Wolves ambition: "To win the Premier League, not to survive in it", says MD

The club's huge ambitions were made clear at a Wolverhampton business breakfast event that attracted record-breaking attendance figures. More than 400 people packed the GTG centre in Wednesfield to hear business speakers including eBay's UK boss and the MD of the city council, Tim Johnson.

But the highlight for many was Laurie Dalrymple's description of the "evolution" at the city's football club over the last two years.

And he left no-one in any doubt about the club's ambition: "Our mission is to win the Premier League, not to survive in it.

"We want to inspire our fans and make the city proud."

Underlining that was the commitment of the club's Chinese owners, Fosun International, a global business with tens of thousands of employers and assets of more than £59 billion; "This is no vanity project," said Mr Dalrymple.

When Fosun bought Wolves they had been looking for a club with high investment potential, he said. As well as building the club's brand through link-ups with other parts of the business – including Tsingtao beer, Club Med, Thomas Cook, pram company Silver Cross and Fosun's Studio 8 movie production company – the company had also introduced a "more progressive mindset".

"It is a culture that is even more driven towards being the best, expecting nothing but success."

The aim was to grow the club as quickly as possible, using Fosun's global brands to increase Wolves' reach across multiple markets.

Sharing the stage with the Championship trophy, secured last season, Mr Dalrymple said entry into the Premier League had already made a huge difference to the club's following, due to the massive viewing figures for the league around the world.

"I have challenged our marketing team to look beyond the city and go global – bringing tourism and visitors to the city of Wolverhampton," said Mr Dalrymple.

A big part of this involved digital and social marketing, he said, and the club is already performing well. In August it was the number one club in the Premier League for fan engagement; "Not Liverpool, not Manchester City, not Manchester United, we led the way. Our team is excelling both on and off the pitch."

And the club was now communicating with its fans in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Mandarin; "18 months ago we were communicating only in English."

Wolves also aimed to turn Molineux into the leading entertainment venue in the West Midlands, with Rod Stewart already signed up to appear at the ground as part of his tour next year. That would involve turning Molineux into a 45,000-seater multiple use venue, "but I fully expect us to remain anchored in the heart of the city".

At the same time Mr Dalrymple said the club's success had seen it able to boost its workforce by 15 per cent to 900 people, while entry into the Premier League was boosting the work of the Wolves Foundation in the community, where it expected to spend £1m this year for the first time.