Their preferred option would be to move to Portway, formerly home of Birmingham Rugby Club, which is close to junction three of the M42 and boasts much greater potential for expansion.

But Solihull Metropolitan Council and Sport England are unhappy about that proposal because in local government terms Portway comes under the jurisdiction of Stratford District Council.

The two organisations have therefore proposed a site at Birmingham Business Park, near Chelmsley Wood, which is close to Birmingham International Airport and just off the A45.

"We are legally bound by Sport England to look at every possible site in Solihull," said commercial director Lee O’Neill.

"Moving from Sharmans Cross is about taking us to the next level. If we have aspirations of pushing on to the Premiership we have got to put the structure there first, not thereafter like clubs like Rotherham have done in previous years."

O’Neill claimed the North Solihull site was just one of several they were looking at: "It is not something that is on the agenda in the short term.

"But you have to keep an open mind, if we have a facility in the grounds of the NEC it could be very good. The NEC is an extremely upbeat place with a lot of commercial opportunities.

"It has to be right for the club though. We will only get one opportunity to move and we have to make sure we pick the right option."

If the North Solihull site is not feasible Bees are confident of obtaining planning consent for a modest re-development of Portway having held discussions with local authority officials in Stratford.

Unfortunately those talks were not about a large scale redevelopment of Portway and the creation of a West Midlands Sporting and Learning Centre, which they have described as 'no longer viable in the short term'.

O’Neill, however, claimed that the club still had a vision for their second site and would continue to do so.

If Bees feel they are able to move, either to Portway or Birmingham Business Park, they will look to realise the valuable asset that is Sharmans Cross Road and use the proceeds to secure the club's future and repay existing debts.

Solihull MBC and Sport England are thought to be receptive about the move but what would become of their existing ground is a moot point.

The Council are thought to favour residential development and to this end an outline scheme has been designed and submitted on an informal basis.

If and when Sharmans Cross is sold Bees will finally be on a sound financial footing and able to avoid the kind of situation in which they currently find themselves.

At the end of this month the club are hoping to pay their debenture holders the two outstanding interest payments due in October 2006 and April this year.

They had hoped to sell a small area of Portway to be used as the site for a telephone mast which would have both cleared arrears and created a large surplus but this plan was rejected by debenture trustees.

"The payments were held up because there was a cash flow problem," O’Neill explained. "Previous board members spent too much without generating sufficient income."

Whatever happens Portway remains key to their future. They are drawing up a planning application for Astro Turf pitches at the venue for use by both themselves and South Birmingham College with whom they set up an academy last year.

O’Neill also dismissed out of hand speculation that the Bees are about to appoint a new director of rugby to oversee the current coaching team of Ben Harvey and Russell Earnshaw.

"Rugby is a young man’s game, unlike previous DORs in the past these lads have played at the highest level and players respect that," he said.