Treasurer’s Report

from four diff erent partnerships (including Afghan evacuees) which have deepened through the Covid period, and helped us to resist the blinkering eff ect which Covid restrictions have had on so many. The School has managed to continue to look outwards throughout.

The machinery of Government continued to turn during the year, and we now have planning permission to build a new Sixth Form on the site of Wilson House, Cox’s bungalow and the maintenance workshops. This will open, we trust, in the middle of 2023. The Old Dairy, just off Castle Street, is in the middle of building work to create a new maintenance and service hub, and Deans’ Hall has had a terrifi c refurbishment.

By (almost) the end of the calendar year, I had rowed a million metres (partly as a lockdown challenge, partly to raise money for the Anniversary Fund), the Choir had sung a specially commissioned work by Philip Stopford for the HMC Conference Service, the 1st XV had been enjoying a magnifi cent season and the lacrosse and netball teams reached national fi nals that will take place in 2022. We are even beginning to plan overseas trips for our pupils again. It’s almost feeling normal – and then, as I write, there is news of a new variant in South Africa, the ‘omicron variant’ which may mean the race we have been in for the last two years may have an additional lap. I am confi dent that the School will meet it as it has the previous Covid circuits, with ambition and imagination, with an outward gaze and with authentic Berkhamsted spirit. The replanting of the Acacia Tree in the Gravel Quad this month is a reminder to us that the Berkhamsted spirit has been around for a long time and will be around for a long time to come. I am sure it will enable us to meet the challenges of next year as we have those of the last one.

TOB Ltd

After the experience of 2019/20, just about anything was bound to be better. And it was from my point of view – a bit, but not all that much!

Following the discovery of our VAT problem, the revised arrangements with the School to avoid VAT problems have been put into place. The major change has been the establishment of an agreed support grant for the activities of TOB Ltd rather than receiving leavers’ subscriptions for future investment. The support grant is agreed each year to cover a programme of events, the non-School running costs of our organisation and support for our various subsidiaries. This has, in addition, eliminated the ‘circularity problem’ which was exacerbating the previous situation. This occurred when, for example, we paid for the costs of the Overton offi ce, only to have them reimbursed by increasing the subscriptions we received, eff ectively pushing us further towards liability for VAT. These changes have ensured that we can act in concert for the benefi t of all. Richard Backhouse Principal

As predicted last year, our income was reduced as Covid affected our investments and their capacity to generate dividends for us, but I am pleased to say that there are now the first signs of dividend recovery, which hopefully will show in the 2021/22 accounts. The sundry receipts relate to a legacy from the Estate of the late Doreen Russell and to donations for the Acacia Tree replacement which we are happy to acknowledge with thanks.

Our expenditure was affected once again by Covid as our subsidiaries continued largely in hibernation and reunions were almost entirely ruled out. The changing requirements for companies over time has meant a re-writing of the Memorandum and Articles of both companies to come into line with the Companies Act 2006 and the latest GDPR legislation. This has resulted in most of the legal charges in the accounts. The balance of legal cost relates to the ongoing saga of our VAT submission, made in April 2020, which shows no signs of resolution even after 20 months, owing to the total inability of HMRC to give any priority to the matter. The provision for the liability is retained in full in the Balance Sheet – as is a large amount of uninvested cash which had been set aside in the hope of early resolution.

In moving our investments to provide a greater safeguard for our capital, our investment managers generated a considerable surplus on disposal, all of which has been reinvested. I am also pleased to report that the valuation of our investments recovered all the ground lost the previous year.

TOB Trust Co Ltd

Our Trust Company also had a quiet year. On advice, we changed the balance of our investments to protect the capital for the future and this produced the expected reduction in income. Our income from the former Club 2000 continues to reduce over time, but the donations from this source are still greatly appreciated. The new arrangement with the School has prevented further investment from TOB Ltd. This means that we will only be able to grow the Trust funds in future by donations and legacies from our members and by careful investment. It has also forced the Trustee directors to conduct a careful appraisal of how we spend the funds we have.

We managed to maintain the bursary donation to the School at a figure close to the average achieved in previous years and are hopeful that we will be able to continue at this level. The Covid situation played havoc with the travel plans of students, most of whom were unable to travel. Accordingly, we have written back the unused Travel Grant offers to ‘clear the decks’ and make a fresh start. Equally, we received no applications in the year from School departments for assistance, as Covid restrictions affected everyone.

The effect of the reduced income is likely to place restrictions on the numbers and amounts of Travel Grants offered in future. Equally, support for School departments must be carefully reviewed and balanced with our bursary support. Understandably, there were no applications for the Knox-Johnston Award in the year.

The Trust Company investments were subject to the same problems as those of TOB Ltd and have been adjusted in a comparable way. The capital values have also recovered, and I am hopeful that the dividend income will shortly start to increase again.

As I said – a bit better, but a challenging year nonetheless. As a final comment, I am stepping back from the post of Hon Treasurer at the AGM in March. It has been a privilege to have been involved over the years and I would like to thank everyone who has been so supportive of our organisation on our journey from the near bankruptcy of the OBA in the 1970s to our present position. I am now going to enjoy, once again, looking on from the back benches – just as I did so many years ago when I was at the School. John Rush (Sw ’59) Treasurer