Derbyshire County Cricket Club state £83K surplus for 2017

Turnover reached record levels for the club, having grown by 20 per cent year-on-year.

The club stated this was “driven by a rise in commercial income and a growth in conference and events revenue, following the successful hosting of two major concerts in 2017”.

The hosting of the ICC Women’s World Cup also helped increase turnover, with the club staging eight games during the competition and placing Derby on the world’s sporting stage.

An increase in cash receipts from the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) allowed Derbyshire to reduce some of its loan from Derby City Council, maintain its investment on the field and continue to improve facilities at The 3aaa County Ground.

Chairman Ian Morgan said: “I am proud to report a surplus for 2017, which is a seventh successive surplus for the club.

“The performance was characterised by an impressive growth in our turnover, driven by our growing non-cricket business. This is vital and realistically the only way we can continue to grow our on-field playing budget.

“It’s a testament to our dedicated, enthusiastic and hard-working off-field team that, despite the challenges of a packed domestic schedule, a global cricket tournament and two high-profile concerts, we were able to achieve record numbers.

“I would like to extend a big thank you to our members, supporters and 1870 Business Club partners, and in particular to our Principal Partner 3aaa, for their continued support.

“We are working hard to bring success to Derbyshire and I’m confident that, with our plans on and off-the-field showing progress, we can be optimistic about the future.”

Chief Executive Simon Storey added: “It’s been another challenging, but ultimately successful year for Derbyshire. On-the-field, progress under the guidance of Cricket Advisor Kim Barnett was marked by the club’s first home quarter-final in the T20 Blast.

“Our commercial and operations teams, meanwhile, worked exceptionally hard in delivering a number of major events and this success helped us to sustain our investment in the playing budget.

“A healthy future on and off-the-field demands continued innovation and, whilst we must always remember we are a cricket club first and foremost, our non-cricket events demonstrated our increasingly important role in the community as a cricket, conference and events, and major events venue.

“Our results for 2017, however, benefited from a number of one-off major events that will not be repeated in 2018. But with our responsible financial management, we are ensuring that we balance the short-term financial challenges with long-term sustainability.”