Annual General Meeting
3rd March 2015
7pm
Beechwood Community Centre(Halton) CIC
Formally Beechwood West Management Ltd
Welcome from your Chair
• Councillor Chris Loftus - opening
comments
• Introductions
• Format for the meeting
• House keeping
• Home owner – voting cards
• Approval of Notes from the last meeting
Election of non executive
Directors
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Rationale for seeking director support
from beyond Beechwood West
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Acceptance by the home owners
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Proposed and seconded by...
Our pledge to you
in October 2013
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An eighteen month business plan
Professionalism
Honesty
Transparency
Leadership
Accountable to you
We Delivered !
What has been happening since
we last met in October 2013
• The journey
the highs and the lows
• Here and now business overview
we are doing ok !
headline facts and figures.
1.
PROGRESS
• Change in legal status – CIC
Beechwood Community Centre (Halton) CIC is
now our trading name, all our legal Company and
homeowner responsibilities remain the same.
• Established stronger business footing
• Levy debt ... All but four home owners have or
are paying the required and agreed costs set out
in October 2013
• Introduction of auditors on stock to ensure profit
margins are maintained.
2.
Progress
• Clearance of Debts
– Brewery
– Utilities
– VAT
• Accessed grant funding
• Staffing review - ongoing
• Infrastructure improvements
3.
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Progress
Significant increased in usage
Pool usage up increase in revenue
Established Beechwood Swim School
Bar services revenue increased Function booking up with dates already in for
2016
• Improved ambiance and user feed back
HOME OWNER RESOLUTIONS
FOR DISCUSSION AND CONSIDERATION
Financial overview
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Heading in the right direction ....
Total income - £348,570
No debt...
Homeowners ‘ 2013/15 levy’ up to date
Grants funding - £30k
Greater scrutiny of expenditure
Greater scrutiny of user hire fees
Greater control of staffing costs
Our finances – to 30/04/2015
• Bar/function room income - £167,144
– Up £61,800 on 2013
– Profit on sales £81,152
– Up £48,122 on 2013
Our finances – to 30/04/2015
• Other income - £95,566
– Up £26,492 on 2013
– Beechwood Swim School established
April 14 predicted profit for end of
2015 - £48K
Our finances – to 30/04/2015
• Utilities significantly reduced in 2014
£21,816 a saving of £9594 on the previous
year.
• A further negotiated decrease for 2016
means an overall saving of £10869
So what does this all mean
SWOT
Analysis of our strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats
Shows that we are
• a viable business with potential for growth
and improvement
• a significant community resource and a venue
of choice for a variety of celebrations/functions
Key Issues
• The building is 40 yearS old with some areas
becoming unfit for purpose
• Health and safety issues
• This is a threat to be business and probably
us as owners
• Like many of our homes after 40 years our
community centre needs a make over !
Standing Still is not an option
Given that we now know that the only
way we relinquish our legal
responsibility is either to demolish,
sell or give the building away.
Lets look at these options
OVERVEIW OF THESE OPTIONS AND
THE ASSOICATED RISKS
• Demolition will have significant financial
implications : demolition costs £150K approx
landscaping costs £10k approx
dowry to HBC for ongoing maintenance £40k
approx
unknown legal costs
OVERVEIW OF THESE OPTIONS AND
THE ASSOICATED RISKS
• Attempt to sell the building :
Value not known at this point
Unable to determine usage
Should at some point in the future the new
business fail we could be left with an unused
building which would immediately be boarded up
and in a very short space of time subjected to
vandalism etc.
OVERVEIW OF THESE OPTIONS AND
THE ASSOICATED RISKS
• Give the building to a charity or another non
profit making venture
There are organisations who would like to have
such a space but are reluctant to ‘bite our
hand off’ because of the basic running costs
Most of small to medium sized charities are on
time limited funding streams so can never
assume longevity,
We could be left with an unused building which
would immediately be boarded up and in a very
short space of time subjected to vandalism etc.
The risks are too high
You don’t miss something until its not there !
Apart from the costly demolition the other options
carry too much of a risk
Irrespective of where you live on the estate the
potential for having a
boarded up! un-owned building! in the middle of it
would definitely have a negative effect on the
value of our properties and become a blot on the
Beechwood landscape for all to see .
So what’s the alternative
• We move forward!
When we bought our homes on this estate we accepted
the legal premise for the requirement for the Company to
raise income from the homeowners. This is enshrined in
the covenants within the deed of trust which states : the
buyer hereby covenants with Beechwood West
Management Limited (now Beechwood Community Centre (Halton) CIC
it being the intention that the expenses of maintaining
and administrating the Beechwood West Community
Centre and the amenity lands shall be divided according to
the number of dwellings (537) erected on the Beechwood
West estate. (The requirement relating to the amenity
lands was removed in the mid 90s)
The future
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We need to change how we view the community centre
its
A POSITIVE NOT A NEGATIVE
A GOOD HOUSE SELLING FEATURE
A WELL RUN COMMUNITY FACILITY
it’s an
ASSET NOT A LIABILITY
WE WILL REMOVE THE WORD ‘LEVY’
AND REPLACE IT WITH WHAT WE PAY
AN OWNERS MANAGEMENT FEE
Home owners management fee
We will contribute to the expenses of maintaining and
administrating the Beechwood West Community Centre
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Business rates
Building and public liability Insurance
Security
Maintenance
Managing Directors fee
Professional and administration costs
A small contingency fund
THE DAY TO DAY BUSINESS
• Board of directors providing leadership, scrutiny and
governance
• Effectively managed by motivated and flexible staff
• Self sustaining
• Robust cost centre approach to its finances
• A ‘living and working’ business plan that will be
regularly reviewed and amended as necessary.
• Good and regular communication with you as main
stakeholders
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
• Community engagement is not just about raising
funds its about raising awareness of the needs of
people around us. It’s about wanting to belong.
It’s about be happy doing something but not
everything.
the best way to develop a community is from
the inside out, utilising assets from within and
those that can be found from the outside
People of all ages have individual gifts that they
can bring to our community and build on its
development.
LOOKING BACK TO MOVE FORWARD
For many years Beechwood was viewed as
great community to live in, parents
grandparents and children saw the centre as
their own and enjoyed using the facilities.
If the Community Centre is to become
‘the Centre of our community’ we have to own
it and get involved
The Business Plan
• The Homeowners fee for 215/16
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The expansion and refurbishment of the Community Centre
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In order to continue developing we need to safeguard and improve our
facilities by:
Expanding and refurbishing the existing changing rooms.
Expanding and refurbishing the existing toilets.
Creating a wet room for disabled users.
Creating a versatile space to encapsulate;
– a viewing area taking people off poolside,
– a coffee shop
– extra capacity for wedding ceremonies and functions.
HOW WILL THIS BE FUNDED
• Via.. The Charity Bank which was set up 12
years ago to offer financial support to CICs
and Charities.
• Attractive to us because :No personal risk to Directors
No personal risk to us as key stakeholders
A charge on the building as
Should at any point the Business fail, the liability will be met by
proceeds from the sale of the building
Directors recommendation
That we all:
• Accept the concept of the home owners management fee
and its principals
• Accept that we make the fundamental shift in thinking
we have an asset not liability
• Move forward with Improvement and expansion
programme
• So that we can
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protect and grow our income
enhance what is a homeowner capital asset
Attract new customers and revenue
Encourage YOU to engage with us to ensure we can develop the
Centre of our Community
OPEN TO THE FLOOR
VIEWS – COMMENTS - QUESTIONS
THE FUTURE IS YOUR HANDS
• The decisions we agree to take forward
• Nominations and election of directors
• Any other business
• Chair’s closing comments.