Cue Cruncher's lapdog in ankle biting mode.........

I took the trouble to look into the company who used to be known as Saf Housing Ltd. I now know what they do as a business, know that while they are incorporated in Wigan they are run out of a small managed office in Congleton. There are four members of senior staff including the original two directors. They only appointed a financial director on 27th Feb 2013 as they "prepared to deliver their fist set of fund"s (but there is no news confirming they have delivered any yet).

What they do or will do which is run something called a REIT (you can Google what one of those is) requires them by law to be stock exchange listed. Their web site says they are going to be listed on the LSE AIM index but if you search it there is no company listed under either their new or old trading name.

From all this delving they look to me a small company setting out to offer a REIT form of investment.

Big sponsors based on that? Highly unlikely IMO. Maybe the one director from Wigan, Ann Fairhurst, is a fan or something but they are a very strange choice of sponsor IMO. and I just can't see them offering up a large wadge of cash.

...interesting. I'm not adverse to local (aka small) companies or charities joining up, but there has to be a degree of quid pro quo & I'm not sure IL or HfH are being as open as they could be here (notwithstanding I don't expect IL's business dealings to be laid out bare for every decision surrounding the club).

However, the deal is with the HfH FOUNDATION, not the limited company. The Foundation has only been in existence since the 19th of November, they've not filed any accounts & don't appear to have any reported assets. The press release states . Personally, I'd like more detail. Still "glass half full", I just hope nobody's elbow knocks it over.

Great post.

Bingo!

I thought it was with the HfH foundation but that is just mentioned as their charitable arm on their web site with the contact being the Janet Fairhurst I mentioned. That being so I can't see a charity giving Wigan RL any cash.

I have no problem with the club associating itself with any organisation or company that is into stuff like social housing but having the main shirt sponsor as a charity? Can the club afford to be that generous?

It is also worth noting that REIT's are there to make money for the investors, make no mistake about that. It will be some time before the companies social credentials can be judged by their actions because as far as I can tell they haven't funded any builds yet. Any search for news on that draws a blank. If anyone can show me otherwise then great.

You are right in what you say in that as a club we have what defines a club as successful, trophies in the cabinet etc. What IL has to do is maintain that success and so if the club had won League, Cup and SL ever since he'd been here sponsors such as these should , IMO, still raise eyebrows. It's like selling various players. So far it hasn't cost us but 2014 is another season and you are only as good as your last game. Ours was pretty damn good but you have always got to look forward not back. That is IL's job more then anything and so there is no contradiction in applauding him for the achievements while at the same time questioning being sponsored by a charity.

IF Wigan are now at a point where we can afford to have a charity as a sponsor (and therefore recieve no income from it ala Barcelona with Unicef) then that is further proof of how well the club is being run and that should be applauded

How is this proof of being in that position? seriously. I completely get the point of setting a price of a product and not selling it for any less so you don't diminish the value of it but i find it hard to believe they couldn't find a good sponsor.

Agree entirely, but [point of order they aren't a charity. The Houses for Homes foundation is an offshoot of the HfH limited company that looks like it was specifically set up for this link-up with the club. As such I'm suspicious, but I'm willing to give them & IL the benefit of the doubt for the moment.
If this foundation is wound up at the end of the sponsor period then there will be plenty of stinking rats to be counted (they don't have to file accounts until next December so could get away with a lot of dodgy stuff).

The plot thickens.

There are reasons that "people" (though perhaps not if you are female or gay) live "fantastic" life styles in Dubai. Try to justify your life choice if you like but the "fantastic life styles" are lived at a cost to your fellow man. I said on this thread that I wouldn't wear a shirt with Emirates emblazoned on it and I stand by that. Any company that refuses to acknowledge workers basic rights is not one that I would identify with (I included the likes of Amazon in my argument). The idea that companies like Emirates are improving the lives of thousands of immigrants that would otherwise starve and using that fact to justify exploitation is frankly shameful.

As for Anjem Choudary. Well, basic human rights belong to all humans - even ones that we disagree with.

Is your soap box sponsored by Imperial Leather or Daz?

Neither - I don't seek sponsorship. If I did it would probably be an organisation that recognised a trade union.

What is it you object to by the way? Someone posting views on a forum or is it the views themselves. Either way - let's have your view - instead of posting smart quips.

I suggest you stop commenting on a country you know nothing about. Women are treated fantastically and they are always put before men. As far as Gay's in Dubai there is plenty here and the ones i know never complain of being discriminated against.
Also those workers you are talking about would be back home in their 3rd world countries starving and living on the streets, NHS, Housing, education and Benefits are not a giving outside the UK believe it or not. But i will agree the housing/ labour camps are disgraceful but ask a laborer would they rather be back in India they would say no (I have by the way).

UAE has come a long way in Labour worker rights compared the rest of the G.C.C. but if they wasn't payed less they wouldn't be employed as generally they have no education.

The UAE isn't the worst offender in the region by a long chalk, but there are consistent voices lending credence to the thought that their acquisition of City (for example) is nothing short of an attempt at laundering their image & taking attention away from myriad abuses ([urlhttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/jul/30/manchester-city-human-rights-accusations[/url).

Amnesty, Human Rights Watch, the US Government, the UN, even bodies with strong links to or operating in the UAE itself ([urlhttp://www.echr.org.uk/[/url, [urlhttp://gc4hr.org/news/index/country/2[/url) highlight umpteen abuses of process, torture, imprisonment, discrimination & mendacious prosecutions (the Norwegan woman prosecuted (and sent to jail) for [ibeing [/iraped is jaw-dropping in what it says about the whole attitude prevalent in the country).

To use the excuse that the Indian workers are only there because they need the money and the conditions they have to endure are better than they'd have at home is pathetic in the extreme. There is absolutely no rationale that allows one human to treat another as chattel and then demand that they're allowed to beat & work them 'til they drop.

(rant done)

The first paragrapher i have already said my opinions on the exact same topic on previous pages, Basically people are guests in the UAE and if they don't like the conditions they can always leave and they wont allow civil unrest unlike the rest of the GCC and majority of people living here feel the same. EDIT: just read the emirates of human rights report: funny how they managed to get the information all the way to London from a Dubai prison but i wouldn't be surprised if its accurate to be honest because the majority are drug dealers and like i said they will always get beaten till they confess everything.

there is plenty of stories out there in the tabloids which resemble nothing close to the truth, I think i remember that story from about 2 years ago? Wasn't she the one caught in the toilets in a hotel where she was having sex with a client? pretty sure its her.

I suggest you stop wearing high street clothing, using banks, energy companies, stop filling up your car with petrol and mobile phone service providers as they all exploit cheap labour in 3rd world countries. Like i said they get health care, get taught a skill, make money not a lot admittedly, provide for their families back home and get accommodation generally not up what we called a good enough standard but compared to slums around the world its good.

So exploiting desperate people to make disproportionate profits is cool?

one they don't make Disproportionate profits the major property developers here are Emaar and Nakheal and they both ran up huge debts. Do they get paid as much as western expats no of course they don't If you was going to pay laboures big wages the workers from India, pakistan and Bangladesh would still be in their countries as you would hire people with an education. people should spend some time in the slums in Sri Lanka, India, Philippines and other 3rd world countries and then say what is a better life style? there is a reason that workers Que for up to 3 days in india when a recruitment drive is happening for the UAE.

How the hell has this thread ended up being an episode of question time.

moral ethics of an organizations that so happen to be the biggest sponsors in the world.

But they're not sponsoring us so move on or take it to the sinbin with all the other dullards

I did

Who have nothing whatsoever to do with Wigan

i never said they did, somebody said they wouldn't want emirates as sponsor because of a nonsense reason.