sign off on big decisions as he is Executive Chairman. The point people miss is the owners went out to hire a high calibre person with a proven track record specifically to do this. If it wasn't Heck it would be somebody else. 

Our owners have other clubs in the League as examples. They will have specifically targeted Villa Park and match day revenue as a key performance metric for Heck. 

I do understand the ire with rising prices for tickets (it was the costs of Sky Sports and BT before that) but that is a football wide and Premier League wide issue. 

At the end of the day. NSWE have specifically identified our underperforming commercial side both match day and sponsorship. They has specifically head hunted an experienced hire with the remit to resolve this. 

They are behind the wheel on this. 100% Heck is a hired gun. 

I don't doubt that Heck is a hired gun. He's just turned out to be one of those old time blunderbuss ones.

These ideas come from Heck. And the poor communication, & at times, the insulting lies come direct from Hecks mouth (or his Twitter account).

The owners have nothing to do with that.

And he has to have the autonomy to be able to do his job, along with the responsibility for his actions. So no, I don't agree that every decision is signed off by the clubs owners. There has to be autonomy & delegation. Otherwise a business like Villa just couldn't function. Especially when we are owned by people who also own many other businesses. Big decisions, like the North Stand cancellation would be signed off by the owners, because that was a lot of their money to be spending. And the owners take responsibility for that.

But Hecks communication, or lack thereof, is all on him.

At some point, people hired by a company have to take responsibility for the things they do.

 

[Mic09]

1 hour ago, Tomaszk said:

If Heck can crack on and arrange some sponsors who will give us tens of multiples of that we can keep the fanbase on side. Win-win.

I'm happy to critique his work on that front. It seems like we are moving forward (Betano, Adidas etc) but more work needs doing.

It's not one or another though; Heck needs all the pieces of the puzzle.

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

11 minutes ago, Colin79 said:

As has been pointed out, we don’t have a sponsor on our training kit, for our women’s team, and many other areas that most clubs receive revenue from. Should a President of Business Operations and self proclaimed marketing expert not be looking at those things before hammering the fans? 

What makes you think these things aren't in process?

Do we just accept ANY deal offered to us, for the next inevitable criticism to be something like Everton got a better Pukka Pie deal than us?

Just like transfers, I feel some people think these things are just like walking into the supermarket and choosing what you want.

Again, it's crap, but I don't think the options are necessarily this OR that.

I think it will be fan money PLUS all the other avenues for the time being to maximise earnings... 

Hopefully this levels off in time.

 

Edited September 11 by JAMAICAN-VILLAN

[CVByrne]

18 hours ago, BOF said:

Yep. Ultimately it's the owners. You can't hire someone with Heck's track record and expect him to behave in any other way than he has. And they won't have wanted him to. He's doing exactly what they want from him. Maximise our revenue in every possible way. He's doing the job he was hired to do in the way they knew he would do it.

Any problem people have is with the remit that he was given by those above.

So for me it's on them, but then again they only HAVE that remit because of FFP/PSR. So Heck is their necessary evil.

I'm not actually pissed off with him at all now. Quite philosophical about it actually. If you hire a scorpion, you can't blame the scorpion.

I think you're fully correct here. The club have said it repeatedly. If they were allowed to invest they would be investing. The rules have now tightened in the SCR era we will now now restricted to spending 70% of our revenue on our squad. Where under PSR we could spend more than our revenue and run losses of up to 35m per season or 105 over 3 seasons if owners covered the losses directly. 

So what is happening between PSR and SCR is the owners are further restricted in investing to cover club losses. We are now only tied directly to our income each season. So if the money comes from ticket sale it's allowed to be used in SCR if it comes from the owners it is not allowed to be used for SCR. These rules are absurd and everyone bar the elite clubs know that.

Heck is a tool and effective proven tool the owners went our and head hunted. Grow revenue or sell our best players that's the situation we face in the tightening framework of SCR. What's also overlooked is the club also hired an expert accountant to plot our way through the PSR/SCR I don't know his name but he was referenced on one of the podcasts I listen to. 

We have seen the club using the media to soften the ground on difficult summer of player sales, now on ticket prices etc.. explaining via. NS, Heck, Emery, Monchi etc.. how PSR/SCR is constraining the club and stopping our owners investing. 

[nick76]

31 minutes ago, CVByrne said:

Heck is a tool

Wow that’s harsh

[CVByrne]

19 hours ago, TRO said:

Unless, Heck is clearing out his desk as we speak, I can only come to the early conclusion other folk in the hierarchy, are in support of him.....If not, the truth will be revealed.

I'd be fairly sure the following events took place. 

1) Heck is head hunted to grow the clubs commercial revenue and build a brand with a focus on lucrative US market 

2) Heck does a review after he joins and appointed his own people. He's been hired because the commercial department is very local focused and underperforming rivals.

3) He and his team create a business plan. This is about, Local, National and International. In it covers decisions on Crest, Villa Park including North Stand and premium seating, Ticket prices, Sponsorship, Kit and Front of Shirt, sleeve and ancillary (our beer partners our JD sports etc..).

This plan includes projections for revenue growth in different scenarios based on European Competitions 

4) This business plan is Pitched to NSWE. They approve all the key points or if there was options presented and a preferred option they approve it (there may be items we've never heard of that they didn't approve). 

5) The plan is put into action, Heck does first public speaking to AVFC TV etc. and we are seeing all of that now. 

This is how large professionals companies do business. Especially when they head hunt a person for a specific role. 

[rodders0223]

1 hour ago, CVByrne said:

I'd be fairly sure the following events took place. 

1) Heck is head hunted to grow the clubs commercial revenue and build a brand with a focus on lucrative US market 

2) Heck does a review after he joins and appointed his own people. He's been hired because the commercial department is very local focused and underperforming rivals.

3) He and his team create a business plan. This is about, Local, National and International. In it covers decisions on Crest, Villa Park including North Stand and premium seating, Ticket prices, Sponsorship, Kit and Front of Shirt, sleeve and ancillary (our beer partners our JD sports etc..).

This plan includes projections for revenue growth in different scenarios based on European Competitions 

4) This business plan is Pitched to NSWE. They approve all the key points or if there was options presented and a preferred option they approve it (there may be items we've never heard of that they didn't approve). 

5) The plan is put into action, Heck does first public speaking to AVFC TV etc. and we are seeing all of that now. 

This is how large professionals companies do business. Especially when they head hunt a person for a specific role. 

 

6) He called everyone sock cookers and pissed on their shoes.

[TRO]

23 hours ago, Andy_10 said:

Im not sure that is completely fair. My issues with Heck have to do with things that Heck has done. As do the positive things I have to say about him.

Granted, the owners sign off on the majority of this stuff, & some of us have acknowledged that, but at the same time, it has to be Heck selling the ideas to them to be able to make money for the club, as that is literally his job. He has to have some autonomy, as well as responsibility.

If he doesn't, then why is he at the club? And why are we paying him when it's all the owners doing the work?

His wages could go to PSR, as after all, according to some, every penny helps.

I don't particularly agree that every penny or pound helps, as goodwill & clever marketing are far more valuable to looking after the core customer base, even if it shaves a mil or two off the bottom line, because it can pay dividends further down the line.

It's part of branding 101 by understanding & looking after your core customer base first & foremost, BEFORE the ambitious task of targeting a global fanbase.

Something that I feel Heck has been wilfully ignorant to. If it's not wilful ignorance, then it's incompetence. Im not sure which scares me the most. 

you seem to be assuming, they are reluctant partners in his idea's as opposed to letting him get on with it.

For my part.....I am unsure on either.....only time will tell.

[TRO]

19 hours ago, Andy_10 said:

Any product "brand loyalty" is purely down the reliability & trust of a product when it comes to selling something like a hoover. It's simple logic, if it works well, then it's worth a purchase. Vehicle brand loyalty is 50/50. Some people do have a favourite vehicle for reasons from reliability, cost efficiency & aesthetics. I think Tesla currently have the highest brand loyalty & thats probably because they are reliable, energy efficient & aesthetically pleasing.

But it's nothing like football, because the emotive tribal nature of a football fan will create loyalty within the majority of the fanbase as soon as the individual is brought to the club by their dad (or whoever). And that core customer base SHOULD be seen as indispensable by the club because if there is no success to sell, you then have to rely on that core customer base to keep the lights on, as lack of success will also depreciate the value of sponsors & investors that a club can attract.

Which is why it's branding 101 that you keep your core customer base happy before anybody else.

And if someone like Heck has come in, riding the crest of the relative success from Emery & the players, & like a bull in a China shop, instantly misunderstood, discounted & alienated a lot of the core customer base by shooting for the moon with overly ambitious targeting of a global fanbase that isn't currently there despite the recent relative successes, then any short term positives the club have gained from his actions that hurt the core customer base, 'COULD' be lost when we inevitably have a downturn on the footballing side.

How you see yourself & your value to the club is your right & I respect that. But Im not talking about you as an individual. Im talking about fans as a customer base from a branding perspective. Because that is part of Hecks remit.

I don't agree with you about just accepting the badge as part of the clubs business. The crest is the business of any fan who takes interest in it. And from a brand/marketing perspective, it's the first impression for businesses for our whole brand. It's far more important than some fans probably realise. It's also seen by the FA as part of the clubs heritage to be protected, which is why they created rules about changing it without taking fans opinions into consideration. Mostly due to what Vincent Tan did at Cardiff City. So it's not just me who sees it as something quite important to the fans. I am also a qualified graphic designer with a couple decades under my belt who has worked with Nike, adidas, Puma, etc. So from a career perspective it interests me too. What I saw with the way Heck dealt with the crest was an absolute debacle. I have explained a few pages back a small part of my issues with how he went about it, but I could go even deeper if pressed. But that was his introduction to the fans. Using a sledgehammer to an element of the club that was part fan led & such an important element of a club that there are rules about changing it.

I like to keep my toes dipped in the water of most of the clubs business. The good will obviously keep me happy & the bad not. I think I have been fair & balanced with the owners & Heck with both my praise & criticism. I always say that not everything has to be all lollipop trees & candy-floss grass & not everything has to all doom & gloom, because there are always grey areas. Its difficult to know where the truth lays with Heck though because of some of the, for want of a better word, 'distrustful' things he has said about certain things he has done.

And I have often said that if he was just honest about things, even the negative stuff, then most Villa fans will accept being treated like an adult & being given an adult explanation. I think we have proven that when the owners came out & explained the PSR reasons for selling Douglas Luiz & Diaby, we were all pretty on board with the way the club handled themselves navigating the PSR issue.

I understand and appreciate your opinion, but there are swathes of it, I simply disagree with.....we can agree to disagree.

I think you are trying to promote the notion, that many principles of business does not apply to football, and there can be a case for that, in context, but in doing so you fail to recognise there are still many facets of business that still do apply to football. Keeping customers/fans happy is important as you say, but its a trade off too.....The business of Football is not a charity, even if we don't expect it to be a grift either. I think the club is run as well as I can remember, but still issues are bonafide.

I can only talk from my own perspective as I have no right, to assume, I talk from the fanbase, point of view,  as there are too many diverse circumstances that relate to folk.

In contrast to your view. I like to keep myself OUT of the clubs business as much as possible, and just watch the football. In the past, I was very close to club information, from a certain source, and it spoiled the dream for me....There are things that go on, like in any organisation and I find it unhelpful to my overall feel good factor....so being on the outside suits me fine.

I will judge Chris Heck on what he does with Aston Villa, not what he has done elsewhere, or what his character is like.....I don't see that as helpful to me, in my pursuit of enjoyment towards the team.

 

[Andy_10]

33 minutes ago, TRO said:

you seem to be assuming, they are reluctant partners in his idea's as opposed to letting him get on with it.

For my part.....I am unsure on either.....only time will tell.

Not at all.

The fact that I have laid the responsibility of the North Stand decision on their shoulders should dissuade you of that idea.

But I am 100% sure that there will also be decisions that he gets the autonomy to make on his own, because big businesses like Aston Villa have management structures in place so that some decisions & actions can be delegated to the area of the specific managers expertise.

[Andy_10]

16 minutes ago, TRO said:

I understand and appreciate your opinion, but there are swathes of it, I simply disagree with.....we can agree to disagree.

I think you are trying to promote the notion, that many principles of business does not apply to football, and there can be a case for that, in context, but in doing so you fail to recognise there are still many facets of business that still do apply to football. Keeping customers/fans happy is important as you say, but its a trade off too.....The business of Football is not a charity, even if we don't expect it to be a grift either. I think the club is run as well as I can remember, but still issues are bonafide.

I can only talk from my own perspective as I have no right, to assume, I talk from the fanbase, point of view,  as there are too many diverse circumstances that relate to folk.

In contrast to your view. I like to keep myself OUT of the clubs business as much as possible, and just watch the football. In the past, I was very close to club information, from a certain source, and it spoiled the dream for me....There are things that go on, like in any organisation and I find it unhelpful to my overall feel good factor....so being on the outside suits me fine.

I will judge Chris Heck on what he does with Aston Villa, not what he has done elsewhere, or what his character is like.....I don't see that as helpful to me, in my pursuit of enjoyment towards the team.

 

But from a branding perspective, keeping your core customer base happy is first & foremost. Branding 101.

Granted, I applaud the ambition to go after a global fanbase, but not at the expense of the core base. And the expectation that it could happen instantly & by hurting that core customer base is unrealistic. At this point.

And I say "at this point", because it IS something we should be pursuing. But not so aggressively at the moment & not at the expense of the current core customer base.

When I say Im talking about fans as a whole, Im not talking "for the fans". Im specifically talking about a core customer base from a branding perspective. About the expectations that a brand should be aiming towards & the easy mistakes that can be made. Graphic design, branding, corporate design, etc, was all part of my career, so it's something that I know a little about. Im not saying that I know everything, but even the basics have been pushed aside since Heck arrived.

And don't get me wrong, I respect the fact that you like to keep your nose out of club business. We are each to our own. But if that is the case, then why do I see your name pop up so much in a thread specifically about a man in charge of several areas of the club that are not to do with "just the football". Im not trying to be combative, & you have every right to post whatever & wherever you like, but if it doesn't interest you, then it seems odd that you would spend so much time playing devils advocate for a situation that you admit yourself to being on the outside of. Thats not to say that you haven't been helpful moving along the discussion, I am just curious.

As for judging Heck, I will judge him as I do any player or manager that we sign. His background, his experience, his stats, his attitude, & then how he applies all of that to his time at Villa. So far he has been a mixed bag, but his first impression, the crest, was an absolute debacle from start to finish. And the nonsensical & insulting manner in which he attempted to explain it all away makes it difficult to trust not only what he does, but what he says too. As I mentioned previously, trust is difficult to earn, but very easy to lose. And HE lost that trust right out of the gate.

[sne]

He eats peoples pets.

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

2 hours ago, sne said:

He eats peoples pets.

The debate was yesterday Donald.

[rodders0223]

I'm not reading the past few pages , did this shitbag attend the FAB?

[thabucks]

I love the fact that some on here think they speak for the whole of the fan base -average fan / core fan … your opinion is just that and I for one having been a fan since 89 and going to matches since 91 understand and appreciate these shit choices and decisions have to be made for the betterment of our club … but that is my opinion and I don’t speak for anyone but myself - this place is a small microcosm of our fan base and isn’t a barometer given its faceless forum which becomes an echo chamber. 

If NSWE didn’t think Heck wasn’t  doing right nor a good job he’d be moved on and replaced pretty darn quickly or downgraded like Purslow was once he’d reached his ceiling. These guys are ruthless and that for me is enough to know Heck is doing what’s expected. Do I agree with it all - hell no but also know it’s what’s required in this modern rigged game 

[OutByEaster?]

12 minutes ago, thabucks said:

If NSWE didn’t think Heck wasn’t  doing right nor a good job he’d be moved on and replaced pretty darn quickly or downgraded like Purslow was once he’d reached his ceiling. These guys are ruthless and that for me is enough to know Heck is doing what’s expected. Do I agree with it all - hell no but also know it’s what’s required in this modern rigged game 

You've mentioned this before in terms of Mr Purslow being downgraded - he wasn't, he was moved on. The owners then (correctly imo) restructured to ensure that football people were making football decisions (Including on transfers and negotiations) and non-football people were concentrating on business. Bringing in Monchi was a very sensible idea and removing any interference in the football itself from the position they then offered Heck was also sensible - horses for courses and round pegs in round holes - but Mr Purslow wasn't downgraded, the re-structure happened as a part of him being moved on.

I think we can appreciate that the direction of travel is being set by NSWE, but there's certainly scope under that for concerns over the way in which that's being administered and the degree to which they're involved or perhaps even aware of the detail of how it's being carried out, and I think there's definitely an argument to be had over whether it's being done well.

 

[TRO]

On 11/09/2024 at 11:54, BOF said:

Yep. Ultimately it's the owners. You can't hire someone with Heck's track record and expect him to behave in any other way than he has. And they won't have wanted him to. He's doing exactly what they want from him. Maximise our revenue in every possible way. He's doing the job he was hired to do in the way they knew he would do it.

Any problem people have is with the remit that he was given by those above.

So for me it's on them, but then again they only HAVE that remit because of FFP/PSR. So Heck is their necessary evil.

I'm not actually pissed off with him at all now. Quite philosophical about it actually. If you hire a scorpion, you can't blame the scorpion.

A very sensible and mature response imo.

We are all peeved, that we have got to pay more.....but for our own enjoyment sake, we need to consider, the apt points you have made.

I don't want to look for, further controversy, but I don't subscribe to scapegoats, at the best of time....and right now, we need to know more, before that reference could be deemed so.

 

Edited September 12 by TRO

[thabucks]

2 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

You've mentioned this before in terms of Mr Purslow being downgraded - he wasn't, he was moved on. The owners then (correctly imo) restructured to ensure that football people were making football decisions (Including on transfers and negotiations) and non-football people were concentrating on business. Bringing in Monchi was a very sensible idea and removing any interference in the football itself from the position they then offered Heck was also sensible - horses for courses and round pegs in round holes - but Mr Purslow wasn't downgraded, the re-structure happened as a part of him being moved on.

I think we can appreciate that the direction of travel is being set by NSWE, but there's certainly scope under that for concerns over the way in which that's being administered and the degree to which they're involved or perhaps even aware of the detail of how it's being carried out, and I think there's definitely an argument to be had over whether it's being done well.

 

He was offered another post in a reduced role which he didn’t want take up . That role was a downgrade from his role as CEO as NSWE decided rightfully to go down a new route.  The club cut him out of the decision to appoint Emery after the Gerrard debacle driven by Purslow. Heck is here to continue the work Purslow did on the commercial & business side. People are quick to criticise Heck and say his work on securing Adidas is down to the clubs success yet some bring up Purslow’s record deals for Chelsea and plop which was secured on the back of the clubs success if you use that argument against Heck. 

 We have the sporting side doing a magnificent job and Heck has to grow the clubs finances to continue to support that. Every extra million helps that. 

[TRO]

11 hours ago, CVByrne said:

I'd be fairly sure the following events took place. 

1) Heck is head hunted to grow the clubs commercial revenue and build a brand with a focus on lucrative US market 

2) Heck does a review after he joins and appointed his own people. He's been hired because the commercial department is very local focused and underperforming rivals.

3) He and his team create a business plan. This is about, Local, National and International. In it covers decisions on Crest, Villa Park including North Stand and premium seating, Ticket prices, Sponsorship, Kit and Front of Shirt, sleeve and ancillary (our beer partners our JD sports etc..).

This plan includes projections for revenue growth in different scenarios based on European Competitions 

4) This business plan is Pitched to NSWE. They approve all the key points or if there was options presented and a preferred option they approve it (there may be items we've never heard of that they didn't approve). 

5) The plan is put into action, Heck does first public speaking to AVFC TV etc. and we are seeing all of that now. 

This is how large professionals companies do business. Especially when they head hunt a person for a specific role. 

Is this your concoction, based on experience, or do you have some ITK source of how the club is run?

In my experience, companies, vary in how they are management structured, sure many sticking to core principles of tried and tested practices, but emphasis on certain criteria, vary from business to business and Industry to Industry.

Personally, I am uncomfortable in speculation and supposition.

You may well cover, the basis of  the fundamental of many companies.....but the majority of us have no idea, how Villa is run, from the inside, just bits and pieces of what they want us to know...Its hard to judge Chris Heck on that.

 

Edited September 12 by TRO