2016 BRSCC AGM

The BRSCC Annual General Meeting took place on Tuesday 26th April at the Ibis Rugby East Hotel, Crick, Northamptonshire. A transcript of the Chairman’s report follows;

Good evening and thank you for taking the time to attend this evening.

I’m pleased to report that 2015 saw an improvement in our trading figures which resulted in a small surplus. Compared to 2014 this showed a swing of some £100k. This positive figure would have been greater but for a couple of meetings that we committed to, but the grids failed to materialise and the forecasted income showed losses on both weekends.
Again this shows the effects of forecasting grids at the beginning of the year and booking track time, the request of series and Championships and that demand not turning into entries when we have had to commit to that track time with the various circuits.

I can report though that last year’s costs were in fact in line with forecasts. The figures you have before you are the result of running a business that doesn’t manufacture articles that can be reduced in price in order to make them more competitive, but rather in the provision of a service that comes with fixed costs (circuit hire and MSA fees). Not forgetting of course that the officials and marshals are all volunteers.

Budgets for each year are arrived at by taking into account last years grids and then forecasting the expected demand for each championship or series in the coming season.
Commitments to circuit hire then have to be entered into at the beginning of each season. These commitments are binding on behalf of the Club with the circuits, so you can see it’s not a perfect exercise.

We work closely with other clubs setting calendars for the year ahead, but we are subject to predatory actions from commercial organisations that are aiming to marginalise the profits of the Clubs. You can be sure that we will continue to be very aggressive when it comes to our championships and will continue to act in the best interests of our members.

It’s not all bad news though! Grids from our Mazda Championships along with our OSS series continued to improve along with those of Caterhams, Alfas and the newly revamped Ford Fiestas. Our Fiesta Junior Championship has now become a popular championship for 14-17 year olds with junior racing at an affordable level and grids in the high teens. Finally I’m delighted to welcome into the club the BMW Race Days Compact Cup with a large grid of very smart cars.

The final event at Brands Hatch for the BRSCC is always the Formula Ford Festival and last year I’m delighted to report that the Masters Race, which attracted a number of our former champions and others, was a great success and something we intend to repeat. Well done to Brian Jones and his team for their efforts.

Our continuing claim to be the major organiser of International motorsport for Silverstone and Donington is continuing to provide a much needed income stream.

Looking forward to 2016, we are forecasting grids on a level with last year and some such as Fiesta Juniors and the senior Fiestas are starting to show a healthy increase.
We are continually aware of the fact that our members are in the main racing without sponsorship and that costs are funded from your own pocket. So I am delighted to confirm as I announced at our awards night in February that entry fees will remain unchanged.

We started the year as usual with our stand at Autosport International Show at the NEC in Birmingham which is always a popular meeting place for members to see in the New Year. Our Awards Ceremony in February at Stratford-upon-Avon proved to be the best yet. Congratulations to all of our Championship Winners and special mention to South Western Centre member Alan Jenkins for receiving the Bert Lamkin Memorial Salver and to Nick Tandy was made a Life Vice President and was also awarded The John Nicol Trophy for his success at Le Mans last year. My thanks to Dominic Ostrowski and Liz Goodrich for their hard work in organising a great evening.

Already 2016 has seen the BRSCC as the organisers of the first round of the FIA WEC at Silverstone. Two weeks before the WEC, we were delighted to be the organisers of the 24H of Silverstone for Creventic which is part of their Touring Car Endurance Series. With a field of over 40 cars the race introduced the ‘Code 60 flag’ which in effect replaces the Safety Car. Many were sceptical but I think everyone agreed it was a great success with the drivers themselves regulating the speeds allowing marshals to work safely on track.

Whilst on the subject of Silverstone, your Board are happy to be working with the Events team under the guidance of Alex Lacey and the service we are provided on track by Lee Howkins and his team make our task that much easier. The same goes for Donington Park where we are made most welcome by Bob Adams and his team. We look forward to working with them and I can see the improvements already both with facilities to competitors and public. We wish them well.

So the end of a year that has showed a turnaround in fortunes and a promising start to what we believe will be an exciting 2016. Onwards and upwards! I finish as always by thanking the Centres for the help in making the race meetings run so smoothly. The directors and staff at HQ for the support they continue to give me. The marshals and Officials who continue to provide of their time each weekend – and especially you, our members, our customers, without whom we would not have a club.

Thank you and all the best for the rest of the year.

Bernard Cottrell, Chairman, BRSCC