View from The Reddings - Stewart Wardrop
Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2011 12:50 pm
November 2011 – View from the Reddings.
With Sadness.
Sadly I have to open my “view from the Reddings” with a few words about Mr Brian Mead who passed away suddenly a short while ago. In my short time at the RPRA I had spent a few hours in Brian’s company and a more than a few on the telephone asking his input and advice with regard to the organising of the 2012 Show of the Year. The loss of Brian, so shortly after Peter Duffield, another SOY committee member who passed away in the autumn, will be a real loss for not only the SOY but the sport in General.
Brian was a “real gentleman” in every sense of the word. It was a pleasure to know him albeit briefly – and on behalf of everyone at the Reddings and the BHW we offer our sincere condolences to Margaret and the rest of the family.
October Council.
I survived my first RPRA council meeting! – Entirely due to the ladies at the Reddings along with the support and advice of the VP’s and President – my thanks!
In a strange sort of way I actually enjoyed it as far from it being a hot bed of “doom, gloom and despondency” I found that the underlying tone was that the Council would support change when presented with properly constructed and reasoned arguments to support the proposed changes. I think I am very fortunate to have joined the RPRA at a time when change is recognised as being required and is being supported!
Key notes and actions from the meeting have already been covered in the BHW suffice to say that now Council have fairly and squarely put the ball back in my court by supporting almost all the initial recommendations. It’s now up to the teams at the RPRA and BHW to deliver this change (and more!!) over the coming months and years.
The overwhelming feedback I gained from the Council members was a desire to make information more open so all members could understand why decisions were being taken and made.
I’m also aware that the “honeymoon” is over and now it’s about delivering some actions!
So here we go – RPRA Finance.
The RPRA is a relatively wealthy organisation – it has significant cash reserves and also owns two property assets (The Reddings and Welshpool Offices).
Like any business it needs reserves (savings) to cover “rainy day” events and it remains prudent to protect these reserves at the current level (approximately £0.75M) for the immediate future. Longer term, once sustainable business plans for the RPRA and BHW are in operation, further decisions can be taken regarding the level of reserves.
Repeatedly I hear that we should “sell the Reddings” to realise the “millions it must be worth” – rest assured the minute we are offered “millions” the Council will surely recommend that it is sold and the RPRA will move to another location. An extremely low valuation was obtained a while ago of some £400,000 – however until planning permission is granted to allow significant house building not only on the Reddings site but adjacent land (one without the other will not work!) no significant increase on this valuation will be forthcoming.
Which leads me to the next question – if we were offered say £500,000 to sell the Reddings today what would we do with the money? Don’t forget we’d still need a base whether purchased or leased.
Answer 1 – Stick it in the bank with all the other money!
Answer 2 – Subsidise RPRA fees and BHW copy price - If we kept the RPRA membership fee’s and the copy price of the BHW at current levels by utilising the capital - £500,000 would run out in just over 4 years. We would then have to massively increase fees and copy price to recover the situation.
Answer 3 – Sit tight - Why sell something now when it may be worth considerably more in the future especially as there currently no clear plans as to what to do with any funds raised!
No prizes for guessing which one I’d choose!
Previous financial prudence can be seen to be the right thing to do!
Going forward – Answer 4 will be – sell the Reddings for the maximum value we can realise – rent/buy a new modern facility and utilise the balance of the funds to grow, develop and promote the sport against a clear, agreed and supported action plan!
Some Background –
(A). Membership numbers.
RPRA membership continues to decline by some 4% per annum – membership has not grown since 1982 and the current number of members is some 43% of the level in that year.
There is no sign that this trending is “levelling off” as some may be suggest – longer term you can easily conclude that within 15 years there will be less than 10,000 fanciers in the RPRA and probably less than 20,000 in the whole of the UK. Historic demographics are against us and the pace of decline WILL increase over the next 5-10 years UNLESS we plan to do something very different.
(B). BHW Copy Sold (number of magazines sold each year).
BHW copy sold is also declining at around 4% per annum.
(C). Conclusion.
A similar pattern can be seen for all other key measures within the RPRA/BHW – from ring sales to historic advertising income – all of it is impacted by a declining number of members.
(D). Financial implications.
For the financial year (our financial year runs 1st Nov 2010 to 31st October 2011) just completed the combined consolidated finances of the RPRA/BHW will show a relatively healthy profit of around £50,000 (subject to final external audit confirmation!). This result is a direct consequence of putting RPRA membership fee’s and BHW copy price up last year.
If copy price and membership fees are left unchanged next year (FY 2011/12) then next years financial result is estimated to be a loss of around £20,000. If we were still to continue with fee’s and copy price unchanged for a further financial year (FY2012/13) then the loss in the year is estimated at approximately £95,000. The causes are simple – a 4% decline in all the key measures – copy sold, membership numbers, rings sold etc accompanied by year on year inflationary pressures despite all the efforts at saving costs, remember VAT went up by 2.5% at the beginning of the year!
This explains the historic financial performance of the RPRA/BHW over the recent past – large surplus followed by small surplus or small loss followed by large loss – eventually returned to surplus through one or both of BHW copy price and RPRA membership fee increases.
This shows that our budgeting and forecasting will become even more important going forward!
Hopefully this provides some explanation behind the Council propositions that the Membership fee is increased at 2012 AGM (but won’t take effect the following year – so a whole year delay) and that the copy price of the BHW is reviewed in February. It is looking ahead and planning accordingly and therefore avoiding the “lurching” financial performance described in the paragraph above!
Our association is financially well controlled but is typically reactive to events. Like many businesses there are things we do really well and some we do less so – we will continue working hard to reduce the entire cost base of both the BHW and RPRA.
The single most important directive from the recent council meeting is the instruction to prepare new business plans for both the RPRA and BHW. The aim of the RPRA and BHW teams over the coming months will be to work on deliverable strategic business plans that include business forecasts and offer an initial “blue print” of various options regarding what we could do in the future – that can be used by the Council and members to make informed decisions quickly and proactively – focused at prudent but effective financial management and most importantly starting to do something long term to redress the current demise of the sport!
We would welcome your ideas and input! Please write or email with any suggestions you may have!
Once we have our FY 2010/11 accounts audited in December we will publish more financial information with suitable explanations.
The following notes are not meant to be the answer to everything! They are a simple summary of where I see our organisation at the moment and some “bare bones” as to ideas regarding what we could do in the future!
(E). BHW - The future.
The BHW is currently performing financially well, following last years copy price increase, however I’m sure everyone will realise that with declining income (numbers of copy sold) you can recover the lost revenue in three ways – (1)putting copy price up; (2)reducing costs; (3) adding new revenue streams. As a rough rule of thumb the number of copies sold reduces by 4% a year and costs increase by 2% a year (real inflationary increases are nearer 5-6% with some of the effect being reduced by savings made in the organisation – less people/reduced costs etc)! Advertising income remains strangely flat in 2011 after years of steady decline – let’s hope a sign of things to come and advertising income does hold steady!
This leads to a simple conclusion – in the short term – the next two or three years –we need to increase copy price by 6% a year – every year! - Until alternative funding streams or another BHW business model is in place.
So what do we do?
Any business plan needs to look at the strengths and weaknesses we have and work on using them to our commercial advantage – so we need to look at selling and promoting advertising space outside just the normal sport related providers – this will initially be extremely hard but we need to try. Web based advertising (via the RPRA website) needs to be offered to the existing BHW advertisers in addition to the written advertising in the BHW. Longer term we need a plan to offer a web based BHW offering. We need to examine every cost we incur – can we avoid the cost? - can we do it better faster more cheaply?
In summary the BHW is a significant asset – we need to develop a plan that protects it and ensures its profitability and longevity. Working with the knowledgeable, skilful and loyal staff this plan will develop over the comings months. We however do not have a monopoly on “good ideas” and would welcome any suggestion or comments as to what should be included or new items or suggestions that should be considered.
(F). RPRA – The Future.
The RPRA has historically operated as a loss making organisation supported by the surplus generated by the BHW to produce the overall annual consolidated result that is published annually. Much like the BHW it also faces future challenges and needs a plan to address them.
The current membership fee of £8 is split £2.50 for your region and the £5.50 for the RPRA membership fee element. £5.50 does not reflect anything like the true cost of the services provided by the RPRA – without the benefit of owning the BHW the membership fee would have risen significantly.
We have many strengths, one of which is the undoubted fact is that the RPRA is seen to be THE first port of call for many public and press enquiries. There remains a huge level of fascination regarding our sport and one significant part of any future plan for the RPRA will be to move this interest from a reactive stance to a proactive one. We need to “sell” our sport to the media and public! Even with my “shiny blue and yellow Superman” outfit on – a rare treat for the ladies at the Reddings I can tell you! – there are simply not enough hours in the day for the press activity to be managed anything like proactively – at best we react! A key action going forward will be to find a way and agree how to manage this correctly and professionally! Yes – it will be potentially a significant investment – but one that will pay huge dividends! This will surely form a “key element” of any future business plan.
This level of interest does mean we incur indirect “costs on behalf” of the other unions when we represent the sport of Pigeon racing as a whole. When the sport is facing real challenges try explaining to a member of the Public or the Press the logic behind having the numerous Homing Unions all trying to do the same thing!
Thankfully we now see the first signs of the Unions starting to work as one – albeit on the single issue of “Hawks” for now! It is a good start along the road to more co-operation rather than the historic squabbling about issues that are long gone!
Much more on the “Hawk Issue” in a later BHW – once we start doing things rather than talking about it!
Our strays system continues to develop and is a real strength in avoiding numerous potential public relations “disasters” regarding the issue of strays. This must NEVER be under estimated – without this we would have a VERY different and negative public perception of our sport! We can already automatically email fanciers when a stray is reported via the website and one stage further on would be to send these stray notifications by text message as a majority of members have mobile phones whilst only a smaller number have access to email.
The investment the RPRA has made previously in automated computerised systems is paying dividends with year on year reductions in the staffing requirements needed to provide the service level to support the organisation. These benefits will continue and the staff is well aware of the changing nature of the RPRA going forward as the organisation changes. Ongoing automation and modernisation of our methods and systems will be another “key element” of a future business plan.
An example that shows how the skills required within the Reddings team will change - the current website is old, tired and outdated – it is an under utilised tool that should be continually updated with a much wider breadth of information and offerings. The data management of the entire website is being brought into the Reddings – WE will control all the content management – the staff will be trained to perform this task. We have many willing volunteers to learn these new skills and in time the whole team will be able to contribute. The website will grow in scope and size as we have more and more up to date content added. With this increasing content interest will grow and with this we hope to generate alternate revenue streams through advertising and promotional activity.
Over time the Reddings team will continue to become a smaller but more widely skilled group of people until such time as growth dictates otherwise! Investment in training staff in modern business skills will be required as we move from a reactive administration centre to a more proactive organisation. We have already had discussions with the local Trade Union representative with regard to finding out about local training and funding options/grants.
At the October council meeting I made a recommendation that the staff at both the Reddings and BHW be awarded a 3.5% pay raise effective from the 1st November 2011. The reason I made this was to ensure that the staff are rewarded appropriately for their efforts and that we remain competitive albeit in a very depressed market place. We do not pay exorbitant salaries and the 3.5% increase means that our lowest paid staff earn just over the minimum wage. Council supported this recommendation. For clarification this increase does not apply to me - I have not been here long enough or done enough yet to justify any increase!
In the next few weeks we will publish a “who’s who” of the Staff at both the Reddings and the BHW including photographs with a short description of the primary duties each person undertakes. Every time we get a first time visitor they always say “we thought there were many more people working here!”
There are significant benefits to be derived through a lot of small changes – for example - every day we bank around 250 cheques! – over 1000 per week! We “sneak” into the local branch of Lloyds everyday with a stack of envelopes each containing 50 cheques – normally to be greeted by the staff shouting out “its death by pigeons again!!” Someone has to sort record and count each one of these at the RPRA before they go to Lloyds (who we used to pay over £15,000 in bank charges each year – thankfully my predecessor resolved this so we now enjoy “free banking” if there ever is such a thing!). We have several repeating membership charges i.e. transfers – we need to look at simplifying and/or automating this system to reduce the administration effort required.
We will be looking to reduce stock holding levels (therefore cash tied up in stock) in the future months and will be looking to suppliers to hold stock on our behalf – ensuring service levels are maintained with reduced costs and avoiding filling the Reddings with mountains of stock!. We will be using the technology we have to complete simple tasks – more simple printing tasks will be done in house reducing the need to buy huge quantities and avoid building obsolescence into our stock. An example - the SOY 2012 is our 40th anniversary show – the ladies at the Reddings simply redesigned our SOY stationary with a 40th SOY logo (provided by the President!) and we now have modern stationary that we print only as and when we need it!
We have had meetings with various ferry companies to improve their offerings for next year – further details will follow shortly in the BHW. Please make sure you study the information very carefully – as a small change can potential save your club a considerable amount of money! Do not simply repeat last years programme without studying the list! Not only have we asked them about ferry crossings for the transporters but we are in dialog with them about what “special offers and discounts” they can offer to our members and their families! Following this theme we are also contacting “selected” other organisations with regard to similar “discount” offers – please feel free to suggest others - again more to follow in the BHW!
To the list above you can then start adding – RPRA One loft Races – how do we develop them?; School educational visits and learning programmes – how do we make sure we increase our exposure at school level?; Maximising the value of our attendance at Country shows – why not more evenly spread around the country?; Use the MDU every day of the week April to September; RPRA merchandising – offer more options and keep the offer “fresh” and vibrant?; Show of the Year – how do we ensure it continues to entertain and offer what the fancy want? VOSA – when will they start to work with us rather than against us? And so on!
In summary – there are many opportunities to improve what we do and how we do it with the aim of supporting our members and developing the sport. This list is only a flavour of some of the ideas and potential projects the starting point and priority however will need to be a sustainable business plan! That’s what the team will be working on!
(G) Legacy – History – call it what you may!
We have a simply superb historic legacy that is second to none!
Dickens medals awarded to animals are rarer than Victoria crosses! Pigeons have won the vast majority!
Why do I have examples on the wall of my office and in the safe? They should be seen be as many people as possible! It’s a tale that should be told!
PIW (Pigeons in War) another great story that everyone from kids of 6 through to great grand parents at 90plus always want to hear! We have very little on show to permanently preserve and display this history apart from a small exhibit at Bletchley and an even smaller one at Davidstow in Cornwall (that I haven’t seen yet but will very soon I hope).
Working with the trustee’s at Bletchley Park we hope to come forward during 2012 with a proposition to create a “world class - museum quality” permanent PIW exhibit at Bletchley Park. It will not be cheap but will be seen be hundreds of thousands of people each year! – the PIW exhibit is the second most popular exhibit after the Enigma machines and schools currently have to wait almost 18 months to be able to book a visit!
How do we pay for this you will ask? – we’ll come up with some suggestions as part of the summary report early next year – “where there’s a will - there’s a way”! Bletchley Park however is a charity! I’m also trying to negotiate a discount on Bletchley Park entry fee’s for RPRA members – more at a later date when I succeed!
(H) Stroud Valley/Synwell & District Flying Club – Annual Dinner /Dance.
I was very proud to attend as guest of honour the annual dinner dance and award presentation of the above clubs – especially so as my Dad is a member of the Stroud Valley Club (he still scrubs up well on these special occasions!)
My wife and I were made to feel very welcome by both clubs and especially so by two gentlemen who deserve a special mention namely Mr Dave Fox and Mr Anner Smith (the respective club secretaries). It is their extremely hard work and dedication that run our clubs and make these events happen, Gentlemen “Thank You”!
Whilst I’m thanking people - to say the buffet was fantastic is an understatement, Mrs Wilkes – please take a bow! And the lovely bouquet of flowers presented to my wife was a very pleasant surprise.
It was good to talk with some of Dad’s friends and many of the other fanciers – hopefully I didn’t make a total mess of my short speech! The stuffed pigeon costume story got an early airing, watch the BHW to get the full story shortly!
Once again Ladies and Gentlemen of both clubs a heartfelt thank you!
(I) Show of the Year.
Whilst the sad news regarding the passing of our Show Chairman Brian Mead has put a cloud over our activities I can report that we have made steady progress at making sure the event next year is a great one! The ladies at the Reddings continue to make sure things happen on time and keep me on the straight and narrow.
The offers of help, assistance and encouragement regarding preparations and delivering next years show have been brilliant – many thanks! A SOY meeting will be arranged in good time – we will be in touch shortly regarding the offers of help to ensure the “show must go on”!
Brian would expect nothing less of us!
In my short time with the RPRA I’ve been fortunate to witness the great work that our fundraising activity over many years has done. We hope to have some more examples of how our fund raising makes a difference at next years show!
(J) Final summary and conclusion
Hopefully you will have gathered that I’m really enjoying my job working for the members of the RPRA and the sport of Pigeon Racing in general. It’s a great job working with good teams at both the BHW and the Reddings. I wanted to do something different and this certainly is!
My sole aim, although you will all need to play a big part, is to prod, push and make things happen so that you’ve all still got something to discuss in 10 or 20 years time and that our sport,far from dying on its feet (or should it be wings?), is healthy, financially stable and is working to a plan that delivers Pigeon Racing securely into the future!
Very best regards
Stewart
With Sadness.
Sadly I have to open my “view from the Reddings” with a few words about Mr Brian Mead who passed away suddenly a short while ago. In my short time at the RPRA I had spent a few hours in Brian’s company and a more than a few on the telephone asking his input and advice with regard to the organising of the 2012 Show of the Year. The loss of Brian, so shortly after Peter Duffield, another SOY committee member who passed away in the autumn, will be a real loss for not only the SOY but the sport in General.
Brian was a “real gentleman” in every sense of the word. It was a pleasure to know him albeit briefly – and on behalf of everyone at the Reddings and the BHW we offer our sincere condolences to Margaret and the rest of the family.
October Council.
I survived my first RPRA council meeting! – Entirely due to the ladies at the Reddings along with the support and advice of the VP’s and President – my thanks!
In a strange sort of way I actually enjoyed it as far from it being a hot bed of “doom, gloom and despondency” I found that the underlying tone was that the Council would support change when presented with properly constructed and reasoned arguments to support the proposed changes. I think I am very fortunate to have joined the RPRA at a time when change is recognised as being required and is being supported!
Key notes and actions from the meeting have already been covered in the BHW suffice to say that now Council have fairly and squarely put the ball back in my court by supporting almost all the initial recommendations. It’s now up to the teams at the RPRA and BHW to deliver this change (and more!!) over the coming months and years.
The overwhelming feedback I gained from the Council members was a desire to make information more open so all members could understand why decisions were being taken and made.
I’m also aware that the “honeymoon” is over and now it’s about delivering some actions!
So here we go – RPRA Finance.
The RPRA is a relatively wealthy organisation – it has significant cash reserves and also owns two property assets (The Reddings and Welshpool Offices).
Like any business it needs reserves (savings) to cover “rainy day” events and it remains prudent to protect these reserves at the current level (approximately £0.75M) for the immediate future. Longer term, once sustainable business plans for the RPRA and BHW are in operation, further decisions can be taken regarding the level of reserves.
Repeatedly I hear that we should “sell the Reddings” to realise the “millions it must be worth” – rest assured the minute we are offered “millions” the Council will surely recommend that it is sold and the RPRA will move to another location. An extremely low valuation was obtained a while ago of some £400,000 – however until planning permission is granted to allow significant house building not only on the Reddings site but adjacent land (one without the other will not work!) no significant increase on this valuation will be forthcoming.
Which leads me to the next question – if we were offered say £500,000 to sell the Reddings today what would we do with the money? Don’t forget we’d still need a base whether purchased or leased.
Answer 1 – Stick it in the bank with all the other money!
Answer 2 – Subsidise RPRA fees and BHW copy price - If we kept the RPRA membership fee’s and the copy price of the BHW at current levels by utilising the capital - £500,000 would run out in just over 4 years. We would then have to massively increase fees and copy price to recover the situation.
Answer 3 – Sit tight - Why sell something now when it may be worth considerably more in the future especially as there currently no clear plans as to what to do with any funds raised!
No prizes for guessing which one I’d choose!
Previous financial prudence can be seen to be the right thing to do!
Going forward – Answer 4 will be – sell the Reddings for the maximum value we can realise – rent/buy a new modern facility and utilise the balance of the funds to grow, develop and promote the sport against a clear, agreed and supported action plan!
Some Background –
(A). Membership numbers.
RPRA membership continues to decline by some 4% per annum – membership has not grown since 1982 and the current number of members is some 43% of the level in that year.
There is no sign that this trending is “levelling off” as some may be suggest – longer term you can easily conclude that within 15 years there will be less than 10,000 fanciers in the RPRA and probably less than 20,000 in the whole of the UK. Historic demographics are against us and the pace of decline WILL increase over the next 5-10 years UNLESS we plan to do something very different.
(B). BHW Copy Sold (number of magazines sold each year).
BHW copy sold is also declining at around 4% per annum.
(C). Conclusion.
A similar pattern can be seen for all other key measures within the RPRA/BHW – from ring sales to historic advertising income – all of it is impacted by a declining number of members.
(D). Financial implications.
For the financial year (our financial year runs 1st Nov 2010 to 31st October 2011) just completed the combined consolidated finances of the RPRA/BHW will show a relatively healthy profit of around £50,000 (subject to final external audit confirmation!). This result is a direct consequence of putting RPRA membership fee’s and BHW copy price up last year.
If copy price and membership fees are left unchanged next year (FY 2011/12) then next years financial result is estimated to be a loss of around £20,000. If we were still to continue with fee’s and copy price unchanged for a further financial year (FY2012/13) then the loss in the year is estimated at approximately £95,000. The causes are simple – a 4% decline in all the key measures – copy sold, membership numbers, rings sold etc accompanied by year on year inflationary pressures despite all the efforts at saving costs, remember VAT went up by 2.5% at the beginning of the year!
This explains the historic financial performance of the RPRA/BHW over the recent past – large surplus followed by small surplus or small loss followed by large loss – eventually returned to surplus through one or both of BHW copy price and RPRA membership fee increases.
This shows that our budgeting and forecasting will become even more important going forward!
Hopefully this provides some explanation behind the Council propositions that the Membership fee is increased at 2012 AGM (but won’t take effect the following year – so a whole year delay) and that the copy price of the BHW is reviewed in February. It is looking ahead and planning accordingly and therefore avoiding the “lurching” financial performance described in the paragraph above!
Our association is financially well controlled but is typically reactive to events. Like many businesses there are things we do really well and some we do less so – we will continue working hard to reduce the entire cost base of both the BHW and RPRA.
The single most important directive from the recent council meeting is the instruction to prepare new business plans for both the RPRA and BHW. The aim of the RPRA and BHW teams over the coming months will be to work on deliverable strategic business plans that include business forecasts and offer an initial “blue print” of various options regarding what we could do in the future – that can be used by the Council and members to make informed decisions quickly and proactively – focused at prudent but effective financial management and most importantly starting to do something long term to redress the current demise of the sport!
We would welcome your ideas and input! Please write or email with any suggestions you may have!
Once we have our FY 2010/11 accounts audited in December we will publish more financial information with suitable explanations.
The following notes are not meant to be the answer to everything! They are a simple summary of where I see our organisation at the moment and some “bare bones” as to ideas regarding what we could do in the future!
(E). BHW - The future.
The BHW is currently performing financially well, following last years copy price increase, however I’m sure everyone will realise that with declining income (numbers of copy sold) you can recover the lost revenue in three ways – (1)putting copy price up; (2)reducing costs; (3) adding new revenue streams. As a rough rule of thumb the number of copies sold reduces by 4% a year and costs increase by 2% a year (real inflationary increases are nearer 5-6% with some of the effect being reduced by savings made in the organisation – less people/reduced costs etc)! Advertising income remains strangely flat in 2011 after years of steady decline – let’s hope a sign of things to come and advertising income does hold steady!
This leads to a simple conclusion – in the short term – the next two or three years –we need to increase copy price by 6% a year – every year! - Until alternative funding streams or another BHW business model is in place.
So what do we do?
Any business plan needs to look at the strengths and weaknesses we have and work on using them to our commercial advantage – so we need to look at selling and promoting advertising space outside just the normal sport related providers – this will initially be extremely hard but we need to try. Web based advertising (via the RPRA website) needs to be offered to the existing BHW advertisers in addition to the written advertising in the BHW. Longer term we need a plan to offer a web based BHW offering. We need to examine every cost we incur – can we avoid the cost? - can we do it better faster more cheaply?
In summary the BHW is a significant asset – we need to develop a plan that protects it and ensures its profitability and longevity. Working with the knowledgeable, skilful and loyal staff this plan will develop over the comings months. We however do not have a monopoly on “good ideas” and would welcome any suggestion or comments as to what should be included or new items or suggestions that should be considered.
(F). RPRA – The Future.
The RPRA has historically operated as a loss making organisation supported by the surplus generated by the BHW to produce the overall annual consolidated result that is published annually. Much like the BHW it also faces future challenges and needs a plan to address them.
The current membership fee of £8 is split £2.50 for your region and the £5.50 for the RPRA membership fee element. £5.50 does not reflect anything like the true cost of the services provided by the RPRA – without the benefit of owning the BHW the membership fee would have risen significantly.
We have many strengths, one of which is the undoubted fact is that the RPRA is seen to be THE first port of call for many public and press enquiries. There remains a huge level of fascination regarding our sport and one significant part of any future plan for the RPRA will be to move this interest from a reactive stance to a proactive one. We need to “sell” our sport to the media and public! Even with my “shiny blue and yellow Superman” outfit on – a rare treat for the ladies at the Reddings I can tell you! – there are simply not enough hours in the day for the press activity to be managed anything like proactively – at best we react! A key action going forward will be to find a way and agree how to manage this correctly and professionally! Yes – it will be potentially a significant investment – but one that will pay huge dividends! This will surely form a “key element” of any future business plan.
This level of interest does mean we incur indirect “costs on behalf” of the other unions when we represent the sport of Pigeon racing as a whole. When the sport is facing real challenges try explaining to a member of the Public or the Press the logic behind having the numerous Homing Unions all trying to do the same thing!
Thankfully we now see the first signs of the Unions starting to work as one – albeit on the single issue of “Hawks” for now! It is a good start along the road to more co-operation rather than the historic squabbling about issues that are long gone!
Much more on the “Hawk Issue” in a later BHW – once we start doing things rather than talking about it!
Our strays system continues to develop and is a real strength in avoiding numerous potential public relations “disasters” regarding the issue of strays. This must NEVER be under estimated – without this we would have a VERY different and negative public perception of our sport! We can already automatically email fanciers when a stray is reported via the website and one stage further on would be to send these stray notifications by text message as a majority of members have mobile phones whilst only a smaller number have access to email.
The investment the RPRA has made previously in automated computerised systems is paying dividends with year on year reductions in the staffing requirements needed to provide the service level to support the organisation. These benefits will continue and the staff is well aware of the changing nature of the RPRA going forward as the organisation changes. Ongoing automation and modernisation of our methods and systems will be another “key element” of a future business plan.
An example that shows how the skills required within the Reddings team will change - the current website is old, tired and outdated – it is an under utilised tool that should be continually updated with a much wider breadth of information and offerings. The data management of the entire website is being brought into the Reddings – WE will control all the content management – the staff will be trained to perform this task. We have many willing volunteers to learn these new skills and in time the whole team will be able to contribute. The website will grow in scope and size as we have more and more up to date content added. With this increasing content interest will grow and with this we hope to generate alternate revenue streams through advertising and promotional activity.
Over time the Reddings team will continue to become a smaller but more widely skilled group of people until such time as growth dictates otherwise! Investment in training staff in modern business skills will be required as we move from a reactive administration centre to a more proactive organisation. We have already had discussions with the local Trade Union representative with regard to finding out about local training and funding options/grants.
At the October council meeting I made a recommendation that the staff at both the Reddings and BHW be awarded a 3.5% pay raise effective from the 1st November 2011. The reason I made this was to ensure that the staff are rewarded appropriately for their efforts and that we remain competitive albeit in a very depressed market place. We do not pay exorbitant salaries and the 3.5% increase means that our lowest paid staff earn just over the minimum wage. Council supported this recommendation. For clarification this increase does not apply to me - I have not been here long enough or done enough yet to justify any increase!
In the next few weeks we will publish a “who’s who” of the Staff at both the Reddings and the BHW including photographs with a short description of the primary duties each person undertakes. Every time we get a first time visitor they always say “we thought there were many more people working here!”
There are significant benefits to be derived through a lot of small changes – for example - every day we bank around 250 cheques! – over 1000 per week! We “sneak” into the local branch of Lloyds everyday with a stack of envelopes each containing 50 cheques – normally to be greeted by the staff shouting out “its death by pigeons again!!” Someone has to sort record and count each one of these at the RPRA before they go to Lloyds (who we used to pay over £15,000 in bank charges each year – thankfully my predecessor resolved this so we now enjoy “free banking” if there ever is such a thing!). We have several repeating membership charges i.e. transfers – we need to look at simplifying and/or automating this system to reduce the administration effort required.
We will be looking to reduce stock holding levels (therefore cash tied up in stock) in the future months and will be looking to suppliers to hold stock on our behalf – ensuring service levels are maintained with reduced costs and avoiding filling the Reddings with mountains of stock!. We will be using the technology we have to complete simple tasks – more simple printing tasks will be done in house reducing the need to buy huge quantities and avoid building obsolescence into our stock. An example - the SOY 2012 is our 40th anniversary show – the ladies at the Reddings simply redesigned our SOY stationary with a 40th SOY logo (provided by the President!) and we now have modern stationary that we print only as and when we need it!
We have had meetings with various ferry companies to improve their offerings for next year – further details will follow shortly in the BHW. Please make sure you study the information very carefully – as a small change can potential save your club a considerable amount of money! Do not simply repeat last years programme without studying the list! Not only have we asked them about ferry crossings for the transporters but we are in dialog with them about what “special offers and discounts” they can offer to our members and their families! Following this theme we are also contacting “selected” other organisations with regard to similar “discount” offers – please feel free to suggest others - again more to follow in the BHW!
To the list above you can then start adding – RPRA One loft Races – how do we develop them?; School educational visits and learning programmes – how do we make sure we increase our exposure at school level?; Maximising the value of our attendance at Country shows – why not more evenly spread around the country?; Use the MDU every day of the week April to September; RPRA merchandising – offer more options and keep the offer “fresh” and vibrant?; Show of the Year – how do we ensure it continues to entertain and offer what the fancy want? VOSA – when will they start to work with us rather than against us? And so on!
In summary – there are many opportunities to improve what we do and how we do it with the aim of supporting our members and developing the sport. This list is only a flavour of some of the ideas and potential projects the starting point and priority however will need to be a sustainable business plan! That’s what the team will be working on!
(G) Legacy – History – call it what you may!
We have a simply superb historic legacy that is second to none!
Dickens medals awarded to animals are rarer than Victoria crosses! Pigeons have won the vast majority!
Why do I have examples on the wall of my office and in the safe? They should be seen be as many people as possible! It’s a tale that should be told!
PIW (Pigeons in War) another great story that everyone from kids of 6 through to great grand parents at 90plus always want to hear! We have very little on show to permanently preserve and display this history apart from a small exhibit at Bletchley and an even smaller one at Davidstow in Cornwall (that I haven’t seen yet but will very soon I hope).
Working with the trustee’s at Bletchley Park we hope to come forward during 2012 with a proposition to create a “world class - museum quality” permanent PIW exhibit at Bletchley Park. It will not be cheap but will be seen be hundreds of thousands of people each year! – the PIW exhibit is the second most popular exhibit after the Enigma machines and schools currently have to wait almost 18 months to be able to book a visit!
How do we pay for this you will ask? – we’ll come up with some suggestions as part of the summary report early next year – “where there’s a will - there’s a way”! Bletchley Park however is a charity! I’m also trying to negotiate a discount on Bletchley Park entry fee’s for RPRA members – more at a later date when I succeed!
(H) Stroud Valley/Synwell & District Flying Club – Annual Dinner /Dance.
I was very proud to attend as guest of honour the annual dinner dance and award presentation of the above clubs – especially so as my Dad is a member of the Stroud Valley Club (he still scrubs up well on these special occasions!)
My wife and I were made to feel very welcome by both clubs and especially so by two gentlemen who deserve a special mention namely Mr Dave Fox and Mr Anner Smith (the respective club secretaries). It is their extremely hard work and dedication that run our clubs and make these events happen, Gentlemen “Thank You”!
Whilst I’m thanking people - to say the buffet was fantastic is an understatement, Mrs Wilkes – please take a bow! And the lovely bouquet of flowers presented to my wife was a very pleasant surprise.
It was good to talk with some of Dad’s friends and many of the other fanciers – hopefully I didn’t make a total mess of my short speech! The stuffed pigeon costume story got an early airing, watch the BHW to get the full story shortly!
Once again Ladies and Gentlemen of both clubs a heartfelt thank you!
(I) Show of the Year.
Whilst the sad news regarding the passing of our Show Chairman Brian Mead has put a cloud over our activities I can report that we have made steady progress at making sure the event next year is a great one! The ladies at the Reddings continue to make sure things happen on time and keep me on the straight and narrow.
The offers of help, assistance and encouragement regarding preparations and delivering next years show have been brilliant – many thanks! A SOY meeting will be arranged in good time – we will be in touch shortly regarding the offers of help to ensure the “show must go on”!
Brian would expect nothing less of us!
In my short time with the RPRA I’ve been fortunate to witness the great work that our fundraising activity over many years has done. We hope to have some more examples of how our fund raising makes a difference at next years show!
(J) Final summary and conclusion
Hopefully you will have gathered that I’m really enjoying my job working for the members of the RPRA and the sport of Pigeon Racing in general. It’s a great job working with good teams at both the BHW and the Reddings. I wanted to do something different and this certainly is!
My sole aim, although you will all need to play a big part, is to prod, push and make things happen so that you’ve all still got something to discuss in 10 or 20 years time and that our sport,far from dying on its feet (or should it be wings?), is healthy, financially stable and is working to a plan that delivers Pigeon Racing securely into the future!
Very best regards
Stewart