Gloucestershire’s viability as a first-class county has been solid into renewed doubt after the club reported a lack of £1.19 million in their annual accounts, printed on Monday, which is greater than twice the shortfall of £570,000 that they accrued in 2022-23.
In her report, Gloucestershire’s Treasurer Rebecca Watkin insisted that the club’s outlook for 2024 and 2025 was extra optimistic, however blamed the present state of affairs on the cost-of-living disaster that has raised the club’s day-to-day working prices, allied to the washed-out ODI between England and Eire in September, which might ordinarily have been a significant income, given the club’s non-Take a look at and Hundred-hosting standing.
“This has been a difficult yr financially for quite a few causes and there’s no doubt it’s disappointing to be reporting a second consecutive monetary deficit,” Watkin wrote. “Gloucestershire has skilled a tumultuous couple of years each on and off the sphere however regardless of that, we stay dedicated to pushing for fulfillment on the sphere with inspiring, aggressive cricket, and can guarantee all that may be achieved is finished to return improved monetary outcomes in the years to return.”
That prospect might be one step nearer now, following an unbiased audit by chartered accountants, Saffery LLP, which revealed internet liabilities of £5,019,000, leaving Gloucestershire in breach of its banking covenants and casting “vital doubt on the Club’s skill to proceed as a going concern”.
Plenty of contributory elements have been cited in the accounts, together with a £67,000 enhance in vitality payments throughout 4 months, and an additional £43,000 in interest-rate funds. The annual £4 million funding that the club receives from the ECB is, Watkin added in her report, successfully value round £750,000 much less in actual phrases in comparison with 4 years in the past, whereas different ventures – together with a Ministry of Sound dance social gathering held on the floor in July – “didn’t ship the monetary returns predicted”.
In his personal report, David Jones, the club chair, described the yr as a “rollercoaster”, with Gloucestershire’s rock-bottom end in the 2023 County Championship compounding their off-field struggles. Nonetheless, with the bidding course of now underway for the Girls’s World Cup in 2026, he insisted the club remained properly positioned to make sure Bristol retained its standing as a bunch metropolis for such marquee occasions.
On the prospect of the bottom relocation, Jones reiterated the club’s want to stay “open-minded” in spite of the burden of historical past on the Nevil Floor, including that the chance to relocate to a brand new, purpose-built and bigger website would enable Gloucestershire to “flourish for future generations”.
A proper replace on the relocation plans are anticipated in Might or June, following additional discussions on the club’s AGM on April 29.
