2021 ANNUAL REPORT

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE COUNTY CRICKET CLUB 2021 ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 30 The task of describing the club’s financial performance during the past year requires far more than a cursory glance at the numbers alone. As ever, behind the end result lies the story. PAU L E L L I S TREASURER’ S REPORT The pre-tax surplus generated for the year-ending 30 September 2021 is reported as £1,911,499 and the detail of this can be found through- out the financial statements that follow this report. It is a tremendously positive achieve- ment, particularly in light of the ongoing implications of the global pandemic, and is testament to all those who have pulled together and worked so diligently throughout the last few years.The tireless efforts of our staff and the steadfast support of our membership, supporters and partners is to be celebrated and should not be underestimated. Ordinarily, a good starting point for the assessment of any financial performance is to consider the most recently completed financial year. However, given that 2020 was such a unique year and that in 2019 the club did not host aTest Match, the most comparable full trading year was 2018. Not surprisingly, it was in that year that the club posted its second best ever pre-tax surplus of £908k. When analysing the factors that underpin our financial result this year, it is important to place it into the context of September 2020 when budgets for the forthcoming year were finalised. At that time, there was still a great degree of uncertainty as to what societal Covid regulations would look like and the impact this would have upon our ability to generate revenue.We had absolutely no guar- antee of what we could expect as a business for the year ahead. The period that followed brought the introduction of the ‘rule of six’, work from home mandates, three tiers of regional restrictions and ultimately a return to full lockdown at the end of October and in the new year. Given the treacherous financial landscape in which we found our- selves operating, and with no clear indication as to when our oppor- tunities to generate revenue might improve, we were forced to plan for, and at times work within, a worst-case scenario for the majority of the year. Thankfully, the easing of lockdown measures in the middle of the season, aligned with pent up demand for live sport and events, ensured that full houses returned toTrent Bridge. This was a welcome sight in its own right, but the income generated from hosting these events provided relief from the uncertainty that had prevailed until then. The summary chart below outlines how our income lines have moved over recent years and details some contributing factors to our record turnover of over £14 million in 2021. International gate receipts not only made a return to pre-pandemic levels in 2021, but actually exceeded our previous best result in 2018. Income generated through this line reached £4.3m for the year and reflected the usual high demand for tickets at Trent Bridge. Both catering and hospitality were still subject to disruption for the majority of the year, and despite making significant improvements aided by the return of full houses later in the summer, they did not hit the pre-Covid levels of 2018.