Jim Gillespie: St Mirren land 'scandal' exec wins top director awards

Questions have been raised about a bid for £2m of public money for the Kibble charity's 'first of its kind' Scottish care centre after leaks confirmed that despite denials an application to the Scottish Government for funding showed that land earmarked was owned by St Mirren, without their permission.

The St Mirren Independent Supporters Association (SMiSA), which owns St Mirren voted in favour of bringing in an independent auditor to look into the legality of the deal following concerns over public money being sought by way of a regeneration grant from the Scottish Government.

Plans submitted with the application indicated that Kibble wanted to build a £13.4 million wellbeing hub next to St Mirren's SMiSA Stadium.

READ MORE: Scots receive £200-a-month mortgage payments rise bombshell

The finance bid to the Scottish Government was made as part of an "innovative partnership" with "St Mirren Football Club’s Charitable Foundation which said it did not know its name was being used.

The Herald previously revealed that St Mirren director Alan Wardrop resigned in a row over a conflict of interest as Kibble which is behind the project is part-owner of the club while there were concerns over a failure to inform about the bid for Scottish Government regeneration funds.

Mr Wardrop accused Kibble club board representatives, Mr Gillespie and Mr Macmillan of failing to disclose to directors, shareholders and fans of the bid to build the centre that the care charity would run on club land in Paisley. It appeared to wrongly have St Mirren's stamp of approval.

Kibble has repeatedly insisted since the row erupted that a map plan of the land put forward to the Scottish Government was not produced by them and that instead, they envisaged the building being placed on one of the many vacant sites in the Ferguslie area of Paisley.

In the ensuing row, an email from Mr Gillespie and shared with candidates standing for election to the board of SMiSA said that the council "wrongly shaded in an area of land owned by St Mirren" and gave a "categoric assurance" that club land would not be used.

READ MORE: Call for action over Scotland's 'salt tooth' public health timebomb

Now it has emerged that Mr Gillespie picked up the 'agility and resilience' director of the year and the regional award for Glasgow and the West during a ceremony hosted by the Scots journalist, broadcaster and presenter Stephen Jardine at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC).

The centre location map submitted to the Scottish Government for public funding (left) and (right) the title plan of St Mirren Park outlined in red

It marked the second time in two years that Mr Gillespie received the regional award for Glasgow and the West.

The awards were established to "celebrate leadership talent, success and achievement across all industry sectors: public, private and voluntary".

According to the IoD, the agility and resilience award recognises those who "demonstrated determination, resilience and good leadership throughout the pandemic and tackled challenges head-on – who went ‘above and beyond’ since 2020".

It goes on: "Examples may include transforming your own operation or adapting your offering for new or existing customers, thus allowing your and/ or their business to survive and be ready to face and take advantage of future trends."

The row over Kibble's £13.4m project spilled into last month's annual general meeting of SMiSA which is the majority owner of the club and has called for an investigation.

Alan Wardrop with Johnny Cochrane's Scottish Cup Medal

An official record of the meeting states that SMiSA board member Alex Dillon asked those at the AGM if bringing in an independent auditor to investigate the situation was something they would want. Around 75% backed it.

While the meeting was attended by the SMiSA representatives on the St Mirren board, including St Mirren chairman, John Needham, neither of the two Kibble representatives, Jim Gillespie and Mark Macmillan were there.

Mr Wardrop questioned the legality of the bid for public funds while concerns surface over the charity abusing its relationship with the Scottish Premiership club.

Mr Wardrop accused Kibble club board representatives, Mr Gillespie and Mr Macmillan of failing to disclose to directors, shareholders and fans of the bid to build the centre that the care charity would run on club land in Paisley. It appeared to wrongly have St Mirren's stamp of approval.

An email from the SMiSA board to members said they will now approach club directors and Mr Wardrop for their version of events and look for "supporting documented evidenced before deciding the next course of action".

As the dispute emerged, Kibble said Mr Wardrop's allegations were based on the "entirely false premise that there was ever any intention to build on land owned by St Mirren".
The spokesman for the charity went on: "There simply was not."

The Herald on Sunday revealed that the council does not agree that areas of land indicated on a submitted map associated with the public money bid were produced in error and say the area earmarked in the application to Scottish Government was pinpointed by Kibble.

St Mirren's board insisted that the application was "unspecific" as to the precise location and that it was "not on land owned by St Mirren."

But leaked emails from council managers have told a different story - with a diagram submitted to the Scottish Government for public funding showing that land proposed to be built on was, in fact, on St Mirren land.

Kibble, which provides care, education and support to children and young people who have experienced significant trauma in their lives, said after Mr Gillespie received the award that the charity had had to change every facet of its operations to continue 24/7 service delivery during the pandemic, and is now thriving thanks to his "strategic leadership".

Happier times:  The St Mirren Championship-winning board. They are from left to right David Nicol, Gordon Scott (chairman), Mr Wardrop,  Chris Stewart and Tony Fitzpatrick,

Kibble said that after first being appointed as chief executive in 2017, he had led the charity "in its central mission of empowering lives and fulfilling potential through care, education and opportunity".

It went on: "Through his leadership and direction, the organisation has exceeded its strategic goals, opened multiple services, developed staff recruitment and retention, and enhanced existing services to meet the needs of children, young people and families."

The charity said that Mr Gillespie has embedded a "culture of openness, trust and ambition, listening to the views of young people and staff to drive service delivery and shape practice".

Part of the 'St Mirren' regeneration plan

Mr Gillespie said: “It’s an incredible honour to have received these awards and I accept them as a reflection of the hard work and commitment of everyone at Kibble.

“Our organisation faced significant challenges in recent years and the pandemic forced us to transform every element of our existing practices. We had to do this quickly and efficiently to ensure we kept our vital services operating round the clock and, most importantly, kept the children and young people we support safe.

“This was no small-scale operation, but thanks to our incredible staff, we were able to maintain resilience by adapting our practice accordingly and by coordinating operations in line with our business continuity plans.

“We have all worked together to get to where we are now and emerge from the pandemic a stronger organisation, so these awards are deserved recognition for the efforts of every Kibble employee.”