G-A-Y statement

G-A-Y Announcement
 
"Before I say what I'm going to say, I've made a conscious decision not to thank anyone individually, for one reason only, because I'm aware that I have a lot of people to thank and the worst thing I can do is miss anyone out.
 
A little bit of history before my announcement, because it will all make more sense when you know how G-A-Y has evolved, This is G-A-Y's 20th year. G-A-Y started as a radio programme that I presented & then a club night & then the bar, & so on to what it is today. When I decided to expand G-A-Y from club nights at The Astoria to opening a bar, I took on Mean Fiddler as a business partner & when Mean Fiddler was bought out by Live Nation, I expanded G-A-Y to open G-A-Y Late, then Mama bought Mean Fiddler & with them & with the Astoria being knocked down for Crossrail we decided to buy Heaven, combining 2 of the biggest gay brands & finally HMV bought Mama & with them, we opened G-A-Y Manchester, so without those 4 companies, G-A-Y wouldnt be where it is today & I thank them for their business support.

For the last 11 months I've known that HMV had made a strategic decision to sell certain businesses which included the sale of their shares in G-A-Y. As the other shareholder in G-A-Y, I always had first rights to buy them & I had to make a decision to either go it alone or go with a new partner, but I've always preferred a partner, having that security, so I decided to go with someone who was a friend & I trusted & together I think we would have made an amazing team, but unfortunately spanners were thrown in the works, creating delays & with increasing legal fees, there seemed to be no light at the end of the tunnel, so no fault of my partner, the deal fell through, leaving me no option but to go it alone. However going it alone & borrowing in the current climate, left me few options, and the opportunity to buy a good profit making company was going to be let go under because banks are putting such restraints on loans that its near impossible for businesses to expand.

However, as luck would have it, a friend suggested a new bank & after looking at G-A-Y accounts, they gave a yes to lending me personally Millions, & I do mean millions, so thanks to Metro Bank, I was given the chance to take the biggest risk of my life & give G-A-Y a new future.
 
My life has been on hold for 11 months, and in the last month I have been pulled in all directions and things became very complicated once HMV went into administration. In order to keep the business going, I had to take money from my personal account to make sure G-A-Y was open last weekend. In fact I was very close to walking away & calling it a day, I had been pushed to a point where I felt I couldnt continue & wasnt allowed to tell anyone, I had to pretend everything was normal, but it wasn't.
 
With all this going on, in a time of recession & so many companies going into administration, was this the right time to take biggest risk of my life, borrow millions of pounds, put my home & company up as a guarantee, well on Tuesday I signed my life away, I've taken my biggest risk, going it alone, no more business partners, just me, if this goes wrong, I lose everything, but risks are there to be taken, I have a responsibility to the 200 people that G-A-Y employs, I have a responsibility to the customers who have been loyal to G-A-Y & I have a responsibility to all those people who believe in me & have backed me.
 
So the announcement is that I have completed the deal in buying HMV's shares in G-A-Y & with the shares I already own, G-A-Y is 100 per cent owned by me, thats the brand, the bars & Heaven & with the team who work at G-A-Y, this is the beginning of a brand new era for G-A-Y.
 
What the future holds I dont know, we have a huge loan to pay back, but I will say, my goal is that once the loans are paid back, G-A-Y will do more for our community, at this stage not sure how, but the brand will hopefully grow & become more than just a business but a gay brand that gives back & helps each new generation of lesbians & gay men with challenges that they face like G-A-Y has had to over the last 20 years to be where it is today"
 
Thank you
Jeremy Joseph

Published: 24-Jan-2013: (1724)