This document presents the Club’s financial position for the year ending 30th September 2025 together with the budget for year ending 2026 and the Club’s 30+ year financial forecast.
The figures are based on the first set of accounts generated using ‘Freeagent’, the new online accounting system provided with the Club’s NatWest bank account. The original spreadsheet-based system was run in parallel to both validate the Freeagent data and ensure a clear comparison with the previous year’s figures. Starting next financial year, only Freeagent will be used, as it will then contain the necessary historical data for direct year-over-year analysis.
Record membership levels have meant that annual income has more than doubled over the past four years, allowing for significant investments of nearly £200,000 to improve facilities during that time – with over £100,000 invested in the last 12 months alone. The Club remains in a strong financial position with cash reserves of £48,000 at the financial year end (of which £26,000 is held in a 35-day access savings account). The club currently has record membership as shown below. (15 October 2025).
The Club’s accounts for the financial year ending 30th September 2025 are available to view by clicking on this link. The old spreadsheet derived version, for comparison, is available here.
Richard Vertigan
Treasurer, Wargrave Tennis Club
15th October 2025
The remainder of this document is divided into sections which are accessed by clicking on the button links.
Overall the Club’s revenue amounted to £76k (an increase of 42% versus the £53k in YE Sep 2024). The chart below details the breakdown of these income streams with 71% (£55k) generated from member subscriptions and 11% (£8k) from court booking fees. £7k of court booking fees was generated from padel court bookings. The remaining 18% income (£13k) was generated from guest of member fees and activities associated with coaching, court hire and bank interest.
Total Revenue Growth
The chart below shows a period of consistent and accelerating growth from the lowest point in 2021 through to 2025. The growth from 2021 (£32,685) to 2025 (£77,166) represents a substantial 136% increase.
Membership Subscriptions
£55k of membership subscriptions were received for the financial year ending 30th September 2025; this compares to a total of £43k received in the previous financial year. The chart below shows membership subscriptions since 2017.
The total growth from it’s lowest point in 2021 (£25,597) to 2025 (£55,001) is: £29,404 – an increase of 115%. Growth has been driven by the significant number of new members joining the club.
Revenue from Coaching Activities
Revenue from the Club’s coaching agreement has contributed £10k in the financial year (up from £5.6). The coaching revenue stream is derived from 10% of the annual turnover of group coaching and holiday camps, a 15% premium for any non-member receiving coaching at Wargrave, and 10% of all entry fees to any LTA tournaments.
Guest of Member and Court Hire income
Income from the £5/day guest of member fee increased from £586 to £2,173, mainly due to Padel guests. Hiring out of courts 5 and 6 generated £1,124 (£954 in previous year). Income from the Padel court itself was £7,310 which was generated over a 4.5 month period.
Bank interest
Bank interest in the year was £1.4k (down from previous years £2.5k due to the club making investments in artificial clay and the padel court). The Club’s 35-day access account is currently earning 2.25%.
Capital Expenditure: Artificial Clay Courts, Padel and New Security Gates
Capital investments during the financial year included the new artificial clay surface on courts 3&4 (£44k) and the Club’s first Padel court (£42k). To maintain the clubs financial rule of ensuring bank funds cover a minimum of one years fixed routine expenditure, a £20k loan was taken out with a club member (the loan will be paid back after a two year period). £5.5k was spent on new front and rear security gates including the new coded security lock at the entrance to the club.
Non-capital Expenditure
Non-capital expenditure in the year amounted to £48k (up from 36k). Of the £48k, the biggest single cost was £11k spent on repainting courts 5, 6, 7 and 8 including pickle lines and the pickle court on court 9. Repainting provides extra grip for grip/safety and increases the life of the courts.
Costs associated with adult and junior coaching supervision amounted to £6.5k.
Spending on short-life capital equipment amounted to £4.5k and included 12 new court benches, 2 new picnic tables, scoreboards, leaf blowing and vacuum equipment.
A summary of all expenditure is shown in the chart below.
Energy
In the financial year, energy costs for floodlighting amounted to £3,537 (from £5,131) and for the clubhouse £1,255 (from £3,079). Investment in smart remote switches for the heaters helped reduce clubhouse usage. The charts below show the monthly trend since October 2023.
With regard to floodlight costs, there are 4x 800W LED floodlights per court. At 23.37p/kWh, one court costs £0.75 per hour, although courts are lit in pairs so the minimum cost is £1.50/hour. When all 8 courts are floodlit the cost is therefore £6/hour. At 4 hours per night that equates to circa £25/night.
Website Hosting, Emails & Social Media
Expenditure on the Club website hosting, broadband and provision of email facilities was £1,532. Continued development of the new website has been undertaken in-house by the Chairman and Treasurer. Costs associated with hosting and email facilities are expected to fall as the old .co.uk domain and emails are now fully migrated to .com
Fee Increase and Forecast Revenue
For the upcoming membership season (April 2026 to March 2027), we propose increasing membership fees by approximately 2.5%, which is slightly below the current inflation rate of between 3% and 4% (depending on the timing and inflation figure used). For example, this would increase the fees for a new adult member (age 31+) from £262 to approximately £269 per year, and returning members would still receive a 10% discount if they renewed in March and before 1st April 2026. With the increase in subscriptions and record levels of members, our forecasted income for YE 2026 is £88k with subscription income of £62k.
Forecast Routine Expenditure
Forecast expenditure for the year ahead is £54k. This is split into ‘recurring’ and ‘non-recurring’ expenditure as detailed in the charts below. Notable increases in expenditure from the previous year are seen on tennis balls (refreshing them more often), electricity (larger clubhouse and increasing number of members using the facilities), grounds maintenance (paying for gardening services). A routine maintenance budget of £6,000 will cover the cost of unexpected expenditure on courts and clubhouse e.g. repairing lights, sewer pump, loos, etc.
2025 Capital Expenditure
Capital expenditure in the year is currently budgeted at £60k for improvements/extension to the clubhouse. Progression with this plan will be subject to the AGM survey and if required, via majority voting at a future EGM that would be run in January or February.
We have developed a model of the Club’s finances over a 30+ year period. This includes spending assumptions to ensure that all courts are maintained and resurfaced every 12 years, together with provision for other large capital items such as refurbishing courts, floodlighting, fencing and ongoing clubhouse repairs and upgrades.
For the financial year ending 30th September 2026, £60k is included in the budget for a clubhouse extension and improvements. The Committee will respond to feedback from the AGM survey and update the budget with alternative proposals if necessary. In line with the constitution, proposals for any future investment in excess of £24,000 would be subject to membership approval via an EGM voting process.
Future forecasting and planning assumes that the Club will always have a minimum level of cash reserves that matches at least 12 months of routine expenditure (a reserves to routine expenditure of 1:0). The existing financial years starts lower than 1:0 but grows significantly going forward and is considered acceptable.
In the first chart below, grey bars represent cash reserves, blue represents capital expenditure and amber represents total routine expenditure. The second chart shows the detailed breakdown of this capital expenditure. As you will see, with our future spending commitments, our cash reserves still build over time and are in a healthy position.
