Estates Update

Deborah Griffin, Bursar

Finances

The pandemic has had two major effects on the College’s finances. Firstly we lost a term’s residential and catering income. This means that we are forecasting a loss of around £800,000 for the financial year which ended on 30 June 2020. We normally budget to break even or make a small surplus. Secondly we have lost all conference and events business including our Homerton International Programme, this summer and for the rest of the year at least. This is forecast to affect this year’s finances 2020/21 by about £1.5 million. There are also additional costs to make the College as safe as possible and to ensure our students have the best experience that they can.

Our investments have, so far, performed comparatively well and we are looking at a total return for 2019/20 of about 3.0%. We have given rental discounts to some of our commercial tenants while they cope with pressures on their own businesses. With our Investment Committee we are monitoring cash flow, as we normally do. We are continuing with two major development projects (see below) and the funding for these is in place. We are fortunate that the College is in a robust financial situation which will allow us to navigate our way carefully through this crisis.

New facilities

At the time of the lockdown, we had three major development projects underway. After a hiatus of three or four weeks, all sites returned to work with procedures in place to keep their staff safe.

North Wing, which encompasses a new auditorium for 110 people, two large music practice rooms and 18 guest bedrooms, was only a week from completion when the lockdown happened. This has now been handed over, although supply difficulties are delaying some finishing touches. This will be a very useful space especially in current circumstances.

Work on the adjacent Paupers Walk during the building work has revealed the stone windows covered up in, we believe, 1932. We have decided to expose two of these, although they need quite a lot of work to repair the stone and bring them back to their full glory.

Development of the new sports fields being constructed with St Mary’s School off Long Road is continuing. The new pitches are due to be completed in August. This will provide flood-lit artificial surfaces for hockey, cricket nets, netball, tennis, rugby, football and high jump and long jump. Other sports such as lacrosse and American football will also be able to use the pitches. The construction of a Pavilion will commence in September. College students and the school will be able to use the pitches from September with portacabin toilets in place.

Construction of the new Dining Hall (with buttery, servery and kitchens) had started in February and is now well underway with piling and ground floor slab going in place. We now have another large crane above the College landscape! We are installing our second array of ground source heat pumps (GSHPs) this summer which will be under the lawns of the College. Completion of the building is scheduled for the end of 2021 – how I wish we had that extra space now!

Construction begins on the new Dining Hall

The Auditorium in the new North Wing

Long Road sports fields are nearly ready for action

With these projects underway we are now planning for a much-needed Porters’ Lodge within which we are planning to encompass a Children’s Literature Resource Centre and additional group study spaces. We are also planning for the re-purposing of the Great Hall and the area surrounding it to ensure we make this a well-used and beautiful space for the College.