As we approach a new financial year there is always talk about fees and other matters around the club, and often it's not the full story, particularly when this subject hasn't been decided on. What I would like to do is take a bit of an overview of this year to date and also a trip down memory lane as to what has happened in the 2 years of the Covid unknown and the measures we took to deal with some issues.
Covid now lives prominently in Western Australia and whilst it comes long after the East Coast it's impacts are now being felt in a similar way through our golf club as well as through many businesses in WA. As individuals it has affected us in a major way with isolation and a feeling of unease when maintaining our previous freedoms and for others it may have had little impact. The impact on the golf club has been seen mainly through the Food and Beverage area and whilst we still have solid member support we have noticed over the last 4 months that part of our life blood, Friday and Sunday Dining and Functions have been hit hard. The lack of surety in people booking functions and not having restrictions in numbers and potentially having to cancel have made people delay, cancel and rethink whether to book.
The above has certainly put a dent in our cash flow and will certainly last a time longer before people's confidence is restored. Coupled with the drop in our F&B business, we have seen an increase in a lot of our associated costs such as contract wages, particularly in our kitchen where it has been very hard to find full or part time chefs which has left us to rely on contract workers which are at an increased cost. Our cost of goods has also seen a rise in prices due to fuel/transport costs which to date we have absorbed until we see what the future holds with this area, we have been reluctant to put up the costs at this point as it may well require these to change again. We would rather see a one tier price rise rather than numerous price rises which may be seen as us simply trying to improve the profit margin, however at some point these increases will need to be passed on.
There is no doubt that people will already be
wondering if the fees will go up and if so by how much, what I would ask is
that you allow the board and management to do the required costings and then
Fiza and I will release the fee structure for 2022/23 and any explanations that
go with that. I am asking that the two-way loyalty and understanding that has
been built between the club and members remains foremost in mind, rumours and
speculation don’t make what can at times be a tough task any easier. Our minds
are still squarely on the value of the membership and how that is calculated
along with the rising costs of running the club and the wait until all
restrictions have been lifted on our important profit centre, F&B.
Full report here
