Ibrox Marketing Supremo James Bisgrove signed the company up to a commercial deal run by someone described as a ‘convicted fraudster, sex pest and racist’ by the Daily Record.
The fact that it is the Glasgow based publisher calling out the details of the deal with Chris Norminton of Sporting Pay adds further emphasis after the Record welcomed billionaire Craig Whyte and airbrushed over Dave King’s South African business affairs.
Bisgrove left Team Marketing AG in June 2019 to take up his role in charge of Commercial and Marketing at Ibrox and was quickly appointed as a director of the company.
With a ready flow of jargon and buzzwords he is widely described as hugely impressive among Ibrox fans but it seems that basic background checks aren’t quite his forte. A simple Google search for Chris Norminton would have raised enough red flags to run a mile for a club that launched an inclusive Everyone, Anyone campaign last July.
Normington is the Managing Director of a firm that provides clubs with cashless payments from supporters.
The Record reports:
The man appointed to orchestrate a financial modernisation programme at three Scottish football clubs is a convicted fraudster, a sex pest and racist.
Chris Norminton is the managing director of Sporting Pay, which has signed deals to install cashless payment facilities at Rangers, Hibs and St Mirren.
But we can reveal that Norminton, 35, was banned from being a company director in 2013 after forging documents and lying to defraud an investor out of £21,000.
An English court heard that he was a gambling addict who blew the cash on “lifestyle expenses”, prior to him receiving a 12-month suspended prison sentence.
At an Employment Tribunal in 2018, Norminton showed no sign of being reformed. A woman employed in sales under his management with the firm Cutpay Merchant Services Ltd exposed him as sex pest who groped her knee while she was driving and sent many sexually suggestive text messages.
A Google Search of Sporting Pay and James Bisgrove produced the following story from Sports Venue Business:
Scottish Premier League side, Glasgow Rangers, has welcomed Sporting Pay as the club’s Official Payments Partner in an agreement that will introduce cashless payment solutions throughout Ibrox Stadium.
Through the partnership, Sporting Pay will provide Ibrox Stadium with state-of-the-art payments solutions, including new electronic Point of Sale (ePOS) terminals and contactless card payment machines to all catering kiosks and certain hospitality lounges. This will allow Rangers’ supporters attending Ibrox to pay for products using chip and PIN and contactless payment options for the first time.
James Bisgrove, Rangers Director of Commercial & Marketing said:
Sporting Pay’s technology will allow supporters to quickly and efficiently make card payments within the stadium footprint, enhancing the matchday experience and reducing queue times.
We are continually looking to drive technological advancements at Ibrox to improve the matchday experience and are delighted to launch with Sporting Pay as an indicator towards future similar initiatives, such as an in-stadia WiFi solution for supporters.
Sporting Pay is the only complete merchant service provider delivering bespoke payment solutions to the sports industry including the Lord’s Cricket Ground, Oakwell and Edgbaston Cricket Ground.
Cashless payments will be introduced, as a phased approach, into Ibrox Stadium beginning this month, with Sporting Pay’s product and services fully rolled out throughout the stadium by the end of the 2019/20 season.
Chris Norminton, Sporting Pay Managing Director said:
We’re delighted to be working with Rangers to introduce card payments throughout Ibrox Stadium. As we work with some of the biggest stadiums and grounds throughout the UK we know that having the latest in payment technology and cashless payments is not only a great boost for clubs but also vastly improves the supporter and visitor experience.
We are really looking forward to working with the club throughout this project. We wish the Club, players and supporters the best of luck for the seasons ahead.
Article Copyright Glasgow Rangers Football Club © 2019. www.rangers.co.uk
#Rangers #SPL #cashless #fanexperience #football #Hospitality #SportsHospitality #stadium #stadia #SportsBiz
The new Ibrox website doesn’t contain a search facility.