The early priority of the Foundation was to work in partnership with Ann Budge and her team to ensure that the rebuilding of the club could proceed effectively, supported by the financial contribution of Foundation members.
The wider aim was then to move from this stage to achieve fan ownership of the club. This became a reality in August 2021 when majority shareholding (75.1%) was transferred from Ann Budge’s specially created company, Bidco, to the Foundation. Heart of Midlothian became the biggest fan-owned football club in the UK, an amazing achievement.
Now, as we enter a new phase in the foundation’s story, our vision is for every Hearts fan to aspire to be an owner of the club. We have also set a number of key targets, including Increasing the active pledger base to 15,000 pledgers, and increasing the annual monetary contribution to the club to £2 million.