06 Feb 2026
Kenilworth Rugby Football Club
Club Relocation Update (1 – Update 6 Feb 26)
As we enter the second month of the new year I wanted to provide members with a brief update on the continuing progress with the Club’s relocation.
Following the members’ agreement to accept the offer from HarperCrewe as our preferred bidder and progress the Heads of Terms for the sale of the Jack Davies Memorial Ground and the Cow Patch, Heads of Terms have been agreed and our lawyers, Wright Hassell, have been instructed to proceed with the drafting of the Agreements for both sites with Wright Hassall’s initial fees being covered by HarperCrewe.
It is fair to say that progress on the completion of these complex Agreements is taking a little longer than anticipated, partially due to the extended Christmas break but also to the peculiarities and complexities of the Cow Patch agreement and the involvement of the Trustees of the Stoneleigh Estate as the freehold landowners of the Cow Patch. Once the Agreements have been finalised, we can then move forward to the exchange of contracts and the release of the HarperCrewe deposit allowing KRFC to progress the revised planning application.
Alongside the preparation of the legal agreements a comprehensive reassessment of the requirements for the new facility has been undertaken, along with a full design review and Value Engineering exercise carried out by a cross section of volunteers and professionals from the Club to ensure that the new facility meets the Club’s current and ongoing requirements. This thorough piece of work has delivered significant savings, ensuring the schemes viability within the current anticipated budget. The revised scheme design is nearing completion, and it will be presented to the members soon for comment, and as promised the affordability of the scheme will be shared with members before exchange of contracts.
While there remains much work to do with many challenges on a project such as this, we are pleased with how our relationship with our preferred bidder HarperCrewe is developing on this incredibly exciting project for the Club.
Paul Fountaine, Chair KRFC
