EC Meeting Papers January 2018

General Secretary’s Report.

January 2018.

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Introduction.

Despite the Christmas leave period and some sick leave it has been a very busy and eventful period since the last EC in November.

1.1

Nursery

The Finance and General Purposes Committee considered carefully the position of the current and proposed new nursery. Our discussions were assisted by professional nursery valuer Richard Green from Christies, Deborah Lawson from VOICE, a former early years manager and current representative of nursery staff, the nursery manager Gemma Sheppard and Operations Manager Ian Richards. The Head of Finance and Senior Finance Officer had also produced a number of studies and reports. The result of the detailed discussions was that the F&GP did not see that the building of the new nursery was a viable option and that therefore the current nursery should be closed. At risk letters were issued to staff to commence discussions on alternatives and letters were issued to parents.

The Operations Manager is managing this process.

1.2

Hotel

While volume of business and levels of occupancy have risen, cost effectiveness and the business the model has not improved and there have been some significant cash flow issues. I have asked the hotel senior management team to report to directors as a matter of urgency.

The special trade union offer at the hotel has not been taken up.

1.3

New Build

The extensive documentation for the construction tender process has now been prepared and circulated. Tenders are due by January 25 th and will be considered at a special meeting including the GFTU President on January 29 th

It is important to keep all aspects of our future planning under close scrutiny and constant review.

You will note from the investment report on our portfolio that its performance has been very good generating some £60k a month. In essence the strategic decision of the GFTU Is to move away from market investments, however temporarily good their performance may be, and to invest in our own buildings and land at Quorn. EC members will note that the whole purpose of our investment strategy is to avoid spending progressively more each year out of our capital. It is a commercial exercise in the social enterprise context.

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