A CONVERSATION at a barbeque ultimately led to the Redbourn brothers becoming part of Southend United’s future.

Ian and Paul Redbourn had both spoken privately about their desire to stop the Shrimpers going out of business.

But it was not until they shared those plans with family friend George Taylor that they became part of the consortium close to taking control of the club.

Paul explained: “With the demise of what was going on financially at the club our attention was getting deeper and deeper as to what was going on.

“It got us to talk a lot more about the opportunities we saw in the club.

“We weren’t liking the story of moving away from Roots Hall and it created a lot of family chat.

“One of our close friends George Taylor, who is a consortium member from Hong Kong, was back in the UK and we always catch up when he’s here.

“We were having a barbeque at my place with Ian and our families.

“We were chatting about Southend and he just said if you guys are serious do you want me to put you in touch with Justin (Rees).”

Up until then, the Redbourn brothers had no idea Taylor had held discussions with the Australian about becoming involved with Blues.

But it did not take long for them to have their own talks.

“It turned out George had been talking to Justin for a while because I think Ron (Martin) had introduced him,” said Paul, 47.

“The next day we both had individuals calls with Justin and it didn’t take long to move on from there.

“We’re born and raised in Southend.

“We have great memories watching Southend and football is a big thing for us so we were alarmed what was happening with the club.”

And Ian was also saddened by the thought of the Shrimpers going out of existence.

“Southend without the football club is like Southend without the pier,” said Ian, 45.

“It’s part of our heritage and it needs to be here.

“When it dawned on us we could be part of this it was a no brainer.

“We had to jump in and get involved because we can bring something to this.”

The brothers both share a love for football and the Shrimpers but also have the capabilities to make an impact at Roots Hall.

Paul added: “I left Southend boys and went straight into finance, investment banking.

“I spent a few years in London then went to Hong Kong and spent 20 years abroad in Hong Kong and Japan.

“I came back in 2019 as a retired banker and I do a bit of consulting now.

“I’m a stay at home dad and work on some fun projects I care about, especially around start ups.

“But I have trouble-shooting experience from 25 years managing a bank with 70 odd employees in Japan.

“I’ve fixed problems from bottom up and deal with regulators, operations and marketing.

“There’s a bit of everything I bring to start ups from a consulting angle but I also feel there’s lot of things from my experience I can bring to the football club.”

And Ian – who is a partner and part of the senior management team at a specialist Lloyd’s of London insurance broker – has already been able to play a part too.

“My company is an insurance brokerage in London,” said Ian.

“We’ve been involved in the insurance of the deal so I feel like I’ve already added something to the process.”