2017 AGM

Leicestershire CCC held its Annual General Meeting in the Charles Palmer Suite at the Fischer County Ground yesterday evening.

At the AGM, Mr Bill Maddy and Mr John Allen were both re-elected and Mr John Lee was elected to the Board of Directors after Henry Doyle stepped down as a Board Director.

Also, Russell Spiers has been elected by the Organisation Members to serve as a Director on the Board.

Club President David Wilson CBE opened the meeting and thanked the Members for their continued support in the 2016 season. David congratulated Wasim Khan MBE and his team for their achievements during the year. He thanked the Board Directors and the Chairman for the work they have done on behalf of the members.

Chairman Paul Haywood reiterated David Wilson CBE’s remarks and explained that further improvements had been made to the Fischer County Ground. These included the completion of the floodlights and work on the Maurice Burrows Balcony, which saw new radio boxes and a viewing gallery for Members. The staging of the Elton John concert was also a financial success as well as putting the club on the map.

Paul noted the club’s solid financial performance for a second year in a row, and added that the club have made some good signings under new Head Coach Pierre de Bruyn.

Paul then spoke of the new proposed T20 competition. He also discussed the challenges facing cricket through out the world with falling attendances for five day cricket and the impact that will have on the revenue generated that the ECB can distribute to the First-Class Counties.

Paul also spoke about the governance of the ECB. MPs have had a vote of no confidence in the Football Association and will be looking to the ECB regarding their governance. Diversity at Board level will be important with ethnicity and gender being a part of that discussion. This could impact on the First-Class Counties as they have to become a twelve month a year business with the necessary diversity and skills at Board level to achieve this.

Chief Executive Wasim Khan MBE explained that the players have worked extremely hard this winter under Pierre and new coaches Graeme Welch and John Sadler, and are currently being put through their paces in South Africa. 

He added that the club is continuing to work towards its five-year business plan. Wasim spoke about the excellent commercial performance at the club as Leicestershire CCC seeks to be sustainable and less reliant on ECB revenue streams.

Wasim explained that the club’s continual aim is to grow internal revenue streams. The off-field commercial teams played a big part in contributing to the success of the club while a cost-cutting approach has been adopted throughout the entire organisation.

Wasim added that the merger with Leicestershire and Rutland Cricket was completed in the last financial year and has already had a positive effect. 

The merger has allowed Leicestershire CCC to pull together in terms of planning for the ICC Women’s World Cup, which is being held at the ground in 2017. It has brought closer links between clubs, schools, local leagues, communities and the professional game, allowing more children and people of all faiths to experience cricket at the Fischer County Ground through developed initiatives.

Board Director John Allen and Finance Manager Steve Urwin discussed the club’s annual accounts for the year to 30 September 2016, which showed a net profit for the second successive year following three years of cumulative losses in excess of £500,000 between the period 2012-2014.

Commercial revenue streams continue to grow through strong partnerships and continual growing of both the catering side and the usage of the Mike Turner Cricket Centre. 

The club was able to repay the £1m loan made by Leicester City Council earlier than initially planned, and this has allowed ground development to accelerate at a faster rate. 

Several questions were asked and the meeting closed shortly after 8pm. The club would like to thank Members for attending and look forward to welcoming everybody back to the Fischer County Ground for the 2017 season.