BURY chief executive Glenn Thomas insists the club was never under any pressure to sell its star players after confirming five new signings this week.

There was concern the Shakers would be a selling club this summer following the departures of Chris Hussey to Sheffield United and Danny Rose to Mansfield, while rumours circulated star striker Leon Clarke and full-back Joe Riley were close to leaving Gigg Lane.

But fears Bury were unable to fund a foray into the transfer market were allayed by the arrivals this week of goalkeepers Ben Williams and Chris Kirkland, defender Niall Maher and attacking talent Zeli Ismail and Nicky Clark – adding to the recent addition of former MK Dons centre-back Antony Kay.

After the club announced a £2.9million loss in their latest set of accounts, fans began to worry about the state of affairs off the pitch.

But Thomas has now spoken out to quash those fears, and insists the club will have a decent budget to compete in League One next term.

“None of it has been due to financial pressure,” Thomas said. “Absolutely none.

“Forget football, in any business there are times when you need to review what you have got. You can employ a member of staff for something specific and if it doesn't work out then you need to change.

“There are new players coming in, exciting players coming in and I'm looking forward to seeing the new squad assemble.

“We think that the budget is competitive for this league and we do generally feel the manager is attracting some good quality players.”

Despite recent losses and being the subject of three winding-up petitions filed by HMRC, Thomas insists the club's financial position is being turned around.

While it is anticipated the club will experience further losses in the coming years, Thomas says the amounts are set to be reduced year-on-year.

And along with chairman Stewart Day, he is extremely confident of turning the club into a sustainable business, claiming the worst financial complications are now behind Bury as they continue to plan for a brighter future.

“We are well on the way to turning the club around now,” he said. “We have now peaked with the losses and for the next three years we will see them coming down.

“So no (fans should not be worried), it was an expected loss. We are already well on with the next set of accounts, which obviously should come out by Christmas but we will be posting them by the end of the summer."

Thomas revealed that the next accounts will show a loss of £2.4million, but he added: "The chairman took the view that he knew that by investing in things like Carrington, which took a major capital investment, we have invested more in the youth, and obviously the accounts would represent the extra investment in the squad and everything that went with it.”

SG Sports Management, a company set up by Day and Thomas, is set to be dissolved on Saturday.

However, the £7.5million revolving credit facility that was secured for the club against the business will shift over to new firm Mederco – Day's property company.

“The chairman's company (SG Sports Management) is changing to a group of companies under his own brand, which is Mederco,” Thomas said.

“There are no issues, everything is to protect the club to be honest. The only debt is to Mederco, which is the chairman's company.”