City Club Quarterly Newsletter

Gentlemen,

Following the most recent Executive Committee meeting held at the Club on Monday 2^nd June the following is an appraisal of it's contents which is intended to keep members up to speed with current matters.

Mr. Patrick McNamee provided a set of accounts. The Club currently holds £86,171. There will be some expenditure from that in the near future as detailed below. In summary the Club appears to be on a sound financial footing & no longer losing money.

Bacon House enhanced security: Mr. Danien Baker has researched & purchased a Ring Door Bell security system which many domestic households now use. 

This was acquired at a very reasonable price & provides a degree of security for the club steward, staff & members whilst in the building. It will be installed in the coming days.

Replacement Oven: Mr. Frank South confirmed that there had been extensive research & enquiries made into the viable options to replace the current oven which is labouring to keep up with the demands placed upon it. We have had in excess of 15 years usage from the current one since it’s last refurbishment & it was not new when we acquired it! It has been decided to purchase a new appliance at a cost of approximately £6k. This price will include VAT as well as the necessary utensils to go with it, a warranty & the safe disposal of the old oven. It can be ordered & delivered within 7-10 days. The house manager was given the go ahead to start this process along with the necessary carpentry work on the door in order to be able to get the oven in the building & into the kitchen.

Utilities contracts: Mr. Andrew Fiddament has made swift & significant progress in reviewing our utility bills. Through an intermediatory company U-Switch, he has been able to secure a new contract with E-On which will save us around £900 annually. 

We are out of contract with Scottish Power so there will be no cost to changing provider & Scottish Power still owe the Club around £1000 due to being in credit with them.

Mr. Frank South reported that numbers remain very good for the coming Tuesday dinner on the 10th, the Friday lunch on the 27th & the Past Presidents lunch on July 4th. It was disappointing that the Spring Lunch which was open to partners was not supported & had to be cancelled. After an initial popular extra Friday lunch where guests were prioritised, there has been a bit of a drop off in numbers. It was therefore agreed to hold an additional Friday lunch with members who are bringing guests having priority every quarter. There were discussions following requests from a couple of members about the tradition of introducing guests & allowing them to respond at Tuesday Dinners. It was agreed that The President would, in future offer members & guests the opportunity to do this but there was no expectation that they had to comply if they felt uncomfortable in doing so or did not wish to. 

Mr. Damien Baker reported that the liaison with the Assembly House is well under way again for the Annual Dinner. He has provisionally booked two dates in November but it was decided to go ahead and confirm Thursday 20th November as the preferred option.

Mr. Simon Colwell notified members that the boiler is currently being serviced by him & will require some new parts. He also confirmed that ‘when’ it does pack up there will be significant cost to replacing it because it’s position in the loft will require the erecting of scaffolding in order to facilitate a new boiler being installed. This will be around £5k in his professional opinion.

Monday 4th August 2025 at 7:00 pm.