NRA Journal - Summer 2004 - National Rifle Association

SPRING GENERAL MEETING - 27 MARCH 2004Speech by John Jackman, ChairmanGood evening and thank you for comingI should like to introduce those who have joined meon the dais, as some will be unknown to you.On my left:Simon Dixon. Simon has kindly taken on thehonorary role of Acting Secretary to the Council sinceBob Fishwick left last December.Colin O’Brien who is Chairman of the ShootingCommittee and is also a Trustee, elected lastSeptember.Martin Farnan who is Director of Shooting at Bisley,but also provides support to the Secretary General forthe NRA’s regional ranges and clubs.Michael Blythe - our Finance Manager.On my right:Charles Brooks who is a Trustee and Vice Chairmanof the General Council, elected last September.Jeremy Staples who is the Managing Director of Bisleyand of National Shooting Centre Limited.Julian Hartwell who was appointed an independentTrustee last September. Julian is a solicitor with specialknowledge of Property Law and Charity Law, whichare both so important to us.Nick Jeffs who you know as Chairman of theMembership Committee and a Trustee.The notice of the Meeting published in the Winter editionof the Journal was taken as read.This evening, the meeting will be in two parts.Firstly, I shall deal with the accounts and finances andtake questions. This is the primary purpose of theSpring General Meeting.Secondly, I will make a statement on certainAssociation affairs and take questions.Financial PositionYear Ended 30 September 2003As I have indicated in my Statement with the AnnualAccounts we have had a very significant year whichhas been something of a watershed.I refer you all to page 6 of the Accounts where theconsolidated results of the year ended 30 September2003 are summarised. You will see that the netincrease in funds of £337,031 is reflected in the formalAudited Accounts on page 9, supported, in turn, bythe notes which follow on pages 10 to 16.Both 2002 and 2003 carried significant shooting eventsnamely the Commonwealth Games and the WorldLong Range Championships, respectively, which bothhad the effect of inflating our income and expenses,fortunately without creating a net financial burden,especially after receipt of sponsorship.Taking year on year, the key reasons for the materialincrease in the operating surplus were derived fromboth exceptional items and recurring items. Thefollowing are the key points:Delay in management recruitment - I mentioned lastyear that the delay in recruitment of senior managerswould create an apparent cost benefit both in salariescosts and associated overheads. I have thanked lastyear all those who helped in keeping everythingmoving, especially those who gave of their timevoluntarily. If you look at the figures for CentralOverheads year on year you will see the saving of£146,000. We hope that over £50,000 will be anongoing saving.Interest on the Bank Loan - The cost saving year onyear was £28,000 and we expect a further saving inthe coming year.Estate Income - Some of the income from the estatereflected a non-recurring catch up as leases weresorted out and was worth about £20,000.Other Income - “Other Income” includes a legacyfrom the estate of the late Len Baron of Dorking RifleClub of some £13,000. We hope to identify a suitableasset purchase to recognise this generous bequest.Clay Range - Lastly, I am pleased to report that theClay Range has produced a profit of about £27,000which represents a turnaround of about £44,000compared with last year. Our thanks andcongratulations go to Sarah Bunch and her staff,particularly Barry, David and Laura for thisachievement. The current year is progressing welland we hope for an even better result.All these benefits have enabled us to improve ourbalance sheet. At the foot of page 6 you will see that,after modest capital expenditure on new andreplacement equipment, our liquidity, expressed asnet current assets, is up from £119,456 in 2002 to£370,474 in 2003.With a strong cash flow we have repaid a further£100,000 of our bank loan in February, since theAccounts were published, to total £300,000 repaid sofar this current year.The Current YearOnce again, our target operating surplus is £200,000for the year ending 30 September 2004. As I have saidin my Statement with the Accounts we expect it to bea tough target to achieve. Having further reducedindividual membership fees and range charges atBisley, it will be important to increase range usage53