S&P Annual Report for www

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CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENTFOR THE 12 MONTHS ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2014
2014 was a challenging year for
SpaceandPeople, a year in which trading
conditions became more difficult resulting
in lower than expected business gains in
each of the UK and Germany. This was
particularly important as the loss of business
in the previous year from a significant
retail customer needed to be replaced. The
reaction of the Executive and Management
Teams in the business has been positive to
these adverse conditions and the cost base
of the business at all levels has been lowered,
the effectiveness of the Sales Team improved
and a new Mobile Promotions Kiosk product
and service launched successfully. As a result,
trading in the latter part of the year stabilised
and also showed promising signs of growth.
There have been a number of changes at
Board level with my own appointment as
Non-Executive Chairman in October and
I am delighted we have two new Non-
Executives on the Board - George Watt
and Steve Curtis - whose experience and
guidance will be invaluable to the business.
The Board is united in its determination to
return SpaceandPeople to sustainable growth
in its core businesses for the long term and
to increase value for its shareholders, all
within a structured framework.
The business is seeing the benefit of
greater innovation and effectiveness from
the Management and also Sales and Venue
Teams. The expertise of our people and
attractiveness of our business model are
also seen in the revenues generated through
SpaceandPeople Ventures. This will deliver
synergies to the core business over time.
In financial terms, operating profit before
non-recurring costs was £1.14m and basic
earnings per share before non-recurring
costs was 3.91p. The Board has decided to
recommend a full dividend of 2.00p per share,
a significant portion of the retained earnings,
indicating our confidence in the business.
Our people and their expertise are our
most valuable asset and their effectiveness in
gaining new venue space and commercialising
that space continues to be fundamental to
our business. The Executive Team have a clear
focus on the effectiveness of these dynamics
in growing our business and, in particular,
establishing the Mobile Promotions Kiosk on
a much greater scale.
As a relative newcomer to this business, I
have been impressed with the dedication
and vitality shown in every area of activity
and, as a Board, we believe the business has a
promising future.
CHARLES G. HAMMOND • Chairman
20 MARCH 2015
WWW.SPACEANDPEOPLE.CO.UK
ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS 2014