Troubleshooter set to tackle problems

DONCASTER Dome boss Gavin Baldwin has been drafted in as a troubleshooter to sort out problems at the Keepmoat Stadium.

Mr Baldwin has been seconded to take over for the next three months after previous chief executive Andy Nicholl resigned from his job when the venue was caught selling alcohol to under 18s for a third time.

Mayor of Doncaster Martin Winter revealed the move as the borough’s cabinet agreed to extend its guarantee of the venue’s overdraft from 500,000 to 1 million yesterday.

The stadium has lost 950,000 since it opened this year.

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Mr Baldwin, a former top- flight rugby union player with Northampton, has been told to work closely with the council’s acting managing director Paul Hart. He played for Doncaster rugby club before taking the job.

Mr Winter said: “Gavin Baldwin is a good appointment. He has a thorough understanding and expertise in terms of leisure and sports in Doncaster.”

Mr Hart confirmed one of the issues that may be examined by the new boss was the catering contracts, after the problems with serving alcohol to under 18s.

The venue already has 7,000 diners booked for Christmas meals.

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Mr Baldwin has made the move with the approval of Dome chairman Andrew Burden, and Mr Winter said measures were being taken to ensure the leisure centre in Bawtry Road did not suffer as a result of the secondment.

But Mr Winter stressed extending the figure the council was prepared to underwrite was not about subsiding Doncaster Rovers or the Doncaster rugby league club, saying Rovers made up only 15 per cent of the stadium’s business model, and that figure would fall as other businesses grew at the venue, such as its gym and the community five- and seven-a-side pitches.

Meanwhile, chairman of Doncaster Council’s licensing committee Patricia Schofield voiced her concern over the problems with alcohol sales to under 18s.

She said: “I was concerned, particularly when there were three breaches of the rules on serving to under 18s.”