Chairman’s Message
Dear Member,
Last week we circulated the 2022 Annual Subscription rates and you will be receiving your Payment Notice through the post in the next fortnight. I have outlined below the rationale behind the Board’s carefully considered decision on setting the new Subscription rates and how that will be carried forward into its meeting in November when it finalises the 2022 Budget.
Covid-19 and its continuing impact
Covid continues to cast its shadow over our lives and over the Club. It is only since July that we have been able to resume Club operations in a normal way yet there are still restrictions and changes to the usual ways of doing things. Many Members are still cautious about gathering together with others indoors and so our new outdoor areas have proved to be a wise investment. We will continue to ask Members to wear face coverings indoors, as staff are, and to take every precaution.
I am pleased to see from the recent Member survey how highly Members scored the Club’s operation on coping with the various lockdowns but also how it emerged in such a strong position to provide a safe and secure sporting and hospitality environment for all. It has truly become our safe haven to mix with family and friends.
In the wider economy, we can see for ourselves the disruption caused by the pandemic, especially on supply chains, jobs and prices. Both the Bank of England and Office for Budget Responsibility estimate that inflation will exceed 4% in the last quarter of this year and into early 2022 before possibly falling back. This may prove to be correct, but we know that the Club will be subject to inflationary pressures substantially exceeding 4%. The Chancellor has already announced that the national minimum wage will increase by 6.6%. Many of our staff are paid the London Living wage which is linked to the national minimum wage.
Costs of fertilisers and chemicals are increasing substantially in excess of the headline rate. We buy forward and store in bulk as much as we can to limit the volatility of such costs increases. We also do this in respect of our energy requirements, recently signing a three-year fixed price agreement for a 30% price rise rather than the 80% rise it has now climbed up to. Finally, our food and beverage suppliers have notified us of increased prices of the order of 15 to 20% in the year ahead.
Annual Subscriptions
Against this background. the Board has concluded that our subscriptions must be increased this year following last year’s freeze. Although the Club’s financial position is good, and we are performing strongly against budget, we are facing volatile and uncertain times. We must act prudently, as we have sought to do throughout the pandemic, to safeguard the Club’s finances and operations.
Historically the Board’s policy has been to increase subscriptions by 1% over the headline level of inflation. We consider that would not be the appropriate response this year as there are too many uncertainties in this volatile period. We also had in mind that we have not all been able to make full use of the Club for long periods in 2021.
Given that for much of 2021 the rate of inflation was averaging 2.5%, and the experts expect the current rate to fall back to that rate by the end of 2022, the Board has decided this year to limit the increase in annual subscriptions to 2.5%. It expects to revert to its normal policy for 2022/3 which will be reviewed by the Board in October 2022.
Click here to see the 2022 subscription rates
Entrance and other fees
We are pleased that our waiting list to join the Club has now extended to three years and as indicated previously we will be looking to raise entrance fees above the rate of inflation over the next two years to reflect this increased demand. Our Club has become more and more desirable to join for people of all ages with many past Members and associated family wanting to return which is very pleasing. We have set up a second family only waiting list to join so that we can expedite the waiting time for immediate families of existing Members. Minor changes to other fees such as guest and locker fees are also being made with the reintroduction of a food and beverage levy for 2022. Any residue of your Club Credit received in 2021 carries over into next year and up to 2023 if required to.
Masterplan 2035 implementation
As Members know the Board decided at the outset of the Covid crisis to change the order of priorities in the Masterplan to proceed with small scale but important items, postponing major capital projects until a return to normality was in sight.
Therefore 2021 has seen the very successful advent of padel tennis, the replacement of Airhall 1 with improved chandelier lighting, design work proceeding on Airhall 2 (to cover courts 7 -10) and new plans for an Indoor Golf Centre. I am pleased to report that Wandsworth Council recently gave planning permission for a seasonal Airhall 2 subject to the Mayor of London’s review. All being well this will be ready for use in October 2022 giving us the use of ten indoor courts during the winter months. Pre-application discussions about the Indoor Golf Centre have gone well and we are now working on the preparations for a formal planning application.
Work is resuming on potential internal and external alterations to the Clubhouse. Many Members have commented on the need to improve the layout of this and the services we are able to provide in it.
Sustainability
With COP26 upon us, the Board has continued to play close attention to issues of sustainability this year. The Environment Committee has been established as a Committee of the Board. We will be commissioning an energy audit to advise on how we can best build on the steps we have already taken (such as solar panels on the swimming pool roof, reduction in waste, recycling of all course and garden materials) to limit our energy consumption and carbon footprint, while maintaining and improving services to Members.
Golf Course Safety and Drainage
We have concentrated upon ensuring that golf balls don’t leave our premises along Priory Lane, working up applications to Planning for new perimeter fencing along our western boundary. The new 10th tee in operation has reduced the risk considerably as will the new fencing proposed to go alongside the 11th tee and to the rear of the 12th green. With the ever-increasing amounts of rainfall experienced throughout the year new plans for more effective drainage on the golf course, linked to our water harvesting tanks, are being drawn up as well as designs to capture the excess water in the piazza area resulting from the flash storms we now experience.
Conclusion
2021 has been another difficult year following upon an even more challenging one in 2020. I would like to thank, on behalf of the Board, all Members who renewed their subscriptions for 2021 underpinning the Club when it needed it most and ensuring our staff were retained ready for re-opening after lockdown. Our continued support and use of the Club is vital to its future and the culture we all value.
I would like to conclude by expressing the warmest thanks of us all to our staff for their dedication and commitment throughout 2021. The Club we enjoy as Members would not be what it is without them. We all owe them a very great deal.
I wish you all good health and much enjoyment of our Club in 2022.
Best wishes,
Alan Jenkins
Chairman
More Club news and congratulations …
Gate to the Health Club
This gate had been installed to block the ‘gap in the hedge’ to help the Club’s security. We were having pedestrians trying to access Rosslyn Park FC that way as well as a few Members bringing in guests to play tennis on the grass courts and bypassing Security to sign them in. With the Club wanting Members to adhere to the registering of members and guests due to COVID regulations and to sanitise hands on entry and exit to the Club the gate remained closed during the summer.
Members wanting to have a shorter walk to the Health Club from the Members car park have asked the Board to consider opening the gate. The Board has agreed to this on a trial basis for the winter. The gate is now open and should be for Member use only. Guests must be signed in via the Gatehouse as before. Please use the hand sanitiser next to the gate on every visit. We will also investigate a Member- card access system for the gate for next spring.
