AG Barr FD joins Goals Soccer Centres as non-exec

THE FINANCE DIRECTOR of IRN-Bru manufacturer AG Barr, which is merging with larger rival Britvic, is to join Goals Soccer Centres as a non-executive director.

Alex Short has been appointed to the board of the five-a-side football centre operator with immediate effect, the company said.

Short's appointment comes as the merger between AG Barr and Britvic moved a step closer after shareholders from both companies voted in support of the deal to create Barr Britvic Soft Drinks.

Short's previous roles include group finance director of William Grant & Sons Holdings, a management consultant with Coopers & Lybrand and various management positions within Coca Cola Schweppes Beverages.

Sir Rodney Walker, chairman of Goals Soccer Centres, said Short has "an impeccable reputation and has been part of a team that has seen AG Barr double in size during his tenure".

In September last year, the company received a boost after HMRC lost a tribunal relating to the five-a-side football industry's treatment of VAT.

Goals Soccer Centres had successfully appealed against an earlier ruling that VAT was standard-rated for pitch block bookings.

The problem stemmed from an HMRC business brief in February 2011 that indicated all income relating to commercially operated sports leagues should be standard-rated.