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Chair report
This Integrated Annual Report covers a year that began so well, completing a decade of year-on-year growth against the backdrop of a declining number of 18-year-olds resident in the UK. In 2010, Winchester had just over 4,000 students and a turnover of £46m. As this report shows, we ended the decade with our turnover and student numbers nearly doubled, with turnover just over £80m and our student body at nearly 8,000. As an organisation that prides itself on business excellence, this is something of which the Board and all members of staff should be extremely proud.
A notable marker of this success was the completion of the biggest capital project ever undertaken by Winchester – the new £50m teaching and learning building at West Downs. As a key institution within Hampshire, this new iconic building is a point of pride not only for the University but for the city of Winchester too.
Also, in the first half of the year, the Board played an active role in shaping Winchester’s new 10-year strategy and accompanying business plan, setting in stone an ambitious plan for continued growth together with a commitment to our values and to business excellence.
Then, as the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country, Winchester entered a period of unprecedented uncertainty, requiring rapid changes in the way it operates. I am proud of how Winchester made the necessary changes to its teaching and social environment, while continuing to deliver strong financial performance. Winchester has undertaken excellent work to manage costs and mitigate income losses resulting from the pandemic. We were able to take the decision to provide generous discounts for students living in Winchester accommodation and to top-up the Government’s furlough scheme to 100% of salary for all staff. Winchester is pleased to deliver a positive outturn for the year.
That is a helpful backdrop as we face up to a period of unprecedented challenge, not only from the effects of COVID-19 but also from uncertainties over Government policy. It is in these difficult times that the core strengths of Winchester, its valuesdriven approach and its unwavering commitment to educational excellence, to sustainability and to social justice, will be particularly important.
As I come to the end of my tenure as Chair of the Board at the end of July 2021, I remain confident that despite facing a challenging year ahead, the strength of the Board and of the whole team at Winchester will enable the beginning of another successful decade.
