Wasps rugby club owner gives up new training ground
- Published
The new Elite Performance and Innovation Centre officially opened in 2016
The owner of Wasps rugby club has given up his shared ownership of the club's new training ground.
Documents filed with Companies House show Derek Richardson gave up his stake in the training ground, based in Henley in Arden, on 13 May.
Wasps has recently been under fire with its charity recently closing after failing to file its annual accounts.
The training ground is now under the sole control of another Wasps director, Christopher Holland.
The company which owns the ground also changed its name from Wasps New Training Ground (WNTG) to Elite Performance and Innovation Centre (EPIC), which opened in September 2021., external
'Purely commercial'
A statement from Wasps said: "The training ground was developed in a 50:50 partnership, and, now that the complex is completed, one of those partners, who is a director of Wasps, has taken sole ownership under a new company name designed to build on the EPIC brand.
"The training ground ownership matter is purely a commercial transaction," it added.
The EPIC is based in Henley in Arden, Warwickshire
Wasps are currently facing a series of issues off the pitch, with regulator the Charity Commission, confirming it was looking into the situation regarding the club's charity, Wasps Community Foundation.
The club also defaulted on a £35m debt to bondholders in May. Those bonds were secured against the Coventry Building Society Arena (CBS) when they were sold in 2015 to raise money following the purchase of the stadium.
Bondholders will be consulted this month on whether they would like to extend the date of repayment of pursue other options - such as calling in the debt.
Wasps have also been under fire after Coventry City FC were unable to play their first home games at the CBS Arena after the pitch was deemed to be too dangerous by the Football League.
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