New Albion board member - Peter Godfrey

[Razi]

Peter Godfrey, from American Express, has been appointed to the Albion board...

Brighton and Hove Albion | News | Latest News | Latest News | New Director on Board

I used to work at Amex, but don't really remember too much about him..

 

[wehatepalace]

To Mr Godfrey : Where were you when we were shit ?

 

[Razi]

A bit about his background...
Express delivery | Europe Western Europe from AllBusiness.com

Godfrey's beginnings were humble enough. He left school at 15 because of straitened finances in his family and went to work for holiday operator Thomas Cook as an office boy. Just four years later he found himself in his first management job as a section leader. At the same time, he went to night school to catch up on his education and get to grips with business studies.

This led, at the age of 20, to a job at British Rail's centre in Watford as an organisation and methods assistant, where he had to take a rather old-fashioned time and motion approach to analysing work.

This was an exciting time, when computers were beginning to appear and Godfrey decided to get into industry. He joined Ready Mixed Concrete, where he was charged with making big improvements in productivity, which he claims to have achieved in just one year. He tells how, as a freshfaced 22-year-old, he was packed off to quarries in mid-- Wales to knock on the boss's door and announce that he had come to find ways of improving productivity. "I certainly learned a thing or two that year," he says with a smile.

The next career stop was banking, when Godfrey joined Williams and Glyn's Bank, now part of Royal Bank of Scotland, and stayed for 14 years. His tasks included installing one of the first videoconferencing systems in the UK to enable people in London and Glasgow to communicate more effectively. He is obviously proud of his achievements at this time, but the disarmingly honest Godfrey admits there was a simpler motive for the move: "They had good football and cricket teams. They saw it as a good way of keeping the staff happy. That's the real reason I joined them."

Then Midland Bank invited Godfrey to join, just as the recession of the early 1980s was beginning to hit the banking sector hard. He took a leading role in several major projects, including the sale of Access to MasterCard, which, he recalls, was "quite good fun".

So to his current role at American Express, one of several major companies that sought his services a couple of years ago. "The brand is powerful," he says. "It's a truly global company. The job has given me the chance to find out what it was like managing people in several different countries. I was lucky to be offered such a fascinating opportunity."

 

[PrestGull]

To Mr Godfrey : Where were you when we were shit ?

One assumes you have a wealth of background on this matter to make such comment?

 

[cardboard]

He is a great guy and will be an asset to the club.

 

[Beach Hut]

Interesting as clearly a statement of a long commercial partnership with Amex.

 

[blockhseagull]

Very interesting appointment, would guess there is more to this than just another seat on the board. Would agree that might signal a long partnership with Amex and possible further investment from them ??

 

[wehatepalace]

One assumes you have a wealth of background on this matter to make such comment?

Well I know that he wasn't on the board of directors when the club went round cap in hand begging the fans for money.
I know he wasn't on the board of directors when we were ground sharing with gillingham.
I know he wasn't on the board of directors when we very nearly went out of the league at Hereford.
So my original statement is valid.

 

[Razi]

Well I know that he wasn't on the board of directors when the club went round cap in hand begging the fans for money.
I know he wasn't on the board of directors when we were ground sharing with gillingham.
I know he wasn't on the board of directors when we very nearly went out of the league at Hereford.
So my original statement is valid.

Well, he only joined Amex in Brighton in 1997, so I imagine he was working for Midland Bank somewhere else in the country when we were shit. Not sure that'd count as a negative against him.

 

[Hercules Rockerfeller]

If he has something to offer, then it can only be good, but why try and make out he is an able fan, despite "following" the team for just 6 years. Please don't insult our intelligence. I think most people know you don't have to be a fan of a club to make it a success.

Otherwise, welcome on board the Gus Bus!

 

[Superphil]

To Mr Godfrey : Where were you when we were shit ?

When we were shit he didn't have a viable interest in being involved with the club.

Now that there is a real benefit to being a board member he has decided to do just that.

What would you prefer, a club in a magnificent new stadium, without the funds, resources or expertise to do any better than yoyo between league 1 and the championship, or do we welcome new blood, new investment, new faces, new expertise and ideas, who will help the club to be better than a 2nd tier also ran?

Where was Tony Bloom when we were shit?, don't remember him bailing out the club when Archer did us over, oh, yes of course, times change, circumstance changes, life moves on.

 

[Return of the Rev]

after 17 years at amex myself! god help us BLUE BOX VALUES

 

[Tricky Dicky]

This does seem a slightly unusual move to me. I don't know, but I don't expect it is a common thing for sponsors to have such an input at the high level of the clubs they back. It would indeed seem to indicate that they arre not just signing a cheque then stepping back, they want a real say in the running of the club - whether that is just to protect the company name or for a long term partnership we shall have to see. Exciting times, methinks.

 

[Uncle C]

If he has something to offer, then it can only be good, but why try and make out he is an able fan, despite "following" the team for just 6 years. Please don't insult our intelligence. I think most people know you don't have to be a fan of a club to make it a success.

But thats probably as long as some of the kids on here!

 

[Razi]

after 17 years at amex myself! god help us BLUE BOX VALUES

I'd forgotten all about them! Gotta love the corporate bullshit.

 

[ali jenkins]

Anyone else concerned that he is on the board for purely business reasons? I know things arent the same as in 97 and I suppose he wont be getting a massive personal finnancial gain but I think we should be curious about this.

Apart from that, good luck to the fella.

 

[wehatepalace]

When we were shit he didn't have a viable interest in being involved with the club.

Now that there is a real benefit to being a board member he has decided to do just that.

What would you prefer, a club in a magnificent new stadium, without the funds, resources or expertise to do any better than yoyo between league 1 and the championship, or do we welcome new blood, new investment, new faces, new expertise and ideas, who will help the club to be better than a 2nd tier also ran?

Where was Tony Bloom when we were shit?, don't remember him bailing out the club when Archer did us over, oh, yes of course, times change, circumstance changes, life moves on.

Listen Phil my original post was made slightly tongue in cheek ( just as i expect we'll sing it to a full house at the Amex)but I then took a slight exception to prestgulls patronising reply.
Of course new investment is good and a link with a worldwide company is even better.

 

[Razi]

I don't think he's coming to the board with millions of pounds to spend - it's more likely to do with his excellent business and finance background. As far as I can work out from some quick Googling, he's still President of Global Network Solutions within American Express, so don't think that he'll be a full-time director with us? Surely just seems to be more of a consultancy thing?

Edit - noticed the Albion press release says "Former" president.... though I can't see any business statements on the web regarding him leaving the company and he seemed to be there in 2009. Anyone at Amex any the wiser?

 

[Return of the Rev]

I'd forgotten all about them! Gotta love the corporate bullshit.

Got sat down in front of my manager who asked "DO YOU BELIEVE IN THE BLUE BOX VALUES" Just before a boll***ing. I replied what are those then! Went down well as the framed blue box values hung on the wall behind him!Tried to threaten to withdraw redundancy payment if they could match my foot print to that on an envelope on the floor

 

[drew]

I should think It First's days are numbered as shirt sponsors!