Sunderland Football Club is hunting for a financial PR agency, fuelling
speculation that the Premier League club is heading for a stock market
flotation.
The club called on four agencies to pitch at its Grantham Road
headquarters last week. Although Sunderland declined to name the
agencies, they are believed to include Dewe Rogerson, Financial Dynamics
- which also works for Manchester United - and Buchanan Communications.
An appointment is expected at the end of this week.
Financial director David Stonehouse said that the decision to hire a
consultancy was prompted by the increasing attention paid to the club by
the City and the financial press. Although Sunderland employs a full
time corporate communications manager to promote its activities on the
pitch, it has no in-house capability to deal with wider financial
issues.
Stornehouse declined to say if Sunderland was planning a definite move
to the stock market. However, he confirmed that the chosen agency would
be expected to handle communications if a float did go ahead.
