MCC has published its 2020 Annual Report and Accounts, delivering solid results in a very difficult period during which the Ground and the Club were closed.
2020 was a financial year like no other in recent memory due to the impact of the global pandemic; the Ground was forced to close to spectators for the entire season, and a solution required to protect the £52m Compton and Edrich redevelopment, which was well underway when lockdown commenced.
To address the specific financial needs of the redevelopment and offset a halving of income, MCC instigated a Life Membership programme. The scheme was overwhelmingly supported by the Club’s Members and generated £25.6m.
This pre-payment of Membership subscriptions enabled the Club to complete the redevelopment debt-free, whilst providing contingency cashflow for the continued period of uncertainty. However, as a result of the Life Membership programme, cashflow from membership income will be £1m a year lower in future for a generation.
Significant cost cutting, spend deferral measures, insurance claims and ECB support have played their own essential part in reducing the financial impact of the pandemic. This has been supported by the use of the furlough scheme which was fundamental to the retention of staff. The results were strengthened by full relief from business rates for nine months of the year and a £1.3m refund of business rates from earlier years, following a successful appeal.
"We were determined to solve our immediate financial problem and ensure the Compton and Edrich redevelopment could continue"
Guy Lavender, Chief Executive & Secretary of MCC said; “The impact of the Life Membership on our financial position masks what has been an exceptionally difficult financial year. We were determined to solve our immediate financial problem and ensure the Compton and Edrich redevelopment could continue.
"Whilst our results are positive and our balance sheet is strong, not least because of the way in which Members responded to the Life Membership offer, the cash position is of course ‘tomorrow’s money taken today’ and the long-term impact of a very difficult financial period will be felt in the years to come.”