I am pleased to present the annual accounts of Rotary in Great Britain & Ireland for the year ended 30th June 2023 to the Annual Business Meeting (ABM).

The result for the year is a deficit of £382,000 which was £17,000 behind budget. With the Rotary View expenditure figure removed (which was £134,000 against a budget of £135,000), the net deficit for the period would be £248,000.

During this year, we were impacted by the fall in the Dollar/Sterling exchange rate and this accounts for an adverse variance in these accounts of £87,000. Rotary International (RI) switched their invoicing to local currency which meant that we were not able to hedge. I am very pleased to be able to tell you that RI have granted us a concession, due to being a Regional Pilot, that they will, as from 1st July 2024, go back to invoicing us in Dollars. We have already hedged for the next financial year to reduce the risk.

To help counter the Dollar situation, we pulled back in marketing expenditure. The lack of marketing spend in this year has not had an obvious impact upon membership numbers as at 1st July 2023 with the ‘opening’ membership number being ahead of the budgeted figure by 303. Marketing costs were also contained against a background of the first plans for North Star being put together.

The Budget for the year ended 30th June 2023 was set before the Rotary GB&I Regional Board commenced. It was known that the Board was due to start but no major decisions were taken to impact upon finances but rather to give the Board a clear run. The major point I can tell you is that in this current financial year, we are no longer expecting the outturn to be in deficit.

The decision of the membership in last year’s ABM to increase subscriptions to £78 per member and for the Board to decide to change the printed and individually distributed Rotary Magazine from a bi-monthly publication to a larger quarterly one, plus other savings made has returned the organisation to financial stability.

I shall discuss the Budget separately and you can see from the Budget laid before you for the year commencing 1st July 2024 that we are confident that the financial stability will continue.

My term of office as Honorary Treasurer is now coming to an end and my successor, Richard Campbell, is gearing up ready to take over on 1st July 2024.

My three years as Honorary Treasurer have coincided with a period of significant change for Rotary GB&I. I have been the only Regional Board voting member to serve both on the Board and as part of the annual Governing Council before that.

This has given me a unique perspective to observe the difference in governance. The past two years have been hard work but enjoyable as we have returned the organisation to financial stability. The work to bring about the potential incorporation has, at times, been challenging but I have been fortunate to work with fellow Rotarians who have been as passionate as I am to bring about this change.

Finally, my sincere thanks are due to a long list of people, but I would appear like a dull-sounding Oscar winner to name them all!

The Annual Report contains summary financial information. A copy of the full audited accounts for the year ended 30th June 2023 may be found on the Members’ Area of the Rotary GB&I website (login required). Accounts for the year are placed on the website when signed by the auditors, generally in December each year.

One of the first goals that the Rotary GB&I Board set itself was to bring the organisation back to a balanced budget by 30th June 2025.

By a combination of the members agreeing to the £8 subscription increase last year and the cost cutting undertaken by the organisation, we have achieved this one year earlier than targeted. We are on target to not be in a deficit position in the current financial year and are projecting that this financial stability will continue.

You may have read elsewhere in this Annual Report about the proposals for Rotary GB&I to operate as a Registered Charity as from 1st July 2024. If members vote for this proposal, the two main changes for ongoing finances are at least an 80% reduction in business rates and no corporation tax payable on investment income and gains. These points have been built into the Budget for the forthcoming year.

When last year’s Budget was set, the North Star project was just a dim light in a far-off sky. We have specifically decided to keep North Star’s grant funding from Rotary International (RI) and project expenditure separate from the regular organisational finances. These Budget figures in this Report are for normal operations, excluding North Star.

The 2024/25 Rotary year will be the second year of funding for North Star and, in April 2024, we are hoping that the RI Board will approve our Year 2 application for $393,500. This will be spent on 9 different projects, some of which continue from Year 1. In the period since November 2023 (the start of North Star) to 30th June 2024, we expect to spend $305,000 on 11 projects. We report on the progress of the projects to RI regularly and are required to achieve certain key performance indicators. North Star is much more than a membership drive, it is a whole organisation business plan.

This Budget was prepared and presented to the Rotary GB&I Board in February 2024, some four months after the North Star initiatives started. Whilst things have started well, it is too early to assess the impact upon membership numbers. RI Dues are increasing by $2.75 as from 1st July 2024, which at the exchange rate in February 2024 equates to £2.18.

Inflation is currently 3.4%, which on £78 would add £2.65. The total likely Impact of these two items is £4.83. However, the Rotary GB&I Board considered that the indicative figure for subscriptions published last year of £82 should be the subscription proposal for the forthcoming year. This is a £4 increase from the current year.

However, by this time next year, we will be able to assess the impact of North Star on activities. As membership grows, this will alleviate the pressure on subscription rates and the Regional Board envisage that the previously published rate for 2025/26 of £85 could decrease to £83 and for 2026/27 to £84.

For the year commencing 1st July 2024 it is being proposed that the subscription be increased to £82. For information only, the forecast subscription rates for the two subsequent years are £83 and £84.