SCUBAHUB
to say goodbye to some staff who were made redundant . Forced into homeworking , we also mothballed the headquarters building and embraced digital working .
The pandemic also had an impact on SCUBA magazine , advertising budgets were severely affected , and SCUBA ’ s publishers took the difficult decision to wind up their business , meaning we had to find an alternative publisher . Given the lack of advertising we needed an affordable solution and so we decided to take SCUBA to an entirely digital format as a temporary measure . While many members were disappointed by this decision , most have been understanding , and 2021 has seen the return to a paper publication , albeit bimonthly .
Finally , we also took advantage of cheap finance and government support , not least a £ 305k grant from Sport England , which is split across 2020 and 2021 . This made a huge difference to our finances and has meant that we have been able to continue to deliver the services our members need .
Income ( excluding government support ) was down by £ 525k ( 28 %) on 2019 . Costs were also reduced in 2020 by £ 341k , resulting in an operating loss of £ 158k . Fortunately , we were successful in securing a grant from Sport England from their Emergency Fund , which is being spent on insurance , staff and utility costs .
The Sport England grant is £ 305k and is split over 2020 (£ 197k ) and 2021 (£ 108k ). We also successfully applied for bounce back loans from HSBC of £ 57k , and local authority grant funding of £ 25k . BSAC also received furlough support from HMRC of £ 27k .
The grant income more than offsets the operating loss of £ 163k , meaning that BSAC made a surplus of £ 82k for the year .
Financial position and going concern
There has been a material impact to BSAC ’ s balance sheet caused by the effects of Covid-19 . Net assets have increased from £ 310k to £ 398k at the balance sheet date . Cash at bank has increased to £ 560k through the grant support from Sports England , of which £ 108k has been treated as deferred income into 2021 along with ITS events paid for in 2020 which will now run in 2021 .
In anticipation of the uncertainties arising from the impact of Covid-19 , Members of Council acted quickly to ensure that all financial consequences were identified and where necessary acted upon , in order to preserve the financial strength of the club for the future . Currently , the Members of Council consider the Club maintains sufficient reserves to ensure the continued provision of services to its members .
The directors of BSAC have a fiduciary duty to assess and report on whether the organisation is a going concern . In normal times this is a relatively straightforward question , however given the global pandemic , like many organisations the Board thought it appropriate to consider the matter in this context . The directors are pleased to report that having done so , it is considered appropriate for the financial statements to be drawn up on a going concern basis .
BSAC also owns a long-leasehold property , which was used as its principal office . Like many organisations , we were forced by the pandemic to move to home-working . Given the success of this home-based approach , BSAC undertook a
With digital working now the norm , the HQ building in Ellesmere Port is no longer a necessity
review of ways of working and concluded that we did not need a large permanent office , but that leasing flexible office space would be both cheaper and more efficient . This approach also has nonfinancial benefits , as the move to digital working allows employees and volunteers flexibility to contribute to the success of the organisation without needing to be based in a specific location . In November 2020 , Council therefore took the decision that the HQ building was no longer right for the organisation , and therefore decided to actively market the property . It is anticipated a sale can be achieved in the current financial year .
Risks
The major risk facing the organisation is an extended period of lockdown with the associated negative impact on membership numbers . We continue to contingency plan against a range of scenarios both optimistic and pessimistic , and hope that our increased digital offering , clear guidance on diving in a Covid-safe way , as well as the wider benefits of BSAC membership continue to be a persuasive offering to members .
Council has also taken the opportunity to comprehensively review and refresh its strategy given the changes in the wider operating environment , and the result is a new three-year rolling strategy .
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