HF Holidays Annual Report 2024

Our year in numbers

NPS 71 (last year 69) for UK houses 64 for Europe for Worldwide 63

Our year in numbers

561 leaders led in 2024

215 press mentions and a reach of 809,548,014 readers (153 press mentions and a reach of 229,571,328 prior year)

We have a B Impact score of

84.9 Almost

49,000 members own our Society

2,638 people travelled with HF Holidays in 2024 46,596

£15m of current investment from members new members in 2024 (2,672 in 2023)

Which? Recommended Provider for Escorted Tours for the 6th consecutive year Celebrated 111 years of inspiring fun, friendship, and an active enjoyment of the great outdoors

Our members of bookings were made by members

80% of bookings were made by repeat customers

32% A third of customers purchased more than one holiday in 2024 76%

Statement from our CEO

Chris Simmonds | CEO of HF Holidays

Dear member

I am delighted to introduce my first annual report and accounts as the new Chief Executive Officer of HF Holidays.

Membership matters most

I have come to learn that the enduring success of HF Holidays lies in its simple yet powerful formula: being owned by and for its members. For over 111 years, this model has thrived, helping continue our shared mission to create holiday experiences that inspire fun, friendship, and an active enjoyment of the great outdoors.

Being new to HF Holidays, I have been immensely impressed by our rich history and the vision of our founder, TA Leonard, who believed in the power of walking to break down barriers and bring people together from all walks of life. Meeting our members, customers, and leaders since I joined has underscored the enduring values of community and belonging that define HF Holidays.

I would like to congratulate David Harrington on his retirement and thank him, not only for his 40 years of dedicated service to the society, but also for the handover he provided in the short time we worked together before I officially took on the role on 1 November 2024. Equally, we welcomed over 2,638 new members into the Society.

Led by our product

Guided walking remains our biggest and best-selling product, representing nearly 60% of our UK sales. The numbers of both new and existing guests choosing UK self-guided walking is increasing and now accounts for just over 30% of sales. The remainder of bookings come from families, groups, and those enjoying our special interest holidays.

Throughout the year, 46,596 guests travelled with us, representing growth of 4.5% on the previous year. Revenue also grew to £34,715m, an impressive 11% improvement over 2023. However, despite this positive trajectory, we did not hit our target surplus. We face many challenges but mainly the ongoing recruitment difficulty in the travel and hospitality sector, particularly in our kitchens, which resulted in a significant overspend against budget due to the use of agency personnel.

Therefore, our operating surplus was £93k which was a third lower than target.

In 2024 a new customer feedback system was implemented and as a result many more customers completed our survey which provided invaluable feedback to help us improve and develop our holidays. 14,000 surveys were completed, representing a growth of over 60%, and all our measured scores improved on 2023. Our Net Promoter Score (NPS) was 71, up from 69 in 2023. Any score over 50 is considered exceptional. NPS is a key metric we use to assess customer satisfaction and loyalty.

We continue to develop and create new holidays in the UK and overseas including rail adventures, assisting our goal of lowering CO2 emissions per passenger mile. Our range of UK partner hotel holidays have been a popular area of growth, too.

Sustainability remained a strong focus for guests and members. Our carbon footprint is measured annually, and we continue with the goal of reducing the carbon intensity of our product by 5% each year. Our ambition is to be net zero by 2040, earlier if we can. We are delighted that HF Holidays is now B Corp Certified and immensely proud of our score of 84.9. This reflects our long-term commitment to ensuring our entire business operates ethically and meets high social and environmental standards.

The people involved in HF Holidays have always been our strength. From the dedication of colleagues in designing and operating the holidays you love, to the 560 HF Holidays Leaders who volunteered for us in 2024, filling 2,500 assignments.

Simplify, optimise and invest

As we look to the future, I’m excited to move forward with a renewed focus on culture, purpose, and values, while refining our strategy to build on TA Leonard’s remarkable legacy. Our emphasis will remain on being a co-operative, pursuing sustainable growth, and developing new products — particularly in the special interest segment. At the same time, we will prioritise optimising performance to drive increases in operating surplus, ensuring we can invest in our future, especially in enhancing our unique country house offering.

I’d like to extend my sincere thanks to our members, leaders, field advisors, directors, honorary officers, and all colleagues in our houses and offices. We have a lot to do in 2025, but I am confident that altogether, we will go from strength to strength.

Chris Simmonds CEO of HF Holidays

Statement from our Chair

Ben Reid obe, fcca | Chair of the Board

I want to start this report with two ‘thank yous’. Firstly to you, our members, for your continued support us over the year.

As a member of our co-operative, you are effectively the owners of this business and as such, we your elected board, are clear that we are working on your behalf to ensure that HF Holidays has a long-term future.

Secondly, I must pay tribute to our retiring CEO David Harrington. He has served the Society well for the past 40 years and the Board would like to formally record our appreciation of his dedication.

To mark this, we have agreed to designate a room at the newly refurbished Longmynd Hotel in Church Stretton as the ‘Harrington’ room. This will ensure that his contribution is appropriately recognised.

It reflects the Board’s decision to move away from the former practise of marking outstanding service by appointing an individual as a Vice President. We believe this is a more modern and appropriate form of recognition.

Management Change

David has now passed on the baton to our new CEO Chris Simmonds. I would like to welcome Chris and wish him every success in leading HF Holidays to even greater achievements.

Chris was appointed after a long and thorough recruitment process. The Board were seeking an individual that had two key attributes, firstly to be able to demonstrate a strong track record of leading a holiday business and secondly, someone with an affinity for the membership concept that is fundamental to HF Holidays. Chris, we believe ticks both of those boxes.

Strategy Review

In the last few months of his term of office, our previous CEO, David, conducted a fundamental review of our strategy. He passed his thoughts onto Chris who has refined them and presented the result to the Board for adoption.

At the heart of the revised strategy is you, our members. We want to be able to answer the question ‘what is in it for me if I join the Society?’ The key change will be the introduction of Member Pricing in January 2025. A revised brochure will be issued to reflect this. Initially the member discount will be £30 per person but we would be hopeful of increasing this as the new business model develops. In support of this initiative, the management team are creating a package of other member benefits that will be announced early in the new year. As part of our benefits review, we reflected on the level of interest we pay on Share Accounts. It is clear that the amount of interest paid on Share Accounts up to £1,000 is not considered significant by our members. They are far more focused on receiving discounts on their holidays and their bar bills.

As such, the Board has decided to cease the payment of interest on accounts less than £1,000 and to focus more on providing other benefits to this group of members. However, to recognise the support given by members who invest more than £1,000, we have increased the interest rates.

Membership

Underpinning this reinforcement of the value of being an HF Holidays member is the need to ensure that the Members Share Register is up to date. When we examined our rules there was not enough clarity around the process required to remove members who are deceased, those whom we cannot make contact with, and individuals whose share balance is below the stipulated £100 to join. To clarify this we are going to propose some minor rule changes at the next AGM.

Governance

As was reported at last year’s AGM, the Board have been conducting a board effectiveness review. This has been a really positive exercise and very timely with the appointment of a new CEO. A full report on the progress we have made will be included on the AGM agenda.

Delivering Success

Key to our ongoing progress must be the generation of sufficient profit to ensure we can invest in new products and maintain our estate of country houses. In the year to October 2024, we delivered a profit of £93k which was £245,579 behind budget - a real concern to the Board. This concern was reflected in the decision not to pay any performance bonuses to the Leadership Team.

Our new CEO understands the need to significantly improve this level of profitability and will be carrying out a full review of our cost base in conjunction with exploring opportunities to increase holiday sales to address this challenge. The early signs are positive, and we look forward to reporting an improved financial performance next year. Despite the shortfall in profits, and largely as a result of the support from members, we have continued to invest in our estate. A further £2 million has been invested in our property in Church Stretton, Shropshire, creating a holiday venue that we can all be proud of. There has also been a range of smaller projects across other country houses that were all aimed at improving the quality of holiday experience.

Recognition

Of course it isn’t all about profits. They are important but they are merely the enabler to delivering high quality holidays. It is therefore a real pleasure to be able to report that we have been named as a Which? Recommended Provider for Escorted Tours for the 6th year running. We achieved 5 stars for customer service and also for our escorted tours. Overall, we scored 87%, judged independently by over 12,000 Which? members, alongside members of the public. This is a real endorsement of the level of commitment shown by everyone in the HF Holidays team which includes employees, leaders and volunteers. On behalf of all the membership can I record our appreciation for all their efforts over the years.

In addition to the Which? recognition, we were also accepted as a member of the global B Corp movement. To achieve this, we had to be able to demonstrate real, long-term commitment to operate ethically and continue to meet high social and environmental standards. A major endorsement that we are delivering holidays in a way that are in line with the underlying principles established by our founders over 111 years ago.

Overall, it has been a busy year for the Board. It feels like we are now starting an exciting new chapter in the history of HF Holidays and I look forward to being able to report real progress in next year’s report.

Once again thank you for all your support.

Ben Reid OBE, FCCA Chair of the Board

Our values

Trusted

‘We do the right thing’

We act and communicate with honesty, openness and integrity

We encourage constructive discussion and challenge to find the best solutions. Everyone is treated fairly, respected and valued.

Collaborative

‘In working together, we achieve more’

We put people at the heart of what we do.

Our teams have a common sense of purpose and a shared vision.

We communicate and co-operate, sharing best practice, skills, information and ideas.

Exceptional experiences

‘Our standards are exceptional because we care’

We go the extra mile to provide all our guests with memorable and high-quality holiday experiences. We value our heritage; and continue to be enthusiastic about evolving our holidays to meet the changing aspirations of our guests.

We walk in other’s shoes to find the best way to deliver on expectations

We all have a part to play in delivering exceptional service; both within HF Holidays and to all our external guests and connections.

Ownership

‘We take responsibility to make things happen’

We empower our people to make decisions.

We have clear responsibilities and deliver what is expected of us.

We take personal accountability for seeing things through.

Inspiring, passionate and fun

‘We love what we do and do what we love’

We inspire people to travel and walk the world and are passionate about the great outdoors

We create an environment where working or volunteering for us is a fun and rewarding experience

We embrace new opportunities and celebrate success.

Our strategy

As a co-operative, we believe there is more to being a successful business than just profit.

As well as measuring our financial results, we use our Strategy Wheel to evaluate our success in the key areas of product, people, and performance. Each section of the wheel has several objectives which we monitor continuously. We have taken the learnings of our Strategy Wheel to demonstrate how we have performed on these objectives during the 2023/24 financial year.

The sections of this report are coloured berry, tangerine or teal to indicate where performances fall within our business

strategy. All our teams work towards our common goal of building our tomorrow while keeping our guests at our heart. This ensures we are addressing our co-operative aims as a business on a continuous basis.

On the following pages we report our Society Strategy Wheel results and several key developments in these areas. The financial performance of the Society is included from page 40.

HF Holidays Strategy Wheel

People

Our people, both volunteers and employees, are our most important asset. Key to our relationships are our values, and we need to ensure these are paramount in everything we do.

How we are providing an inspiring place to work

Our People Strategy consists of five sections:

l Atttracting Talent

l Investing & Developing

l Enhance & Engage the People Experience

l Retaining Talent

l Visionary, Values-Driven Leadership

Attracting Talent is our strategic process of identifying, engaging, and securing individuals with the skills, experience, and values that align with the needs and culture of the society. This involves creating an appealing employer brand, offering competitive benefits, and fostering a supportive work environment to ensure HF Holidays remains a desirable place to work. Effective talent attraction is crucial for sustaining our business success, delivering exceptional service, and driving innovation within our teams.

Investing & Developing focuses on nurturing our people by providing opportunities for growth, enhancing skills, and fostering career progression. This includes offering training programs, personal development plans, and resources to support continuous learning. By investing in our employees, HF Holidays strengthens its workforce, improves job satisfaction, and ensures we have the skills and expertise needed to deliver exceptional experiences to our guests while preparing for future challenges and opportunities.

Enhancing & Engaging the People Experience is about creating a workplace where employees feel valued, supported, and connected. This involves improving communication, recognising achievements, fostering inclusivity, and ensuring a positive

work environment. By prioritising the overall employee experience, HF Holidays can boost morale, increase engagement, and strengthen loyalty, enabling our teams to deliver exceptional service and uphold our values.

Retaining Talent focuses on keeping skilled and dedicated employees within HF Holidays by creating a positive work culture, offering opportunities for growth, and ensuring job satisfaction. This involves providing competitive benefits, recognising contributions, and addressing employee needs to build loyalty and reduce turnover. Retaining talent not only preserves valuable knowledge and expertise but also supports continuity and stability, which are essential for delivering exceptional experiences and achieving long-term success.

Visionary, Values-Driven Leadership is about guiding HF Holidays with a clear vision for the future while staying rooted in our core values. This leadership approach inspires innovation, encourages collaboration, and ensures decisions align with the society’s mission and culture. By embodying our values and setting a compelling direction, visionary leaders engage employees, build trust, and drive sustainable success, ensuring HF Holidays continues to thrive and deliver exceptional experiences.

Retain Talent

Invest & Develop

Enhance & Engage

Attract Talent

Equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI)

We aim to ensure the HF Holidays experience is open to everyone, by building a culture of inclusion and by supporting and engaging our diverse community.

We strive to create a working environment where every individual feels safe and empowered to achieve their full potential.

We recruit, employ, train, promote, and compensate individuals based on job-related qualifications and abilities. HF Holidays has a longstanding policy of providing a work environment that respects the dignity and worth of each individual and is free from all forms of discrimination. We are a member of the Business Disability Forum, a Disability Confident Employer, and we operate the Guaranteed Interview Scheme to those candidates who meet our essential criteria.

Our house teams

Our house teams work exceptionally hard to give our guests a warm welcome and an experience to remember.

We believe in supporting our team members in achieving their full potential

Lord Kojo

I joined HF Holidays this year on the skilled worker visa programme as head chef at Freshwater Bay House on the Isle of Wight. My induction to HF Holidays was very enjoyable and included 4 weeks learning about British cooking styles and HF's food menus. Recently I've been able to get involved in building the new dinner menu with our development chef and I am excited to continue learning as my journey with HF Holidays continues.

Marie Lownie

I joined HF Holidays as deputy assistant manager at Nether Grange in Alnmouth. I was given the opportunity to act as holding manager at Dolserau Hall in Dolgellau and with the continued support and development from the ops team, other house managers, and of course the team at the house, I was successful in progressing to house manager. I look forward to putting the skills I've learned into practice in the 2025 season.

Annual familiarisation visits

As Britain's only co-operative walking holiday provider, we believe that the true spirit of adventure lies in sharing it with others. We offer annual familiarisation visits to all our colleagues to stay at any of our country houses. This year 82 staff enjoyed a stay with us (60 prior year).

Annual Hotel Managers Conference

Sarah Davis, Executive Assistant on self-guided lunch stop with friends while staying at Abingworth Hall.

Volunteer Day

Since 2018, HF Holidays have given staff a paid day each year to volunteer for causes close to their hearts. Throughout 2024 many members of our team have taken the opportunity to support a range of projects, and we love to shout about it!

At the end of May, 13 colleagues took on our new Southern Lake District Coniston Skyline Challenge, raising almost £1k for mental health charity, Mind Over Mountains. Dressed in Where’s Wally gear, they successfully covered 18.4km (11.43 miles) and 1,120m of ascent up Wetherlam via Steel Edge and the summits of Swirl How and the Old Man of Coniston in a single day. For comparison, the ascent up Britain's biggest mountain, Ben Nevis, is 1,370m.

In aid of the same charity, Mind Over Mountains, our Product Operations Manager, Karen Armstrong, Head of People & Culture, Ali Bull, and HR Business Partner, Israel Ojo, completed

Our long service awards

a 5.8km (3.6 miles) walk from Monk Coniston, along the Cumbria Way to Torver and back.

In September, the Tour Admin team volunteered at Aldenham Country Park, where they spruced up the petting area for Halloween, cleaning walls, sweeping hay, and clearing cobwebs, before enjoying a well-earned tour and animal feeding.

In early November, UK Product Manager, Hattie Holme, spent a long weekend volunteering with Netball Scotland at their inaugural Celtic Cup tournament in Glasgow.

We celebrate length of service for colleagues from across our Society every 5 years and in 2024, those with a milestone work anniversary totalled 250 years.

5 years – Amanda Kelly, Laura Farmer, Samantha Trevett, Harriet Holme, Lorena Secades, Magdalena Szulc, Roberto Madera Contin, Lucia Sanchez Diaz, Jaroslaw Czarnecki, Piotr Abramowicz, David Ait Pineda, Gemma Evans, Robert Matthews and Gosia Swirydowicz 10 years – Andrew Page

David Harrington

15 years – Kieron Fanning and Joanne Sutcliffe-Dodds

20 years – Kevin Creech

30 years – Heather McEwan

35 years – David Lewis

40 years – David Harrington

55 years – Tony Wootton

After 40 years of dedication and hard work David Harrington, CEO, retired from HF Holidays and has begun a well-deserved retirement. To mark this milestone, colleagues gathered for a heartfelt farewell celebration in the office.

Tony Wootton

Celebrating an extraordinary milestone in Tony's journey with us. We mark 55 incredible years of dedicated service to HF Holidays. Tony has not only been a remarkable employee but also a great friend and mentor to many. Throughout his tenure, he has consistently demonstrated an unwavering commitment to excellence and an infectious enthusiasm that has inspired everyone around him.

His knowledge and experience have been instrumental in shaping and guiding new generations. Whether it's his invaluable insights and knowledge or his genuinely warming personality.

As we look back on the decades, we are grateful for the countless contributions Tony has made— his dedication to his colleagues, his passion for our mission, and importantly his genuine care and love for our guests and members.

Tour Admin volunteer day

Sponsored walk - Product, Marketing, and Operations team

Gosia Swirydowicz

Heather McEwan

David Harrington

Tony Wootton

Our 2024 Extra Mile Award winners

Each month, team members across HF Holidays can nominate an employee of the month who, in their opinion, has gone the extra mile and demonstrated our values.

Our 2024 winners

January: David Miller, Maintenance

February: Paul Mitchell, Payroll & Benefits Manager & Nevan

Fowler, Assistant House Manager

March: Tiffany Connolly, House Manager

April: Ean Moorhouse, Northern Area Maintenance Manager

May: Sara Smith, Resourcing Manager

June: Giles Sladden, Gardener

HF Holidays leaders

July: Jake Wren, Assistant Manager

August: Karen Armstong, Product Operations Manager

September: Sarah Davis, Executive Assistant

October: Nicholas Ramsell, Maintenance & Glenn Watkin, Gardener

November: Giles Sladden, Gardener

December: Becky Forrester, Resourcing Manager

Our volunteer leaders are at the heart of everything we do, and we cannot thank them enough for the knowledge, time and enthusiasm they dedicate to HF Holidays. As volunteers, they generously share their passion for the great outdoors, bringing our guests together to experience and explore the countryside on foot.

At the start of 2024 we had a phenomenal 665 leaders on our panel – 561 of whom took up appointments, contributing to the 2,500 appointments undertaken in the UK and overseas.

Group of leaders and assessors enjoying an authorisation increase outing in poor weather conditions in Bannau Brycheiniog.

How we are giving back

Freshwater Bay House on the Isle of Wight was once again the refreshment station for participants in the island’s annual Walk the Wight festival. Sponsored walkers raised an impressive £440,000 + for the Isle of Wight’s Mountbatten hospice charity with a whopping 9,500 people taking part!

The Summit returned for 2024

We’re proud to have hosted The Summit for the fourth year running, this time in Southern Snowdonia. The mission of this annual event is to inspire new and diverse communities of people to actively engage with the outdoors and share ideas in the natural environment. With this ongoing partnership, HF Holidays is working hard to help make enjoying the great outdoors more inclusive for all. We look forward to welcoming attendees again in 2025 to Alnmouth and would like to give a huge thanks to Phil Young, founder of the media platform The Outsiders Project and co-founder of The Summit, for sharing his experience. Go online to read the article www.hfholidays.co.uk/news/the-summit-2024

Summit 2024. Images Les Latchman

Our HF Holidays Pathways Fund

For many years, our Pathways Fund has provided assisted holidays to those who could not otherwise afford one. Since 1998, the fund has helped to protect and improve the countryside where HF Holidays guests and members walk. Your generous donations are greatly appreciated.

£55k donated from HF Holidays Pathways Fund in 2024 (£61k in 2023)

Projects supported in the last 12 months

Assisted Holidays

62 people benefited from an Assisted Holiday in 2024. We provided guided walking holidays in the South Downs, a self-guided break in Selworthy, plus family adventures in the Peak District and Shropshire.

“Thanks to HF Holidays for such a wonderful holiday. The week has been spectacular from the start, we have met some very nice and kind people. The kids had a great time, made friends and played a lot, as well as seeing nature and animals. The most exciting thing was that they got a recognition of the number of kilometres they walked.”

Quote from Family Assisted Holiday guest

Footpath Project

£9k to repair a previous Pathways Fund footpath project originally installed in 2018 on the Isle of Wight. After the boardwalk on footpath 57 suffered damage from falling trees, our contribution has allowed members, guests, and local residents to continue enjoying walks on this popular path through Beech Copse at Godshill.

Renew steps along footpath 33 in the Peak District

£423 to renew steps along footpath 33 in the Peak District which can be found on our Buxton and Goyt Valley walk when staying at Peveril of the Peak.

Peak District

Shropshire

South Downs

Pathways Fund 2025 and beyond commitments

Selworthy

Isle of Wight

As a B Corp certified business, it is our long-term commitment to operate ethically and sustainably. By choosing HF Holidays you’re supporting sustainable travel and community-focused initiatives. Feel good knowing your journey benefits both people and the planet. Here are just a few of the fantastic projects and community initiatives we’ve committed to supporting

l £30k pledged to support the National Trust’s footpath repairs at Roseberry Topping near to Larpool Hall, Whitby This essential work will help improve access for walkers, horse riders and cyclists

l £644 pledged for a footpath repair at Rectory Fields opposite our entrance to Longmynd Hotel in Church Stretton

Make a donation to the Pathways Fund

l £9k pledged to Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team near to Alltschellach, Scottish Highlands

l £3.5k pledged to support the Dales Way bridge repair

l £2.5k pledged to support the repair of public toilets near Newfield Hall, Malham, Southern Yorkshire Dales

l More assisted holidays planned to the Isle of Wight, the Lake District and the South Downs

Visit hfholidays.co.uk/pathways to find out more about the Pathways Fun and make a donation.

Family Assisted Holiday Pathways fund Isle of Wight. Steps before Pathways fund Isle of Wight. Steps after

How we are delivering co-operative excellence

Thank You to Our Valued Members

As we closed the chapter on 2024, we reflected on a year filled with achievements, challenges, and opportunities for growth. None of this would have been possible without you— our loyal and dedicated members. You remained at the heart of HF Holidays, and your support, passion, and belief in our values continued to inspire us throughout the year.

Membership Highlights

In 2024, we welcomed 2,638 new members to our community, strengthening the co-operative spirit that defines HF Holidays. Together, members contributed £588,000 in new share capital, reaffirming confidence in our mission. While £932,000 was withdrawn due to personal circumstances and rising living costs, our share capital remained strong at £15.25 million by year-end.

Here’s a snapshot of 2024’s key trends:

l More Holidays for Members - The number of holidays taken by members increased by over 1,500 and members accounted for 76% of all bookings.

We’re inspired by the variety of people choosing to travel with us, from first-time explorers to those who’ve been part of the HF family for decades.

A Co-operative Built on Loyalty

As a co-operative organisation, we rely on your loyalty and support to help us continue to provide exceptional holiday experiences, reinvest in our community, and focus on sustainable growth. Your investments continue to be the foundation of our shared success, enabling us to innovate, enhance our services, and create memorable experiences for generations to come.

In November, we celebrated our 111th birthday, a milestone only made possible thanks to our members. This achievement was a testament to the power of our community and the values we share. We marked this special occasion with celebrations across our country houses. Members, leaders, and our teams came together for a weekend of reflection, laughter, and connection. Thank you to all who joined us and to the house teams who made these celebrations unforgettable. Highlights included inspiring stories from members who had been on over 111 holidays or led more than 111 walks.

A Year of Change

2024 also brought transitions, including welcoming our new CEO, Chris Simmonds. Under his leadership, we began focusing on culture, strategy, operational improvements, and delivering even more value to our members.

From 11 December 2024, we changed the way we presented our prices to make them easier for both members and new customers to understand. We began displaying the full holiday price on our website and in our marketing to clearly show the £30 member reduction at booking completion. This change not only highlights the value of this popular membership benefit but is also part of our commitment to create clarity when welcoming non-members to join so they can enjoy the same.

Growing Through Recommendations

In 2024, we continued to grow through personal recommendations with the launch of our Recommend a Friend programme:

l You receive £75 off your next holiday for every friend you introduce who goes on to book

l Your friend also enjoys £75 off their booking

This initiative is a fantastic way to reward and recognise the work our members and guests do to spread the word about our unique holiday experiences.

Looking Ahead

As 2024 ended we began preparations for the year ahead, remaining committed to delivering exceptional experiences and strengthening our community. Your voice guided us throughout the year through regular feedback, Q&A sessions, and your participation in events like our 110th AGM, where over 300 members joined us in person or online. Together, we continue to explore, connect, and create unforgettable memories. Thank you for your loyalty and for being an essential part of the HF Holidays family.

Warm regards,

Jacqueline Merakli Membership Services Manager

An HF Holidays group in Madeira

How we are driving sustainability

We see it as our responsibility to minimise our carbon emissions, not just for this year but for every year to come. Our work with carbon consultancy, ecollective, has enabled us to measure our carbon footprint and create a strategy to reduce the carbon intensity of our product by 5% each year. Our ambition is to be net zero by 2040, earlier if we can.

You deserve transparency

You deserve to know the impact of your holiday. That’s why in 2024 we measured our carbon emissions and why we’ve shared the total carbon footprint of each holiday. Almost everything has a carbon footprint - and we want to be transparent about ours. Visit our website for more information www.hfholidays.co.uk/carbon-footprint

To help you make more informed choices, all our holidays online show a carbon emissions rating, and we promote low carbon travel options, including rail holidays and shared transfers.

We are B Corp certified

Our journey to certification

Know your impact

On average, in 2022 - 2023, our trips emitted 180kg CO2e per guest. We reduced our CO2e per guest by 11kg in the 12 months prior and have set ambitious targets to reduce this each and every year.

“Go vegetarian for the next 12 months = 1,423 kg of CO2e saved.”

In 2022, HF Holidays pledged to become B Corp certified, which would support the strategic goals of HF Holidays and required full support from the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) and board. This certification has impacted all parts of HF Holidays and is now part of our DNA.

We engaged the business with our journey and achieving B Corp status was a team effort supported by our carbon measuring partner ecollective.

Becoming a B Corp means opening our whole business to rigorous inspection and hitting targets that prove we are really doing what we say we will.

As a B Corp, we cannot rest on our laurels. HF Holidays will work to keep improving every year to retain B Corp status, working creatively to improve sustainability in everything we do.

To maintain B Corp certification HF Holidays will need to re-certify every 3 years and achieve a verified score of 80+.

Mushroom bourguignon

January 2022

Started our impact assessment

B Corp score and goals for recertification

5 September 2023

Submitted assessment for HF Holidays

Following a rigorous accreditation process, we were delighted HF Holidays certified as B Corporation (or B Corp) in April 2024. This means we’re a business that has reached the highest standards of social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. Simply put, we’re doing good for the planet and its people – both of which have always been at the heart of everything we’ve done since 1913.

Achieving a score of 84.9, we join one of the few businesses in the hospitality industry with a B Corp Certification and join a growing movement of companies in the tourism space that are reinventing business for the benefit of all people and our shared planet.

We were measured on five impact areas which included:

8 April 2024

HF Holidays becomes B Corp Certified

Impact area plans and progress

Connecting like-minded people with a shared passion for the great outdoors has been at the heart of what HF Holidays has done since 1913. As the UK’s only walking holiday co-operative, we have almost 49,000 members - all of whom are part-owners of a purposeful business powered by its people and values.

What we said we would do, and what we achieved

l Working with suppliers across our country houses that have a commitment to net zero in areas such as food, beverage, linen and waste – our team have put in place measures to track our annual carbon review

l Helping our members and guests make more informed choices – provided CO2e measurements on our holidays on our website

l Storytelling to our members and guests has been baked into our marketing

l Introducing vegetarian and vegan menus on our Europe and worldwide holidays as a minimum standard

l Grown the proportion of rail trips with new tours for 2024 and 2025

"We are incredibly proud that HF Holidays is B Corp Certified. This reflects our long-term commitment to ensuring our entire business operates ethically and meets high social and environmental standards."

Sarah Davis, Executive Assistant

Our plans for the next 12 months

✓ Reach net zero by 2040 - Continue to reduce the carbon intensity of our product by 5% each year to become net zero by 2040, earlier if possible.

✓ Improve waste & recycling - Reducing waste and increasing recycling by 50%

✓ Work with Net-zero suppliers - Working with other suppliers across our country houses that have a commitment to net zero

✓ Measure our carbon footprint

✓ Retain our B Corp accreditation – We will strive to improve our social and environmental performance by being re-certified every three years

Staying on the right path

By the time we are due for recertification in March 2027, we aim to have improved our work towards meeting the new B Corp standards due to be introduced in January 2026.

To make true progress towards a more sustainable future, we will endeavour to be transparent about our commitments and policies. We have set our standards high and remain passionate about doing things the right way. We don't claim to be perfect, but the environment needs action, and we see these as small steps amongst many we are going to take in the future.

Product

Our commitment to new product development ensures we continuously engage and meet the evolving needs of our audience. Guided by our travel trends, our expert teams proactively identify opportunities to address these demands, curating a diverse range of holidays designed to inspire our members with enjoyable and enriching experiences worldwide.

Bran Castle, Romania - Tales & Trails of Transylvania

How we are maintaining & broadening our guest base

With our communications foundations firmly established we continually seek innovative approaches to expand our guest base and connect with new, diverse audiences. We've seen a competitive landscape and have adapted quickly to reflect the evolving needs of our audience.

✓ Over 46,000 people travelled with HF Holidays this year

✓ 80% of bookings were made by repeat customers

Our marketing activity and results 2024:

✓ Three quarters of bookings were made by members

✓ A third of customers purchased more than one holiday in 2024

l A growing appreciation for the great outdoors brought HF Holidays into the spotlight, with 215 articles reaching over 809 million readers, including features in The Daily Telegraph, The Times, BBC News, and Good Housekeeping, driving a 50% surge in website visits.

l As travel confidence returned, bookings from new guests reached pre-pandemic levels, boosted by partnerships with Wanderlust and National Geographic

l Industry-leading satisfaction rates strengthened loyalty, with more guests returning multiple times and HF Holidays named Which? Best Escorted Tour Provider for the 6th consecutive year.

l New hobby and trail-based holidays, including Discover More Tours, Skyline Challenge, and immersive experiences in Eswatini and India, broadened new and existing customers' horizons at home and abroad.

l Both guided and self-guided walking holidays saw yearon-year growth, with notable success in international travel, reinforcing HF Holidays' market leadership.

l A series of online and printed brochures efficiently showcased our diverse offerings, reflecting our B Corp commitment to reduce waste.

A reputation to be proud of

“Another great walking short break. We are regular HF Holidays customers and book at least two holidays per year with them. We love the setup, the great food and the excellent walks leaders. Another important factor for us is the collaborative nature of an organisation which is owned by its members and reinvests any surpluses back into the business.”

Mr Broadhead

“Excellent walking holiday company, cannot fault this organisation. Enquiries were responded to almost instantly, and the attention to detail with regard to itineraries and safety advice is impressive and much appreciated as a first-timer. ”

Mrs Sutcliffe

Award winning escorted tours

It was an honour for HF Holidays to be once again recognised as a Which? Recommended Provider for Escorted Tours for the sixth consecutive year and this year we topped their survey!

With 5-star customer service and 5-star escorted tour rating, we received an overall score of 87%. This is judged independently by over 12,000 Which? members, alongside members of the public, so is a true testament to the hard work of our teams, leaders, and volunteers in delivering meaningful holiday experiences that create a sense of connection, community and belonging.

Which? said:

“The Holiday Fellowship, as it was originally known, started out in 1913 with the aim of improving the lives of factory workers by introducing them to the great outdoors. More than a century later, Britain’s only walking holiday co-operative still aims to be a force for good, supporting sustainable travel and community initiatives, but it’s also the bestrated escorted tour operator in our survey. You heaped praise on its 260+ walking holidays and outstanding service. One reader told us: ‘HF stands out in terms of organisation, accommodation, itinerary, choice of walks and the quality of the guides.”

This truly reflects the incredible work that our team of employees and leaders at HF Holidays do every day to create memorable adventures for all our customers.

How we are driving abroad growth

With confidence levels in overseas travel returning to normal, we were excited to relaunch some of your European and worldwide favourites, alongside superb newcomers including Georgia, Kazakhstan, Nepal, Norway, Oman, Thailand, and Lake Garda in Italy. We also successfully built on the popularity of rail holidays by introducing new trips to destinations including the Austrian Tyrol and the Harz Mountains.

2025 and beyond

As a measure of success, we are delighted to continue to offer these new holidays and more into 2025 and beyond.

New best sellers in 2024

1. Best of Lake Garda

2. Norway's Fjords and Fells

3. Swiss Big 5 Rail Adventure

4. Wildlife Walks of Eswatini

5. Walking & Sightseeing in Vietnam

Closer to home, our guests took up the challenge of exploring Dartmoor’s wild landscapes and journeying along the Best of the Pembrokeshire Coast Path. These holidays were all made possible thanks to our new Partner Hotel offering in areas beyond the reach of our own country houses – cementing these unique guided walking, trails and island-hopping adventures into future portfolios. And while the lion’s share of demand goes to the guided walking holidays we’re best known for, our self-guided options and special interest holidays attracted new and returning customers alike, enticed by the freedom and variety on offer.

New UK holidays launched in 2024

6. Northumberland Coast Path

7. Next Step Watercolours

8. Helvellyn via the Edges

12. Dartmoor Guided Walking

13. Best of the Pembrokeshire Coast

9. Creative Writing & Walking 10. Choir & Walking 11. The Coleridge Way Guided Trail

Traveleyes partnership

One year on since a partnership was formed between Traveleyes and HF Holidays and what a year it's been! We launched 27 trips to destinations across the globe, from the Peak District to Eswatini, with a mix of walking and cycling holidays, to discovery tours and city breaks.

Founder and Director of Traveleyes, Amar Latif thanked HF Holidays for opening their doors to Traveleyes and enabling blind and vision impaired people to travel once again with the same independence and freedom as sighted folk.

Here’s to another exciting year ahead!

For more information, visit traveleyes-international.com

Stanage Edge, The Peak District

Eswatini

How we are enhancing the holiday experience

We listen to you

The opinions of our members and guests are what matters most, and through our holiday surveys and biannual member Q&As, we monitor feedback to ensure that we're meeting your expectations.

Your responses provide valuable insights and help us to improve our holidays and service in the future.

Net Promoter Score

This year we’ve seen fantastic NPS results:

71 (last year 69) for UK houses

64 for Europe

63 for Worldwide

NPS stands for Net Promoter Score, a metric used in customer experience programmes - above 50 is amazing.

Holiday Surveys – very good & good scores combined

12,036 UK surveys returned 93% Value for money (89% in 2023)

97% Overall enjoyment (97% in 2023)

96% Overall enjoyment (94% in 2023)

2,105 Europe surveys returned 89% Value for money (87% in 2023)

240 Worldwide surveys returned 84% Value for money

93% Overall enjoyment

Performance

Our success involves everyone right across the business. With profitability front of mind, we have implemented several new processes that will directly tie in with our goals.

Nether Grange, Alnmouth

How we are introducing smarter processes

We are on a journey, and the effectiveness of our IT infrastructure, platforms & digital solutions play a fundamental part in the evolution of HF Holidays.

Our key IT projects for 2024 included:

HR and Recruitment

We have invested time and money in new integrated IT systems to enable our People strategy whilst also improving processes and efficiency.

The initial phase was to implement Talos, our application tracking system. This enables us to reach more potential candidates in an effective and efficient way. The system allows us to track and monitor the recruitment process and aid in onboarding, whilst ensuring data and HR compliance.

This system is now embedded, and we are reaping the rewards of a simpler and less admin-heavy process.

The next phase is the implementation of our new HR, Workforce Management & Payroll System - Fourth. We are pleased to confirm that the system is now live for the Head Office team and provides a self-service module for employees alongside efficiency gains and access to more data and analytics. We recently began the rollout to our house-based teams for HR, scheduling and time and attendance tracking. We will also migrate payroll to the new system and be aligned with the new tax year.

BI (business intelligence) dashboard

Building on the initial work to model our booking and customer data, we are seeing good adoption of the dashboards within our commercial and operational teams. New dashboards have provided better commercial insight and given our team the ability to track performance and trends against budget. The ability to glean further detail and context allows our teams to make timely commercial, marketing, and yield decisions. The solution has cut down on manual and time-consuming work needed to pull data together from different sources.

Tigerbay reservation system

Further small enhancements have been made to our reservation system to provide efficiencies, support the launch of rail holidays, drive key data to our BI data model and feed price and booking related data to the website. This avoids the need to double load and maintain data in two systems, helping support our new website project.

Digital menus at our houses

We trialled a digital menu solution at Newfield Hall for eight weeks and gathered guest feedback via our house teams and our customer satisfaction questionnaires.

Running this trial was valuable and the team at Newfield Hall did a great job getting up and running, supporting guests with the new process and adapting to a new way of ordering. However, based on learnings, feedback, and the original goals for this project, the decision has been made to end the trial. For now, Newfield Hall have reverted to our previous menu and ordering process.

The goals and intention behind this initiative and project are still valid, and we do intend to revisit this and investigate a better solution in the future. The system used for the trial wasn't right for HF Holidays.

Automation of data collection and sharing with Leaders

We recently launched two automated processes with our leaders:

Checking and collecting of emergency contact details: Leaders are now sent an automated email periodically asking them to check and update the emergency contact details we hold within the system for them. This is important information and we wanted to ensure we have it stored and available for leaders to check the validity, without adding administrative overheads.

Leader feedback from Customer Satisfaction Questionnaires (CSQ):

Since launching our new CSQs a year ago, we are now able to ask guests to score individual leaders on some key areas. We were keen to ensure leaders had visibility of these scores. We have implemented an automated process to collate the scores from guests completing the CSQs and present this back to leaders in an email sent four weeks after their appointment.

How we will protect and grow our assets

“Your valuable investment is making a real difference to HF Holidays, now and for future generations. In the past year, we've made great progress in enhancing facilities across our country house estate, both for members and guests, and our warm and welcoming team.”

Ben Reid, Chair, HF Holidays

Your investment in action

We use money generated from the sale of shares to expand and enhance our country houses, helping to sustain the quality of holiday experiences for our members and guests. As a future-focused business, we've been working hard on strengthening the fundamental infrastructure of each of the 15 characterful properties across our estate.

In 2024, thanks to your support, we've invested nearly £2m to conserve, maintain, and improve our houses. This has included £1.1m on Phase 2 of the re-furbishment at Church Stretton. This included relocating the kitchen, resizing the

dining room, refurbishing public areas and refurbishing ten guest bedrooms. We have invested £326K on roofing works at our Grade 2 listed Harrington House in Bourton-on-theWater. So far, we've increased the energy-efficiency of public spaces and guest rooms, refurbished interiors, and upgraded key safety systems including fire alarms. We've also invested in kitchens across our estate which will equip our teams to improve your overall dining experience, and essential mechanical and electrical upgrades.

“Each of our historic houses has its own unique needs, and we're always looking for thoughtful ways to enhance your holiday experience. Whether we're responsibly reusing materials or making buildings more energy-efficient, we're committed to respecting the character of these special places whilst preparing them for the future. Thanks to past efforts like installing biomass boilers, adding EV chargers, and fully refurbishing Derwent Bank, we're already seeing the benefits. These improvements help us meet your high expectations and ensure great value for everyone.”

Dean Clark - Estates Manager

Peveril of the Peak Upgraded roofing works and dining room renovations in process.

Longmynd Hotel

New glazing with Stretton Hills views. Upgraded interiors, exteriors inc. new windows, bedrooms, kitchen, dining and shared spaces.

Holnicote House

Exterior facelift, outdoor area improvements and upgraded fire safety systems.

Freshwater Bay House Team accommodation refurbishment planned, and shared guest spaces refreshed and redecorated.

Harrington House

Final roof renovations in progress, including historic glazed cupola and sustainably reusing existing materials where possible.

To attract and retain a strong workforce, we've upgraded our team's accommodation at several houses and continue investing in improving staff areas for our live-in team members. We have also invested in improving guest bedrooms with plans to refurbish 20 more guest and leader rooms at Longmynd Hotel by March 2025.

All these projects help to strengthen the value of the estate and improve the longevity of our Society in line with feedback from members.

l Improved energy efficiency at Longmynd Hotel with a new biomass boiler, enhanced thermal insulation and heating systems in all refurbished guest rooms, plus new windows and LED lighting throughout.

l Upgraded fire alarms and early warning systems at Derwent Bank, Holnicote House, and Thorns Hall in phase 1 of our refurbishment.

l Refreshed interiors at Freshwater Bay House with revamped dining rooms at Monk Coniston and The Peveril of the Peak on the way.

l Exterior facelift on Holnicote House and improvement to outdoor areas.

l Phase 3 underway of conservation roofing works at Harrington House, re-using as much of the existing stone as possible and upgrading thermal insulation.

Leave a gift in your will

It was with great regret that we made the difficult decision to cease operations at Dolserau Hall in Southern Snowdonia at the end of November 2024.

We’ll continue to invest in our remaining country house estate and hope to purchase our property in the Peak District. We’ll continue offering exceptional walking holidays in Wales at Nythfa House and partner hotels in Pembrokeshire, Anglesey, and Northern Snowdonia. We’d like to take this opportunity to extend our heartfelt thanks to the team at Dolserau Hall for their years of dedicated service and offer our full support as they navigate this transition.

Legacy gifts are vital in sustaining our co-operative. Your generosity will help inspire future generations to enjoy the great outdoors. Read more at hfholidays.co.uk/leave-a-gift-in-your-will

Investing in our future

As a co-operative powered by its people and values, we're proud that our members provide the lion's share of investment in our estate. We are guided by your ownership and insights and your investment can help shape the future of the Society. We've switched to renewable energy across our estate and our ongoing commitment to enhancing the energy efficiency of our country houses and offices has already resulted in an annual reduction of approximately 113,000 kg of CO2e. By increasing your shares, you can benefit from both an improved holiday experience and the returns generated from making HF Holidays a success.

Here are a few examples as to how increasing your shares can help:

l If 350 members holding the minimum number of £100 shares, invested another £100, we could upgrade several team accommodation rooms at Harrington House in the Cotswolds.

l If 120 members raised their shareholding levels to £1,000, we could install solar panels at Longmynd Hotel, helping to significantly reduce energy bills.

l If 70 Investment Members bought an extra £10,000 worth of shares, we could refurbish the remaining half of the guest rooms at Longmynd Hotel in Shropshire.

How we are improving our profitability

We are always looking at ways to add value and improve our profitability.

We continued to face the challenges in 2024 of minimum wage, inflation, and national insurance increases.

Key takeaways

l UK guest weeks were up 9% on budget

l Overseas revenue per guest week was up on budget by 8.8%

l Overhead costs, excluding sales & marketing came in under budget

l The capital budget was on target at £2.5m

l Finalised the sale of West Lulworth House

l Closed the Penrith office

l Swimming pool refurbishment at Alltshellach supported by donation from Bob Gomersall (Vice President of HF Holidays)

l Closed Dolserau Hall

l Total £141k bequests from members

We had huge challenges around chef recruitment and as a solution we have recruited chefs via a skilled worker visa programme as mentioned earlier in this report (see page 10). Our year in numbers

Co-op Excellence and Governance

Governance Report

The Board presents its governance report to members for the period ending 31 October 2024. Our Society is dedicated to implementing and following best practices in cooperative governance. We maintain an open approach with our members and encourage any questions or comments to be directed to our Society Secretary, Manuela Gordea, via email at manuelagordea@hfholidays.co.uk

Volunteer Board of Directors

The Society is committed to following the guidance provided in the Co-operative Corporate Governance Code issued by Co-operatives UK in 2019, the Code on Withdrawable Share Capital, and the Community Shares Handbook. In situations where we have opted for alternative approaches, we have explained our reasoning in this report.

To facilitate effective governance, the Governance & Membership Committee, on behalf of the Board, has undertaken a comprehensive review of the Society's compliance with the recommendations of the Governance Code. This careful examination assures the Board that we strive to align our practices with recognised governance standards.

The Code is organised into six sections, and we have structured our report to reflect this framework, ensuring clarity and fostering transparency throughout our processes.

1. Member Voice, Participation and Engagement

As a co-operative, the Society believes in the primacy of members. This commitment is reflected in the formal governance structures established by the Society, as well as in its efforts to engage with members and consider their opinions. The Society operates under a set of Rules that have been approved by its members, which serve as the foundation for its governance framework. These Rules are aligned with the Society’s mission, vision, and values. A copy of the Rules, as well as the mission, vision, and values, can be found at hfholidays.co.uk/ membership/current-members.

The Society is dedicated to advancing the interests of our members by offering exceptional outdoor holidays that enhance sociability. Based on our thorough review, we are excited to place a greater emphasis on this aspect in our holiday programme. We will be implementing member discounts and are prepared to present proposals at the 2025 AGM to amend our rules, allowing us to focus our efforts on those members who actively engage with our services. We are confident that these initiatives will strengthen our community and enrich the members’ experience.

The Board consists entirely of elected members. Annual elections enable members to choose who will lead their Society. The Board considers member meetings and these annual elections essential components of effective cooperative governance. They are committed to promoting these events widely and ensuring that they are conducted transparently, allowing members to participate as they wish.

Members

48,837 At the end of the 2023/24 financial year, the Society had 48,837 members (2022/23: 47,459).

The Society does not keep a record of how many employees become members. It aims to treat all employees equally, regardless of their membership status, and ensure that no employee feels pressured to join.

The Board monitors member participation, always welcomes input from members, and actively seeks their views during the two Q&A sessions held each year. Feedback is also gathered through membership surveys, guest feedback opportunities, discussions with directors on investment member breaks, and communications with the HF Holidays team.

Annual General Meeting

Every year, the Board conducts a hybrid Annual General Meeting, which allows members to hold the Board accountable and participate in the Society's formal affairs by voting on important matters both by postal and electronic means.

249

In April 2024, 249 virtual and 53 in-person members attended the hybrid AGM (2023 hybrid: 330 members; 2022 hybrid: 340 members; 2021 virtual: 700 members; 2020 virtual: 511 members).

2. Co-operative leadership and purpose

The Board establishes the mission, vision, values, strategy, and objectives of the Society. It regularly monitors progress toward its strategic goals, ensuring alignment with the stated mission, vision, and values on this page:

Our mission: to provide shared holiday experiences, which inspire fun, friendship, and an active enjoyment of the great outdoors.

Our vision: to remain an independent, self-sustaining society, with a growing, engaged membership, offering guests high quality programmes and facilities, and a sociable welcome on all our walking and activity holidays.

Our values:

Trusted: We do the right thing

Collaborative: In working together we achieve more

Exceptional experiences: Our standards are exceptional because we care

Ownership: We take responsibility to make things happen

Inspiring, passionate & fun: We love what we do and do what we love

Due to the unique nature of co-operatives, the Board must ensure that the Society stays aligned with its mission, vision, and values, while adhering to the co-operative values and principles established by the International Co-operative Alliance.

The Board believes in fostering a values-based culture. To support the development of an open culture, the Board endorses a whistleblowing policy that permits customers/ members to raise, in confidence, any concerns they may have. The Society also has a whistleblowing procedure for HF Holidays team members.

3. Roles & responsibilities

The Board is responsible for defining the Society’s mission, vision, values, objectives, and strategy. It also monitors the Executive Leadership Team's (ELT) implementation of this strategy and identifies and manages risk.

During the reporting period, the Board held eight meetings. The Board convenes and holds private sessions without the ELT when necessary. Directors also contribute by serving on committees aligned with the Society’s strategy. They engage with members participating in our holidays by attending Investment Member breaks and engaging through member surveys and communications.

The Board and each committee receive regular updates to ensure they can effectively discuss and monitor the Society’s activities and performance with the necessary level of scrutiny. During each meeting, reports from the ELT are reviewed, the Society's performance is evaluated, and relevant documents are presented for decision or information. The Board discusses and approves the Society’s strategy and annual budgets at appropriate times throughout the year. The Society’s rules outline specific duties and responsibilities that are reserved exclusively for the Board. The Board has a formal schedule of matters that require its decision.

During the year, the Board operated with seven standing committees: People, Performance, and Product, which align with the three elements of the Society's strategy, and an Audit and Risk Committee, a Governance and Membership Committee, a Remuneration Committee, and a Chairs' Committee.

Each committee has specific terms of reference, which are reviewed annually by the Board and made available on our website. The committee memberships are listed online, with some directors serving on multiple committees. Directors are encouraged to attend any committee meetings, regardless of their membership status, to enhance their understanding of the Society. They are also invited to participate in working groups, as needed.

The Board has assigned the daily management of the Society to the Chief Executive Officer. The CEO is responsible for implementing the Society’s strategy as outlined by the Board. The Board is also supported by the Society Secretary, who is appointed by the Board. All directors have access to her counsel regarding governance matters and legal compliance issues.

As part of the election process, candidates for the Board are informed about the responsibilities of a co-operative director, the skills required for the position, and the necessary time commitment. The code specifies that directors must obtain prior approval from the Board before taking on any additional external appointments. However, the Board does not support this provision, as it believes that directors are capable of assessing their own ability to manage other appointments while remaining aware of the time required for their responsibilities to the Society.

The Board has a policy regarding conflicts of interest, and the Society Secretary keeps a register to document any conflicts declared by directors and members of the Executive Leadership Team (ELT). At each Board meeting, directors and attendees are asked to declare any interests they may have related to the agenda items. The “Our Board” section in this Annual Report provides information about the directorships and formal positions declared by the directors. It also includes a record of each director's attendance at Board meetings and committee meetings during the reporting period. The data shows how many meetings each director attended compared to the number of meetings they were eligible to attend.

4. Board composition, succession & evaluation

The Board consists of 12 individual Society members who are elected by our members, usually for a four-year term instead of the three-year term recommended in the Governance Code. The Board elects two members annually to serve as Chair and Vice Chair. Directors do not receive remuneration but are reimbursed for appropriate expenses.

New directors receive a comprehensive induction package, and our Society Secretary coordinates a complete induction programme to help them become familiar with the society's key aspects. When deemed appropriate, additional training and development opportunities are provided for the entire Board.

The Society has established clear procedures for the annual election of Board members. An external provider manages the elections to ensure that due process is followed. These elections are usually competitive, and feedback from members suggests that they view the election process as fair and conducive to selecting the best candidates. Based on this feedback and the fact that elected directors possess a diverse range of skills, insights, and experiences, the Board believes it is unnecessary for the Society to adhere to the provisions outlined in the Governance Code regarding:

l Establishing a Search Committee

l Including provisions for independent non-executive appointed directors in the Society’s Rules

Co-Operatives UK conducted a Board Effectiveness Review in 2023/2024. The report provided a comprehensive analysis of the Board, covering aspects such as directors' profiles, business strategy, financial control, board effectiveness, board committees, risk management, board processes, culture and behaviours, and diversity in the boardroom. It highlighted that the directors are highly experienced and

dedicated to the business, and the relationship between the Board and the leadership team is both positive and strong.

5. Risk, financial management & internal controls

In 2024, the Board developed and adopted the Strategic Risk Register. All Board and ELT members received risk management training, and the risk assessment processes have been improved. The Audit & Risk Committee regularly reviewed the Society’s Policies, Procedures and Guidance documents.

This annual report includes a full report on risk, financial management, and internal controls, and the Society complies with the Code on Withdrawable Share Capital issued by Co-operatives UK.

6. Remuneration of the Board & executive leadership

This Annual Report includes a comprehensive section on remuneration, detailing how salary packages are benchmarked and fairly determined. According to the Governance Code, we must disclose the remuneration packages for Executive Leadership Team (ELT) members in the Annual Report. The remuneration section provides complete information regarding the CEO's salary and benefits, as well as those for other executive leadership team members. We have included the number of ELT members within specific salary bands to strike a balance between transparency and the individual privacy rights of ELT members.

The Society’s policy is to establish payment terms with suppliers and to make payments according to those terms upon receiving an invoice.

HF Holidays Executive Leadership Team

The Board of Directors delegate the day-to-day running of the Society to the CEO and the ELT team, who are responsible for areas of the Society as listed below. The CEO reports to the chair of the Board.

Current ELT

(at the date of signing the accounts)

Chris Simmonds CEO

Ali Bull Head of People & Culture

Justine Gibbs Head of Finance

Robert Box Head of Transformation & Strategy

Toni Douglas Head of Hotel Operations

Gillian Mininch Head of Tour Operations

Jenny Brydon Chief Commercial Officer

HF Holidays Executive Leadership Team

Our Board

At the date of signing the accounts

The table below lists directors' attendance records at Board and Committee meetings for the year under review.

The figures illustrate the number of board and committee meetings each director attended compared to the number of meetings they were eligible to attend.

An asterisk (*) indicates attendance at a committee for which the director is not a standing member.

Board members

Ben Reid obe fcca Re-elected 2022

Director, Chair of the Board, Member of the Chairs’ Committee**

Other directorships: Chair – Cooperative Exchange, Director – Pingit Ltd, Director – Tronter Ltd

**The Chair of the Board is ex officio, a member of each committee, except the Audit and Risk Committee

Directors may not be able to attend meetings due to prior personal or professional commitments. In such cases, they provide comments on the board papers that will be discussed during the meeting.

Stephen Guile Re-elected 2023

Director, Vice Chair of the Board, Chair of the Governance & Membership Committee, Member of the Performance Committee, Member of the Chairs’ Committee

Other directorships: Director – Sandy Lodge Tenants Association Ltd, Fellow of the Institute of Leadership and Management

Jerry Gould Re-elected 2024

Director, Chair of the Audit & Risk Committee, Vice Chair of the Governance & Membership Committee

Director - Vice Chair - University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire

NHS Trust; Chair of the North District of the Cotswold Voluntary Wardens, member of the Independent Review Panel for the Council Member allowances scheme of Stratford on Avon District Council

Ben Reid 8/8

Stephen Guile 8/8 5/6

Linda Haydon 8/8

Rebecca Horlock 5/8

Keith Sellens 8/8 6/6

Steve Swift 8/8 6/6

Richard Drury 8/8 3/3 3/3

Andrea Illingworth 8/8 5/5 5/5

Robyn Lynch 6/8 3/5

Jerry Gould 7/8

Stephen Couper 4/4 3/3

Malcolm Oliver 4/4 2/3

Steve Swift Re-elected 2022

Director, Chair of the Performance Committee, Vice Chair of the People Committee, Member of the Chairs’ Committee

Robyn Lynch Elected 2023

Director, Vice Chair of the Audit & Risk Committee, Member of the Product Committee

Andrea Illingworth Elected 2023

Director, Vice Chair of the Product Committee, Member of the People Committee

Rebecca Horlock Elected 2021

Director, Vice Chair of the Performance Committee, Member of the Product Committee

Other directorships: Finance Director - Motorola Solutions

Keith Sellens Elected 2022

Director, Member of the Audit & Risk Committee, Member of the Performance Committee

Other directorships: Director - Morpar Limited

Stephen Couper Elected 2024

Director, Member of the Audit and Risk Committee, and People Committee

Richard Drury Re-elected 2023

Director, Chair of the People Committee, Member of the Performance Committee, Member of the Chairs’ Committee

Other directorships: Trustee - Education Business Partnership

Linda Haydon Re-elected 2024

Director, Chair of the Product Committee, Member of the Chairs’ Committee

Malcolm Oliver Re-elected 2024

Director, member of the Governance & Membership Committee, and Product Committee

Remuneration report

Our goal is to offer competitive rewards and benefits that attract, inspire, and retain colleagues who are dedicated to delivering exceptional service to our guests. In achieving this, we carefully balance our business performance, financial sustainability and external factors influencing the hospitality sector, including skills shortages and market pay rates.

We prioritise recognising the critical skills essential to our success and fostering both individual and team excellence through incentives and other forms of recognition. Central to our approach is a commitment to fairness and equal opportunity in employment, ensuring all colleagues receive equitable pay for equivalent work, regardless of gender, ethnicity or other non-performance-related attributes. To strengthen our focus on remuneration matters, a dedicated Remuneration Committee has been established, separate from the responsibilities of the People Committee.

Pensions and benefits

All colleagues (including permanent, fixed term, zero hours contracted and seasonal workers) are legally required to be given the opportunity to be part of an auto-enrolment pension scheme with contributions from the employer and the employee. The ELT have an enhanced pension offering. It is the Society’s policy to provide the following funded benefits to its UK colleagues:

l Death in service

l Medicash with health cover

Our employee contracts and agreements

The Society is currently re-issuing new employment contracts for the house colleagues for the next season aligned to evolving employment legislation. The Society considers salaries for colleagues on an annual basis and eligible colleagues were awarded a 5% gross salary increase from 1 November 2023. Hourly rates for zero hours and seasonal workers are reviewed annually against the government’s minimum wage and national living wage. The Society pays the full adult rate for anyone under 23 years of age.

Our Executive Leadership Team (ELT) remuneration

The CEO and ELT are responsible for the Society's day-to-day operations and the implementation of its strategic objectives. For the financial year ended 31 October 2024, the CEO’s total salary and benefits amounted to £196,576, Note the new CEO (Chris Simmonds) joined the society on the 1st October 2024 and is also shown in the table.

When determining remuneration for the ELT, the Remuneration Committee takes into account salary increases awarded to the wider workforce and considers external benchmarking data. This benchmarking includes compensation practices in organisations of comparable type and size.

The remuneration details for the CEO and ELT for the period 1 November 2023 to 31 October 2024 are presented in the table below. The total remuneration package for each ELT member also includes a variety of benefits such as car allowance, pension and bonus.

Our Executive Leadership Team (ELT) bonus plan

On an annual basis, the Remuneration Committee considers any changes proposed for the bonus scheme and recommends payments for the prior financial year to the Board for approval. This arrangement is structured to reward both behaviour and performance.

Under the bonus scheme, members of the ELT are eligible to receive a maximum payment of 25% of base salary per annum of which 15% is assessed against the Society’s performance over the financial year and the remaining 10% is determined by performance against agreed targets and objectives. The CEO determines how much of the 10% personal performance award is allocated to each of the ELT. The CEO is not present when their own remuneration is discussed by the Board. This is a fair, transparent reward approach which has been created in line with the Society’s values and co-operative values.

Executive Leadership Team (ELT) Remuneration, including CEO

* Discretionary Bonus ** Includes Car Allowances (where applicable) and Employer Pension contributions

Excludes National Insurance. (Note 5 on p.47 for staff disclosures includes National Insurance).

Please note that this table contains details relating to ELT members that have been employed by HF Holidays between 1st November 2023 to 31st October 2024 and includes the details of members that have left the society within this timeframe.

Gender pay gap

In accordance with UK government requirements for companies with 250 or more employees on a specific date each year (the ‘snapshot date’), we are obliged to report our gender pay gap data. As of April 2023, our median gender pay gap calculation was -10.8% (-9% previous year). A negative percentage shows that men have lower pay or bonuses than women in our organisation.

Managing Risk

Our Society aims to manage and mitigate the risks which could prevent us from (i) achieving our vision and (ii) adhering to our values and co-operative ethos. We have in place a monitoring structure to help achieve this and continue to strive to improve our risk management processes.

The Role of the Board

The Board sets the Society’s risk appetite, has ultimate oversight of risk management across the Society and determines the risk management roles of each of its Board Committees and individuals within the Executive Leadership Team (ELT). The governance structure agreed is illustrated below.

Our Risk Management & Governance Structure

Board of Directors

Committee

Committee

The Board, with input and recommendations from across the Society, considers risk at each of the six Board meetings. It makes decisions with respect to risk, having considered any recommendations of the Audit and Risk Committee and the Chairs’ Committee.

The ELT has day-to-day responsibility for implementing the Board’s policies and processes for managing risk. It is accountable for the identification and assessment of risks and advising the Board and its Committees accordingly and for the implementation of mitigations and assurance processes to reduce the likelihood and impact of any risks becoming actual events. The ELT regularly reviews the Society’s Strategic Risk Register.

The Role of the Board Committees

The Society has three standing committees aligned to the strategic pillars of the Society, namely Performance, People and Product and two further committees, one which considers Governance and Membership issues and an Audit & Risk Committee. There is also a Remuneration Committee which is a sub-committee of the People Committee and a Chairs Committee comprising the Chairs of the other Committees together with the Chair and Vice Chair of the Board. The Chairs Committee brings together the considerations of the other committees before each Board meeting. Each committee meets at least 5 times a year and

is responsible for considering the risks on the Strategic Risk Register which are identified as being within that committee’s remit.

The Performance, People, Product and Governance & Membership Committees may make recommendations to the Audit and Risk Committee with respect to the risks which they are tasked with considering.

The Audit and Risk Committee, in addition to managing any risks specifically allocated to it, is tasked with monitoring the effective operation of the Society’s risk management processes. It meets at the end of each committee cycle and at each meeting, it considers the latest Strategic Risk Register along with any changes to it proposed by any other committee.

Having considered the comments of the other committees and its own discussions, the Audit & Risk Committee makes recommendations to the Chairs Committee and subsequently the Board with respect to the Strategic Risk Register.

Our Risk Management Framework

Our risk identification, monitoring and reporting mechanisms continue to be developed with risks rated using a likelihood and impact matrix, and any audit assurance activity is based on a risk-assessed approach determined by the Audit & Risk Committee.

Policies and procedures

We have developed and regularly review policies and procedures which provide guidance and standards for managing the business and minimising and mitigating risk.

Roles and responsibilities

The Society uses the well-recognised ‘three lines of defence’ methodology to manage risk:

First line being the managers and leaders who manage risk as part of their day-to-day activities, guided by the Society’s policies and procedures, use of project or activity-focused operational risk registers and through appropriate training.

Second line being ELT and ultimately the Board through its committees.

Third line being internal audit projects used as appropriate to provide independent assurance and challenge.

How we managed risk in 2023/24

The following actions were taken to enhance our management of risk during 2023/24

l We adopted the use of the Strategic Risk Register as part of business as usual in its use by the Board and its Committees

l We provided an independently led training session for Board and ELT members

l We developed an Audit & Risk Committee process for overseeing the regular review and updating on the Society’s Policies, Procedures and Guidance documents

The Current Strategic Risks

The Strategic Risks agreed by the Board and included on the Strategic Risk Register for 2023/24 and their delegation to each of its committees were as follows:

Performance Committee

l Failure to achieve budget

l Failure to have minimum working capital

l Adverse audit report

l Failure to maintain our cash balances sufficient to operate the business of the Society at all times

l Insufficient funding sources to meet capital plans

l Failure to attract membership investment

l Failure to deferred consideration on time from the Lulworth sale (this was added during the year as a timelimited risk)

People Committee

l Failure to attract and retain

l Inability to attract and retain leaders and volunteers

l Failure of succession planning

l Closure of Penrith Office disruption and additional workload (this was added during the year as a timelimited risk)

l Health & Safety Executive prosecution of the business

Product Committee

l Failure to maintain a competitive product portfolio that meets the needs of current and target markets

l Travel restrictions due to external events

Governance & Membership Committee

l Compliance with legal obligations

l Failure to attract and retain sufficient Board members with appropriate skills and commitment

l Failure to ensure active member participation

Audit & Risk Committee

l Failure to manage our cyber and wider IT risks

l Failure to put in place and regularly review operational risk management processes and procedure and to effectively monitor adherence to them

Independent auditor's report to the members of HF Holidays Limited

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of HF Holidays Limited (the "Society") for the year ended 31 October 2024 which comprise the Income Statement, the Statement of Financial Position, the Statement of Changes in Equity, the Statement of Cash Flows and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including FRS 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and the Republic of Ireland' (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion the financial statements:

l give a true and fair view of the state of the Society's affairs as at 31 October 2024 and of its income and expenditure for the year then ended;

l have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and

l have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014.

Basis of opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the Society in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC's Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the committee of management's use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the society's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the committee of management with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other information

The other information comprises the information included in the annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The committee of management are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise, appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

l the society has not kept proper books of account, and not maintained a satisfactory system of control over its transactions, in accordance with the requirements of the legislation; or

l the revenue account, any other accounts to which our report relates, and the balance sheet are not in agreement with the society’s books of account; or

l we have not obtained all the information and explanations necessary for the purposes of our audit.

Responsibilities of the committee of management

As explained more fully in the committee of management's responsibilities statement, the committee of management are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control it determines is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the committee of management are responsible for assessing the society’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the committee of management either intends to liquidate the society or to cease operations, or has no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue a Report of the Auditors that includes our opinion.

Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

As part of an audit in accordance with ISAs (UK), we exercise professional judgment and maintain professional scepticism throughout the audit. We also:

l Identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the deliberate override of internal control;

l Obtain an understanding of internal control relevant to the audit in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of internal control;

l Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates and related disclosures made by the committee of management.

l Conclude on the appropriateness of the committee of management's use of the going concern basis of accounting and, based on the audit evidence obtained, whether a material uncertainty exists related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the society’s ability to continue as a going concern. If we conclude that a material uncertainty exists, we are required to draw attention in our auditor’s report to the related disclosures in the financial statements or, if such disclosures are inadequate, to modify our opinion. Our conclusions are based on the audit evidence obtained up to the date of our auditor’s report. However, future events or conditions may cause the society to cease to continue as a going concern.

l Evaluate the overall presentation, structure and content of the financial statements, including the disclosures, and whether the financial statements represent the underlying transactions and events in a manner that achieves fair presentation (ie. gives a true and fair view).

l We communicate with those charged with governance regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the audit and significant audit findings, including any significant deficiencies in internal control that we identify during our audit.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council's website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities

This description forms part of our Auditors' Report.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the society’s members, as a body, in accordance with Section 87 of the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the society’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the society and the society’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

(Senior Statutory Auditor) for and on behalf of

White Hart Associates (London) Limited Accountants and Statutory Auditors

2nd Floor, Nucleus House, 2 Lower Mortlake Road, Richmond TW9 2JA

Date 14 February 2025

Nicola Spoor FCA FCCA

B Reid OBE, FCCA Chair of the Board

Stephen Guile Vice Chair of the Board

Chris Simmonds CEO of HF Holidays

Approved by the board on 14 February 2025

Notes to the Accounts

1 Society information

The Society is governed according to its own rules and the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014. The registered office of the Society is Unit 1, 1st Floor, Imperial Place, Maxwell Road, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, WD6 1JN.

The principal activity of the Society is organising outdoor holidays.

2 Summary of significant accounting policies

2.1 Basis of preparation

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with The Financial Reporting Standard 102, (The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland) and the Companies Act 2006. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention except that certain freehold and leasehold land and buildings are stated at valuation. The Surplus or Deficit arising on revaluation is transferred to capital reserve.

The financial statements are presented in sterling (£) which is also the functional currency for the Society.

2.2 Going concern

The Society reported operating surplus for the period of £93,000 and has a net surplus in Shareholders’ Funds of £22,344,000. The financial statements have been prepared on the going concern basis as the directors have prepared sensitised forecasts and having undertaken a review of the future financing requirements for on-going operations of the Society, are satisfied that sufficient cash facilities are secured to meet its working capital requirements for at least 12 months from the date of signing of these financial statements.

2.3 Turnover

Turnover represents total amounts received from holiday operations including commission and cancellation fees, excluding value added tax.

2.4 Goodwill

Acquisitions of subsidiaries and businesses are accounted for using the purchase method. The cost of the business combination is measured at the aggregate of the fair values (at the date of exchange) of assets given, liabilities incurred or assumed, and equity instruments issued by the Society in exchange for control of the acquiree plus costs directly attributable to the business combination.

Any excess of the cost of the business combination over the acquirer's interest in the net fair value of

the identifiable assets and liabilities is recognised as goodwill. If the net fair value of the identifiable assets and liabilities exceeds the cost of the business combination the excess is recognised separately on the face of the consolidated statement of financial position immediately below goodwill.

Amortisation is charged to write off the cost of the intangible assets less their residual values over their estimated useful lives on a straight line basis. The intangible assets are written off over their useful economic lives.

If there are indicators of a significant movement in the useful life or residual value of the asset, amortisation is revised prospectively to reflect this.

2.5

Tangible fixed assets

Tangible fixed assets are measured at cost less accumulated depreciation and accumulated impairment losses.

No depreciation is provided on freehold land and buildings.

Other leasehold properties are depreciated over the period of the lease.

Computer equipment, motor vehicles and fixtures and fittings are depreciated on a straight line basis over their estimated useful lives at rates between 10% and 33 1/3% per annum. Items which have been fully depreciated are deleted from the accounts.

At each reporting date, tangible fixed assets are reviewed to determine whether there is any indication that those assets have suffered an impairment loss. If there is an indication of possible impairment, the recoverable amount of any affected asset is estimated and compared with its carrying amount. If the estimated recoverable amount is lower, the carrying amount is reduced to its estimated recoverable amount and an impairment loss is recognised immediately in profit or loss.

2.6

Investment property

Investment properties are included in the balance sheet at open market value. Depreciation is not provided on freehold investment properties. This treatment represents a departure from the requirements of UK GAAP, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 (The Financial Reporting Standard, applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland) covering depreciation of fixed assets. However, these properties are not held for consumption but for investment and the Directors consider that systematic annual depreciation would be inappropriate. The accounting policy is therefore necessary for the financial statements to give a true and fair view. Depreciation is only one of the many factors reflected in the annual valuation and the amount which might otherwise have been shown cannot be separately identified or quantified.

2.7 Investments

Investments comprise investments in unquoted equity instruments which are measured at fair value. Changes in fair value are recognised in profit or loss. Fair value is estimated by using an appropriate valuation technique.

Investments in unquoted equity instruments whose fair values cannot be measured reliably are measured at cost less impairment.

2.8 Stocks

Stocks are stated at the lower of cost and net realisable value, being the estimated selling prices less costs to complete and sell. Cost is based on the cost of purchase and any freight or duty charges incurred on an average cost basis. Work in progress and finished goods include labour and attributable overheads.

At each balance sheet date, stocks are assessed for impairment. If stock is impaired, the carrying amount is reduced to its selling prices less costs to complete and sell. The impairment loss is recognised immediately in profit or loss.

2.9 Trade and other receivables

Trade and other receivables are measured at transaction price less any impairment unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction in which case the transaction is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at the prevailing market rate of interest. Loans are initially measured at fair value and are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method less any impairment.

2.10 Trade and other payables

Trade and other payables are measured at their transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction in which case the transaction is measured at present value of future payments discounted at prevailing market rate of interest. Other financial liabilities are initially measured at fair value net of their transaction costs. They are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

2.11 Derivative financial instruments

Derivative financial instruments are recognised at fair value using a valuation technique with any gains or losses being reported in the income statement.

Non-basic financial instruments are recognised at fair value in the balance sheet under the appropriate heading and any fair value movements are recognised in the income statement.

2.12 Taxation

Current tax is recognised for the amount of income tax payable in respect of the taxable profit for the current or past reporting periods using tax rates that have been enacted or substantively enacted by the reporting date.

Deferred tax is recognised in respect of all timing differences at the reporting date. Unrelieved tax losses and other deferred tax assets are recognised only to the extent that it is probable that they will be recovered against future taxable profits or against the reversal of deferred tax liabilities.

Deferred tax relating to a non-depreciable asset that is measured using the revaluation model, or to investment properties measured at fair value, is measured using the tax rates and allowances that apply to the sale of the asset.

Deferred tax is calculated using tax rates that have been enacted or substantively enacted by the reporting date that are expected to apply to the reversal of the timing difference.

No provision is made for corporation tax which would become payable in the event of the freehold and leasehold land and buildings being realised at their revalued figure.

Deferred tax balances are recognised in respect of all timing differences that have originated but not reversed by the Statement of Financial Position date, except that: The recognition of deferred tax assets is limited to the extent that it is probable that they will be recovered against the reversal of deferred tax liabilities or other future taxable profits;

Any deferred tax balances are reversed if and when all conditions for retaining associated tax allowances have been met;

Where they relate to timing differences in respect of interests in subsidiaries, associates, branches and joint ventures and the Group can control the reversal of the timing differences and such reversal is not considered probable in the foreseeable future.

Deferred tax has not been provided for the freehold properties. Out of the 13 freehold properties, 3 have a gain that would result in a total tax charge of £461,000. If the whole portfolio was sold at fair value, no gain would arise. No provision for deferred tax on the rest of the properties has been made because there is no likelihood of such a deferred tax liability arising in the next 12 months. There is no plan to sell the remaining 3 freehold properties that have inherent tax gains.

2.13 Provisions

Provisions are recognised when the Society has a present obligation, either legal or constructive, as a result of a past event and it is probable that the Society will be required to settle the obligation and a reliable estimate can be made.

Where the effect of the time value of money is material, the obligation is recognised at the present value adopting a pre-tax discount rate. The unwinding of the discount is treated as a finance cost in the income statement in the period in which it arises.

The Society recognises a provision for accumulated

Notes to the Accounts

annual leave accrued by employees as a result of services rendered in the current period for which employees can carry forward and use within the next year. The provision is measured at the salary cost of the respective employee in relation to the period of absence.

2.14 Capital reserve

The capital reserve relates to the accumulated unrealised Surplus (net of Deficits) arising on the revaluation of freehold and leasehold land and buildings.

2.15 Foreign currency translation

Transactions in foreign currencies are initially recognised at the rate of exchange ruling at the date of the transaction.

At the end of each reporting period foreign currency monetary items are translated at the closing rate of exchange. Non-monetary items that are measured at historical cost are translated at the rate ruling at the date of the transaction. All differences are charged to profit or loss.

2.16 Interest income

Interest income is recognised using the effective interest method.

2.17 Operating lease

Rentals payable under operating leases are charged in the profit and loss account on a straight line basis over the lease term. Lease incentives are recognised over the lease term on a straight line basis.

2.18 Cash and cash equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents in the balance sheet comprise cash at banks and in hand and short term deposits with an original maturity date of three months or less. For the purpose of the consolidated cash flow statement, cash and cash equivalents consist of cash and cash equivalents as defined above, net of outstanding bank overdrafts.

2.19 Pensions

The Society operates a defined contribution plan for its employees. A defined contribution plan is a pension plan under which the company pays fixed contributions into a separate entity. Once the contributions have been paid, the Society has no further payment obligation.

The contributions are recognised as an expense in the profit and loss account when they fall due. Amounts not paid are shown within accruals in the balance sheet. The assets of the plan are held separately from the Society in independently administered funds.

3 Critical accounting estimates and judgements

The preparation of financial statements requires management to make judgements, estimates and

assumptions about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and underlying assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.

The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on a continuing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised if the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods if the revision affects both current and future periods.

The key judgements and sources of estimation uncertainty that have a significant effect on the amounts recognised in the financial statements are described below.

Tangible fixed assets

Determine whether there are indicators of impairment of the Society's tangible assets. Factors taken into consideration in reaching such a decision include the economic viability and expected future financial performance of the asset and where it is a component of a larger cash-generating unit, the viability and expected future performance of that unit.

Tangible fixed assets, other than freehold land and buildings, are depreciated over their useful lives taking into account residual values, where appropriate. The actual lives of the assets and residual values are assessed annually and may vary depending on a number of factors.

In re-assessing asset lives, factors such as technological innovation, product life cycles and maintenance programmes are taken into account. Residual value assessments consider issues such as future market conditions, the remaining life of the asset and projected disposal values.

Stock valuation

Stocks of raw materials and finished goods are valued at the lower of cost and the estimated selling price less costs to sell. In assessing the value of the Society's stock, consideration is given to any impairment in its value as a result of any stock which is likely to become obsolete or which has an estimated selling price less than its cost price.

Leases

Determine whether leases entered into by the Society either as a lessor or a lessee are operating leases or finance leases. These decisions depend on an assessment of whether the risks and rewards of ownership have been transferred from the lessor to the lessee on a lease-by-lease basis.

4

Analysis of charge in period

Tax on deficit/surplus on ordinary activities —

Factors affecting tax charge for period

The differences between the tax assessed for the period and the standard rate of corporation tax are explained as follows:

6

Current tax charge for period

Factors that may affect future tax charges

There are no factors expected to significantly affect future tax charges.

All properties are subject to professional valuation on a regular basis. The basis of valuation is open market value. The total book value of all properties at 31 October 2024 of £27,068,000 is represented by cost of £23,872,000 and revaluation of £3,196,000.

12 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

13 Creditors:

The Society secured a comprehensive re-financing funding package totalling £6,500,000 on 25 January 2021 from Natwest as part of an overall banking move, which included a loan of £3,750,000 supported by the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme.

14 Loans

Analysis of the maturity of loans is given below:

The above loan has been provided by Natwest. The loan was secured on 25 January 2021 as part of a comprehensive re-financing package totalling £6,500,000. It carries an interest rate of 2% over Bank of England Base Rate and repayable over 72 months. The loan agreement has been secured by way of a charge on a number of freehold properties owned by the Society.

Notes to the Accounts

The revenue reserve includes all of the current and prior period retained Surplus and Deficit. This also includes the fair value movements on fi nancial instruments

20 Pathways Fund

21 Bequests for the year

22 Post balance sheet events

There have been no significant events affecting the Society since the year.

23 Pension commitments

The Society operates a defi ned contribution pension scheme. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the Society and are invested with independently administered funds. The pension cost represents contributions payable by the Society to the funds and amounted to £288,105 (2023 - £261,340). Contributions totalling £56,096 (2023 - £96,421) were payable to the fund at the reporting date and included in creditors.

24 Other financial commitments

Total future minimum lease payments under noncancellable operating leases:

25 Financial commitments

As at 31 October 2024, the Society has committed to capital expenditure of £730,100 (2023 - £Nil) which includes £617,470 (2023 - £Nil) in relation to the renovation of one of the freehold properties owned by the Society.

26 BSP outstanding

As at 31 October 2024, an amount of £4,851 (2023 - £7,290) was payable to International Air Transport Association (IATA) for tickets issued in the month of October 2024.

27 Contingent liabilities

From 30 March 2008, the Civil Aviation Authority bond was replaced by ATOL protection contributions made by passengers. HF Holidays Ltd hold a bond with Travel and General Insurance Company Plc for the sum of £2,294,689 (2023 - £2,111,870), covering ABTOT requirements. The Society also has a bond of £90,000 (2023 - £91,000) with the International Air Transport Association.

28 Related party transactions CEO's expenses

During the year ended 31 October 2024, travel and subsistence expenses totalling £5,527 (2023 - £2,720) were reimbursed or paid directly to the CEO.

Board members

During the year ended 31 October 2024, travel and subsistence expenses totalling £11,116 (2023 - £7,274) were reimbursed or paid directly to the members of the board.

29 Controlling party

In the opinion of the directors, there is no ultimate controlling party.