AGM Chairman Report

Dear Member

Chair Report

In advance of the Annual General Meeting (AGM) later this month, I would like to take the opportunity to let you know what has been happening over the past year.

Financial Position

In line with our status as a Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC), our Club remains open to the community at large without discrimination and has resulted in an overall increase in membership.

Over the last two years, we have maintained membership subscription rates at their existing levels, despite significant inflationary pressures, particularly in energy costs. Utility bills for lighting and heating increased by 50% and is one of the major contributors to another year of financial losses for the Club for the year ending September 2024.

I am pleased to report that, thanks to the efforts of our Club Secretary, Scott Scarrow and Director Nick Martin, we have secured a two-year contract with an energy provider. This agreement will stabilise our utility costs at a more manageable level for the next two years. As a result of this and other initiatives, we expect to generate Earnings Before Interest, Tax and Depreciation (EBITDA) in excess of 55k in the fiscal year ending September 2025, compared with £33k in the previous year.

Repairs and maintenance also remain a priority focus for the Management Committee (MC). We continue to monitor these costs carefully, balancing the need for ongoing maintenance to ensure our sports facilities remain in satisfactory condition with the longer-term Capital Budget, which will be supported by the anticipated land sale proceeds.

Our cash position remains stable, with operating inflows sufficient to meet expenses. Average cash balances are consistent with the previous year, and we continue to maintain a positive net current asset base, reflecting prudence in financial management and stability.

Membership

I am pleased to say that membership numbers are on the up. At the end of June, we had increased our membership by 50 since June last year, giving us a total membership of 1036. Much of this increase has been due to people joining to play pickelball here and the success of our gym.

Changes Over The Past Year

The biggest change since last year has been development of pickelball at the club. We now have 4 outdoor courts and one indoor court, which are proving to be popular with members and non-members using our Pay and Play facility.

Our treasurer, Mohmud, has spent considerable time managing the Thursday social session and drilling sessions for aspiring players, along with linking the club up with outside pickelball organisations.

Our Pay and Pay facility, whereby members of the public can book courts that are not booked, continues to be well utilised. Whilst members have priority to book courts, this allows us to make use of unbooked courts and gain additional revenue. This has been fairly successful, and we will continue to operate this facility for the foreseeable future.

Most of you will be aware that we have employed Esme as the Deputy Bar & Events Manager during the past year. Her priority has been to develop, with the Bar & Events Manager Linda, the service provided by the club's kitchen, and I am sure that you will agree that she has been very successful; there is now a great menu with tasty food, which has proved very popular. We are lucky to have excellent bar staff to support Esme and Linda.

We also obtained an additional Bar licence from Kingston Council in November, which allows us to develop our events programme, another big revenue earner.

We have started reviewing our coaching programmes across all sections; we have already agreed a contract with Louise Paris for gym classes, which is working well, and are looking at formalising arrangements in the other sections.

Looking forward, we have started the process of formulating a business plan for the club to take us through the next few years. Part of that process will include consulting members in the next few months on what needs to be done to the club and club grounds.

Lastly, but not least, completion of the sale of tennis courts 7-9. As you know, we have been engaged in selling to a developer the land occupied by those courts. It has been a long, tortuous process, involving considerable work with our solicitor to settle planning issues and improve the original agreement to properly meet our needs. I anticipate that we will finally have signed the contract with the developer by the time of the AGM; we will then receive the funds from him two weeks later.

We have arranged to invest the funds received on an investment platform, so that it will earn interest while the members determine how to develop the club. We will update and discuss the Land Sale as the first item of Any Other Business.

There have been a number of other minor changes and events over the past year, but these are the ones that I think have stood out. I hope to see you at the AGM, but if not, I would like to offer my thanks for your continuing membership.

17/08/2025