Gillingham’s chief executive says he’s ‘very pleased’ at the club’s recently released accounts which revealed a small operating profit for the year up to the end of May.

Mark Jones says the club has managed to cut costs and reduce their debt to a more manageable level after a difficult period since the collapse of ITV Digital.

The Gills revealed an operating profit of £8,652, although overall they suffered a £1.6 million pre-tax loss because of the costs of restructuring the finances which included transferring the ownership of the Priestfield stadium to an associated holdings company.

Mr Jones was particularly pleased at the improvement in sales figures which went up by more than £800,000 to £4.9 million.

He said: “We have got a very strong sales team here. If you come to the ground and you look around you will see all the additional advertising boards that are here.”

The figures do not take into account the impact of playing in the bottom tier of English league football and the onset of the credit crunch this autumn which has hit corporate sales recently.

But Mr Jones is optimistic about the future and thinks a stadium move would help increase attendances.

“I think we have to have a long term plan of moving from here to a new site because I think this club should be in the Championship bearing in mind the Medway Towns’ catchment area."

Pre-tax loss for the Gills - but debt is slashed and sales are up

Hear a section of Mark Jones' interview with kmfm's Patrick Gearey