Kent chief executive Jamie Clifford says club are prepared to reveal bad financial figures after testing year
by Alex
Hoad
Kent Cricket Club chief executive
Jamie Clifford admits the club are preparing to reveal financial
figures which could be the worst they have ever had.
The club’s annual audit should be
complete by Christmas, with the figures expected to be released in
January and Mr Clifford revealed Kent are braced for bad news but
has vowed they won’t "stress too much."
Bad weather hit the summer
programme hard with £50,000 lost in a single week when Tunbridge
Wells week, including the club’s opening T20 game, was rained off,
while on the field, Kent narrowly missed out on a money-spinning
T20 quarter-final.
In June, Mr Clifford (pictured)
took the step of writing to members urging them to help increase
attendances by bringing friends and neighbours to games but the
legacy of the wettest summer on record is set to become apparent
within weeks.
Mr Clifford said: "The audit is
about to start and will run until about Christmas, so we won’t have
the final figures until the new year. We are not expecting any
surprises though, because the die is already cast. We know what
we’re looking at.
"It wasn’t a good year, we know
that. We have to accept it has been a bad year. I shouldn’t think
we’ve had a worse year in fact but it’s important now that we focus
closely on next year.
"We need to focus on the future and
not stress too much about the past. There’s nothing we can do about
it now."
Last winter, the 2011 operating
profit announced of £188,000 was well-up on the loss of £595,000
reported the previous year. After tax and interest adjustments the
club’s overall profit for 2011 was £379,000.
Mr Clifford revealed that in
2013 "We will plan for the year that has just gone, which is
what you have to do, but we will hope for rather better.
"The weather obviously has an
impact but you get whatever you get. If the weather changes next
year and the performance on the field holds up as it did in 2012,
then things can change quickly. Like all sensible organisations do
– plan for the worst and hope for the best."
15/11/12
- Click here for more Canterbury news...
- Click here for more news from across the county...