In that time they have overseen the club's move to a new ground, which cleared a crippling debt and put the club's very future in jeapordy. They've also been involved in the development of the recently finished training complex in the Ralston area of Paisley.
The board have always said they would be easy to deal with if anyone wanted to buy the club and many people predicted they'd be looking for a quick exit after the ground move was complete. They've now decided to try to force the issue by going public with their intentions, perhaps in an attempt to drum up interest or force someone sniffing around the club to make their intentions clear.
Mr Gilmour said today that it would not necessarily be the highest bidder that took control and the club would only be sold to someone with the best interests at heart - in otherwords, there will be no repeat of the farcical Hearts and Livingston situations here.
In a statement released today, Mr Gilmour said: "The decision to sell our shares was not taken lightly.
"All the directors involved in the consortium feel we have achieved our objectives of making the club debt-free. In doing this, we have sacrificed much of our business and personal lives for St Mirren, putting in a considerable number of years of hard work and financial investment and overcoming many a crisis along the way.
"We have been successful in making sure St Mirren is one of the very few teams in the country with the financial stability to progress in the future.
"We believe it is now an appropriate time for us to move on, for someone else to take St Mirren forward and for the club to benefit from an injection of new energy, new ideas and new expertise.
"As individuals and board members, we recognise we couldn't go on forever and we want to make an orderly transition to having new people in charge who can make sure St Mirren continues to develop as a successful football club and business. It is important to have proper succession planning.
"We expect a significant amount of interest in this controlling block of shares and we will practise due diligence in deciding who we should sell to.
"We won't necessarily accept the highest offer. Before we sell to anyone, we will make sure the people buying a controlling interest have the good of St Mirren at heart and the resources and expertise to take the club forward.
"We would hope to conclude the sale of shares by the opening of the next transfer window at the beginning of January 2010.
"We are not disappearing. If asked by anyone who takes a controlling interest, we would be quite happy to remain individually or collectively to help run the club for a time after we have sold our shares. This would make sure there was continuity.
"Stepping down as chairman will leave a huge gap in my life and I'm sure it will be the same for the other directors who are selling their shares. But it will allow us to do the many other things in our business and personal lives that have been put on hold because of our commitment to St Mirren.
"It will certainly be an emotional time for all of us after the many years we have been directors of the club.
"As directors, we have been acutely aware that we are only custodians of this great club. I hope our efforts over the years have meant we have left a legacy that bodes well for the future of St Mirren.
"We are passing on a football club that is in good shape and I'm sure any new directors will bring the fans even more success with an exciting new era for St Mirren.
"And just because we won't be directors of the club, doesn't mean we stop being St Mirren supporters. We'll be cheering on the Saints from the stands with the rest of the fans."
It is interesting to note the club's other director, Gordon Scott - who was appointed to the board in late 2003 - is not one of those selling his shares.
Interesting and uncertain times are ahead for the club and more developments will probably take place later this week. Mirren Mad will take a more in-depth look at things sometime in the next couple of days.