ANNUAL REPORT 2019

31 TREASURER’S REPORT streams. Significantly, this includes in-ground advertising, from which we typically make £80,000 per day for an international fixture. On its own, this accounts for a drop in commercial income of around £500,000 year-on-year. The amount of money we took on catering in 2019 was also notably down year-on-year. Again, this does not come as a surprise.We would always expect attendees of interna- tional fixtures which don’t involve England to spend less on food and drink.The fact that the start of theWorld Cup coincided with Ramadan – and thatWest Indies v Pakistan, our opening encounter, finished shortly after lunchtime – exacerbated this effect. Overall, we took £200,000 less from catering this year. On the domestic front, the first XI’s continued consistency in white-ball cricket delivered a significant finan- cial benefit. Our home quarter-final win over Middlesex was not only thrilling to watch, it also delivered a six-figure boost to our income that we had not budgeted for. Overall, our professional cricket setup enjoyed a similar level of financial support last year as in 2018, while our cricket income was also largely consistent. Our financial reports do, however, show an increase in expenditure relating to our cricket academy, training and development.This increase is off-set by corresponding grants received to run initiatives such as All Stars,Wicketz and Super 1s – programmes which are discussed by Tim in his Community Report.This money is used in its entirety by our Community and Development team to deliver these schemes. Ultimately, this means we have been successful in growing engagement with cricket in Notting- hamshire over the past 12 months without this having a detrimental effect on the bottom line. A full breakdown of our financial reports covering the 2019 season can be found elsewhere in this report, alongside our clean audit report for the period. It is impor- tant, however, not to consider these results in isolation. As an organ- isation, whilst we have an annual budget, it is our four-year cycle that is most important.We acknowledge that, in a four or five-year interna- tional cricket cycle, some years will bring less lucrative games toTrent Bridge. If we are making our money in years when we host major Test series, this will offset any slightly more challenging years in between. Long-term sustainability is the clear priority, and we have already plotted our anticipated results for the 2020-24 cycle, with that period predicted to produce a surplus. The next twelve months will bring another new mix of opportunities and challenges.The new County Partnership Agreement (CPA) is due to come into force, governing our relationship with the ECB in terms of both professional and recreational cricket. Our plans in line with this will be presented ahead of the 2020 season.While we expect the new CPA to unlock significant sums of money from the governing body, we will have greater responsibility and accountability to deliver and it will require additional resources to do so.This is a chal- lenge that every First-Class county faces next year, and we feel in good shape to meet it. Meanwhile, the changes to the English cricket calendar for 2020 have been well-documented. For us at Trent Bridge, the return of Test cricket, a One-Day Interna- tional against Ireland, the move of the Royal London Cup final to our venue and the advent of The Hun- dred will leave us with more ‘major match’ cricket than ever before. The upcoming cycle should leave us with the financial wherewithal to remain a leading venue – and stay competitive on the field – for years to come. We enter 2020 aware of the chal- lenge, but determined to deliver. “OUR HOME QUARTER-FINAL WIN OVER MIDDLESEX WAS NOT ONLY THRILLING TO WATCH, IT ALSO DELIVERED A SIX-FIGURE BOOST TO OUR INCOME THAT WE HAD NOT BUDGETED FOR.” Paul Ellis