Cobtree Manor Estate Charity Committee

20th July2017

Is the final decision on the recommendations in this report to be made at this meeting?

Yes

 

Cobtree Manor Park Visitor Centre/Café Update. July 2017

 

Final Decision-Maker

Cobtree Manor Estate Charity Committee

Lead Head of Service

Head of Regeneration and Economic Development

Lead Officer and Report Author

Jason Taylor –  Leisure Manager

Classification

Public

Wards affected

Boxley

 

 

This report makes the following recommendations to this Committee:

1.   The Committee is asked to note the contents of Visitor Centre/Café Update.

 

 

This report relates to the following corporate priorities:

·         Keeping Maidstone Borough an attractive place for all -

·         Ensuring that there are good leisure and culture facilities

 

 

Timetable

Meeting

Date

Cobtree Manor Estate Charity Committee

20th July 2017



Cobtree Manor Park Visitor Centre/Café Update. July 2017

 

 

1.        PURPOSE OF REPORT AND EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

 

1.1   The information in the report is to update the committee on the performance of the Cobtree Manor Park Visitor Centre/Cafe as agreed at the Committee on 3rd August 2016 meeting.

1.2  Within this report is a table which shows the financial performance of the Visitor Centre/ Café since it opened in August 2015, and another which shows the financial prediction for the remainder of this financial year.

 

 

2.        INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

 

2.1                     The Cobtree Manor Visitor Centre/ Café first opened in August 2015.

2.2              Below is a breakdown of the month on month café/ visitor centre costs and income from when the facility opened to the current time.

 




 

 

2.3               It can be seen in the table above that the first three months of this financial year has seen a considerable improvement on previous performance. This is due to a number of reasons:

2.4   Increase in prices of 15% from April 1st 2017.

2.5   Streamlining of staff rotas and reducing staff numbers at quieter times.

2.6   Agency staff only being used to cover emergencies such as staff sickness.

2.7   More competitive supplier costs through supplier negotiations.

2.8   The opening of a second point of sale at peak times which has not only increased sales but also reduced customer waiting times.

2.9   Refinement of menus removing unpopular items and labour intensive dishes.

2.10   Introduction of disposable plates. Cups etc. at peak times.

2.11          It should be noted in the table that there has been a slight reduction in the average service cost. The reason for this is that the cost of maintenance to the toilets has been removed and added to the park cost. This is in line with other park toilets. The cost of cleaning the toilets is however still included in with the cleaning of the café.


Predicted Financial Income of the remainder of 2017/18

2.12          Below is a table which shows the predicted outcome for the remainder of the current financial year. The totals at the bottom of the table include income already generated in the first quarter, which are shown in the previous table.




2.13          This table is based on the following presumptions:

2.14          The column in green shows the total staff and catering provision costs as being the same as the equivalent months last year. We are not predicting any increase in these costs because we have negotiated more advantageous supplier costs and have streamlined staff costs.

2.15          The column shown in orange makes the assumption that our total sales will increase by 15% over the same months last year. We believe that this is realistic because since last year we have increased our charges by 15% and the actual number of sales has continued to increase year on year.

2.16          The above table shows a predicted profit this financial year of £19,954 for the café. Officers believe that this is a conservative figure for the following reasons:

2.17                Last year there was a delay in the invoicing from suppliers which meant that a considerable amount of goods sold during the summer holidays were not charged for until September. We now have better financial monitoring in place which will prevent this happening this year and should result in September 2017 generating profit unlike last year.

2.18                Through better staff rota processes, staffing levels and costs during the winter months will be greatly reduced. As well as reduced hours it may be prudent to close one or two days during the week in the winter months, which would further reduce costs.

2.19          It is hoped that taking this into account the profit generated could realistically be up to £10,000 greater than that shown in the table above.



External Tender

 

2.20          As mentioned in the last Cobtree Café/Visitor Centre update Maidstone Borough Council has now run a tender process with a view to externalising the operation of its cafes in Mote Park and at Maidstone Museum. It was indicated in this process that there may be an option to include Cobtree Café in the future. The information from this tender process is being presented to this committee in a separate report.

 

3.        AVAILABLE OPTIONS

 

3.1               The committee could choose not to note the information contained in this reports, however the committee has requested regular updates on the Café Visitor Centre performance

 

 

4.        PREFERRED OPTION AND REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

 

4.1    It is recommended that the information in this report regarding the performance of the Café/ Visitor Centre is noted.

 

5.       CONSULTATION RESULTS AND PREVIOUS COMMITTEE FEEDBACK

 

5.1   The committee has previously resolved to receive regular updates on performance of the Café/ Visitor Centre.

 

6.       NEXT STEPS: COMMUNICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DECISION

 

6.1   Any comments from the Committee will be passed on to the relevant parties.

 

 

7.       CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES AND IMPLICATIONS

 

Issue

Implications

Sign-off

Impact on Corporate Priorities

The work of the charity links

directly to its charitable objects

and the corporate priorities of

the Council.

Head of

Regeneration

and Economic

Development

Risk Management

Risks to running the estate are

dealt with in the annual Estate

Risk Management Report.

 

Financial

Financial risks are considered in

the ongoing finance updates.

Cobtree

Finance

Officer

Staffing

No implications.

 

Legal

No implications.

Deputy Head

of the Legal

Partnership

Equality Impact Needs Assessment

No implications.

 

Environmental/Sustainable Development

No implications.

 

Community Safety

No implications.

 

Human Rights Act

No implications.

 

Procurement

No implications.

 

Asset Management

No implications.

 

 

8.        REPORT APPENDICES

 

None

 

9.        BACKGROUND PAPERS

 

None