Worcestershire CCC record profit despite "challenging" 2020

The club recorded a profit of £21,635 last year – a stark contrast to 2019 when they lost over £81,000

Worcestershire CCC have emerged from 2020 financial year with a profit despite the "challenging" circumstances.

The club’s total turnover for last year was £4.1million and showed a pre-taxation profit of £56,434. After tax and deductions, they emerged with a profit of £21,635 – a stark contrast to 2019 when the club lost over £81,000.

The club also repayed £582,096 of its debt, reducing the total debt to £3.7million compared to £5.6million in 2016.

The bulk of last year's income came from the England and Wales Cricket Board who, largely thanks to the broadcasting of international matches, were able to pay the club £3.4million – up 22% on 2019.

Worcestershire also received £586,452 in grants from the government’s furlough scheme which helped to limit the number of redundancies made by the club to ten.

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Additional income was generated by the club’s new retail shop (£42,313) while they also received a fee for hosting the Pakistan national team during their quarantine period.

Revenues from sponsorship, membership and ticket sales all fell due to the reduced season and absence of spectators. Likewise, income from catering and hospitality, and car parking fell by 84% and 50%, respectively. However, the club still earned over £640,000 from these areas thanks to sponsors (£237,639) honouring their contracts and many fans choosing not to accept ticket (£11,887) and membership (£144,829) refunds.

The shortened playing season benefitted the club by reducing costs for training, hotels, travel and other sundry cricket spending to £180,901, compared with £470,705 in 2019. Meanwhile, staging costs fell to just £9,287.

In his chairman’s report, Fanos Hira, said: "Everyone at WCCC has been stretched and challenged over the past year – players, coaches, employees and the board. My gratitude extends to hem all for their unrelenting efforts, positivity, hard work and resilience."

Meanwhile in a statement, the club added: "Improved financial management ensures solvency and allows Worcestershire CCC to sustainably invest in improving all aspects of our club – on and off the field.

"Worcestershire CCC have cut no corners – on-field expenditure has risen over the last four years more than any other first-class county. We aim to continue to add to our squad where required to improve competitiveness.

"Being financially disciplined will remain the focus, creating relative and absolute advantages. The working assumption for 2021 is intentionally prudent. While there are considerable challenges ahead, Worcestershire CCC is comfortable with its financial outlook."

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