Raymond Arthur Trew (born December 1954)
is a
businessman
A businessperson, businessman, or businesswoman is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial or industrial) for th ...
and former football club
chairman from
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershir ...
. He is a former board member of
Lincoln City F.C.,
Notts County F.C.
Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...
, and
Notts County Ladies F.C.
Trew achieved his wealth through
recruitment
Recruitment is the overall process of identifying, sourcing, screening, shortlisting, and interviewing candidates for jobs (either permanent or temporary) within an organization. Recruitment also is the processes involved in choosing individua ...
, having founded Contracting Solutions Group in 1995.
The company posted a £3.7m profit in 2009. Trew also maintains numerous other
private companies
A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in the respective listed markets, but rather the company's stock is ...
,
though in 2019 his application for a gangmaster's license was turned down on the grounds that his previous business conduct was not 'fit and proper'.
Lincoln City
On 5 August 2003, Trew became an associate director at
Lincoln City becoming a full director at the end of the month. In August 2005 he was appointed chairman of football with Steff Wright succeeding Rob Bradley as chairman of the board. He departed in January 2006 after a boardroom dispute which saw manager
Keith Alexander placed on gardening leave, then re-instated. In April three of Trew's companies then terminated their sponsorship deals with the club.
A subsequent bid to buy the club and provide substantial investment was blocked by the Lincoln City board, with chairman Steff Wright publicly questioning Trew's motives.
Lincoln Ladies
In 2006 Trew joined the committee of
Lincoln City Ladies. In addition to an £8,000-per-season sponsorship through his SportsTV company, Trew provided additional backing of up to £10,000 to aid the club's promotion bid. In 2008 the club changed its name to OOH Lincoln Ladies, due to a sponsorship deal with Trew's Out Of Home marketing company.
Trew also backed the club's successful
FA WSL
The Women's Super League (WSL), currently known as the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest league of women's football in England. Established in 2010, it is run by the Football Association and features ...
application,
[ but in 2014 Trew controversially moved the club to Nottingham and rebranded it Notts County Ladies.
]
Notts County
Trew purchased Notts County for £1 in February 2010 following the departure of Qadbak Investments
Qadbak Investments Ltd is a British Virgin Islands registered[SonntagsZeitung](_blank)
2009-09-27 . He inherited liabilities of £7m from the former owners. On 25 February 2016, Trew stepped down as chairman of Notts County and announced that the club was for sale, but on 10 September 2016, Trew announced he had reinstated himself as chairman of Notts County. On 12 January 2017, Trew sold the club to local businessman Alan Hardy, but one of Trew's companies named Pinnacle Advantage was owed a substantial sum of money by the club. This threatened to force the club into liquidation until an agreement was reached in May 2017.
Nottingham Rugby Club
In July 2010 Trew took control of Nottingham Rugby Club, via Meadow Lane plc. On 28 September 2011 Trew relinquished his interest in Nottingham Rugby Club.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trew, Ray
English football chairmen and investors
English businesspeople
People from Lincolnshire
Living people
1954 births