Business Plan 2011-12

High Salvington Mill Trust Business Plan 2011-2012

Document Plan and History

Date	Author	Action	Status
01/03/11	JT Best	Write all sections	Draft 1
28/03/11	JT Best	Circulate via email and collate suggestions	Draft 1
29/03/11	JT Best	Incorporated John's grammatical changes and improved coverage of other groups. Added Lease section to raise concern about buildings insurance. Revised Mill status section to include Peter's reservations about sail and steps and more precise terminology relating to wind pump structural reinforcement. Included Tim's suggestions to emphasise school visits, the number and variety of volunteer skills employed and that we have no paid employees.	Draft 2
15/04/11	JT Best	Incorporated Bob's suggestions and corrected some of my omissions and stylistic clumsiness. Incorporated some of Wendy's structural improvements and added sections on governance and risk.	Draft 3
15/04/11	JT Best	Circulate to Directors with Board Meeting papers	Draft 3
18/04/11	JT Best	Submit to Board Meeting for approval or further suggestions.
19/04/11	JT Best	Draft approved by Board released.	Version 1

Introduction and History

This is a draft business plan and while it is believed by the author(s) that all statements contained therein are correct, until it has been fully considered by all involved and their suggestions for corrections and revisions incorporated, it is possible that it may contain inaccuracies or misapprehensions.

The Mill Trust is the lessee of the site containing High Salvington Windmill, an 18^th Century black post mill owned by Worthing Borough Council. Since the inception of the Trust, and its lease from the Council, it has overseen the restoration of High Salvington Windmill, raising funds to defray expenses and providing much of the labour required from members and volunteers. Over the years, the Trust has improved the site by,

• restoring the windmill,
• acquiring, moving, restoring and erecting an 18^th Century granary from East Grinstead,
• building a gatehouse, originally envisaged as a shop, but now repurposed as an Archive/Visitor Education Centre,
• designing and building the “long barn” to provide kitchen, shop, workshop and toilets
• built a shed to house tools
• acquiring, restoring and erecting the Glynde Wind Pump
• erecting, and subsequently replacing, where necessary, a variety of temporary structures, e.g. the original canteen “shed”.

As part of fund-raising and maintaining local interest in the windmill, the Trust operates a number of open days and events throughout the year. Due to the age and vulnerability of the windmill, the months when it opens to the public and the number of visitors able to enter the mill each year is necessarily restricted, nevertheless, over 12-14 regular open days each year we aim to provide guided tours for 1400-1500 members of the public, with the mill available for group bookings for much of the year. We host a number of local schools every year who visit in support of their curriculum. Visitors contribute to fund-raising through an entrance fee (£1 for adults), purchases of refreshments or souvenirs and donations.

The primary mission of the Trust is the restoration and preservation of High Salvington Windmill. A secondary objective, expressed in the original constitution, was to provide a site wherein articles relating to rural history could be displayed, working in conjunction with Worthing Museum. To support the mission, the Trust raises funds and undertakes works by opening the site to visitors and offering guided tours of the windmill.

The original Mill Trust and Friends of the Mill organisations have merged, replacing separate management committees with a single Board of Directors. The merged organisation is a registered Company limited by guarantee, with a memorandum and articles of association that perpetuate the mission of the original organisations. The Trust is also a registered charity. Individuals may become annual members for a current fee of £4 (£7 for a couple) or life members (£40). The articles of association allow for the governing Board to expand to twenty directors, but for practical reasons is kept to a manageable dozen. Up to 49% of Board directorships are filled by Councillors (in accordance with guidance from Worthing Council), nominated by the Council when a vacancy occurs. The remainder of the directorships are open to the wider membership of the Trust. All Directors must be members and offer themselves to the membership for election to the Board at an AGM. They are obliged to stand-down after three years but are entitled to offer themselves for re-election. The Board may co-opt a Director but any co-opted Director would need to be a member and be elected by the membership at the next AGM to remain a Director.

The Trust is supported by a large body of volunteers, only some of whom are members. We depend upon the volunteer labour and skills of our volunteers to keep the expenditure requirements of activities to a minimum. The Trust is also fortunate to have received generous support, over the years, from a number of local businesses who have made materials, equipment, and sometimes, skills, available at cost prices.

Typically, the business plan for the mill follows directly from the mission and can be summarised as maintaining the site and buildings, to preserve the windmill, wind pump and granary for future generations, with periodic budget planning exercises set against planned, preventive and responsive maintenance requirements to identify scope for additional projects.

The 2010 accounts included expenditure on scaffold hire and materials to allow the volunteers to repaint the mill, replacement of lead flashing, pest control inside the mill and the conversion of the gatehouse to suit the needs of an Archive and Visitor Education Centre, so as to further advance one of the founding requirements of the Trust.

Future maintenance requirements are identified to the Board at quarterly meetings and expenditure budgets are drawn up annually. Projects are periodically proposed and accepted or rejected by the Board. Some projects are development projects that improve the value of the site to local people while others are maintenance projects. Recent projects have included the acquisition and restoration of the Glynde Wind Pump, repainting the sails and body of the windmill and the development of the Archive/Visitor Education Centre.

Ongoing Responsibilities

The Trust is committed to the ongoing maintenance and operation of High Salvington Windmill as a working windmill (operated periodically to mill wheat to produce souvenir bags of flour), and to maintain community interest in the mill so as to guarantee its long term future. It has introduced a more robust approach to the management of mill and Trust paraphernalia for the benefit of future historians via the development of the Archive, and in the process of improving the Gatehouse for this purpose has provided a space that is also more suited for on-site meetings or small exhibitions.

Working in close collaboration with other mills, via the Sussex Mills Group, the Trust fosters inter-group cooperation that reduces some marketing and souvenir costs while promoting inter-group sharing of experience and skills, of which the projects to complete the restoration of, and provide a permanent Sussex home for, the Glynde Wind Pump and, providing space for some volunteers to make replacement sails for West Blatchington Windmill, are prime examples.

The mill provides facilities for a number of local schools to send up groups to support classroom lessons in a number of areas of the current curriculum. With the development of the Archive, we hope further to improve this support.

The mill site also provides a facility used by local groups for fund-raising and social meetings, while the events calendar contributes to the social cohesion of the local community. We occasionally host visits from sister mills in Sussex, and further afield, to demonstrate how we do things and learn of alternative approaches from such knowledgeable visitors.

Current Projects

Our small team of archivists continues the process of absorbing, cataloguing and identifying conservation requirements for donated documents, photographs and artefacts. The conversion of the Gatehouse to hold the collection is now completed, although some equipment purchases remain outstanding. The Archivists are also extending the Trust's outreach programme by operating stalls at local events and an exhibition at Durrington Library that will reopen at the windmill on National Mills Weekend open day (May 15th).

Some of our volunteers are making replacement sails for West Blatchington Windmill in Hove, to be funded by the latter but employ our volunteer's expertise and labour. The original sails were removed, and the new ones will be installed, by volunteers from Jill Mill at Clayton. The making of the sails is not a Trust project, but it will use a small portion of our premises for a few months, (without impacting on our open days) and provide some opportunities to introduce some of our newer volunteers to the process of building sails. This should benefit us, in due course, when our own 24-year old sails need to be replaced.

Funding

Funding is obtained from several sources. Membership subscriptions, events, such as the annual Summer Fête, open day admission charges (£1 per adult), shop and refreshment sales, group visits and occasional facility or equipment hire provide almost all income. Most labour is provided by volunteers, occasionally supplemented the purchase of external services or expertise. The attitude of the volunteers is to develop necessary skills “in-house”, even if this slows some tasks.

For special projects, funding has been sought from outside sources, and the long barn facilities were enabled by Heritage Lottery funding with matching labour from volunteers, while the Gatehouse refurbishment to accommodate the Archive was supported by three (gratefully received) unsolicited donations of £1,000 each from local councillors via a Worthing Council funding initiative, a bequest from the late Mrs. Berry and a donation from Mrs. Sizer.

Reserves currently stand at between seven and eight times annual income. In 2009 a sinking fund was established with an initial £15,000 and £3,000 is added annually to ensure that sufficient money is available for occasional high cost maintenance procedures, such as rebuilding the sails or replacing a crowntree. Expenditure requirements are periodically reviewed and a small part of the reserve is kept in a current account to meet anticipated requirements, with the remainder split into two portions invested in interleaved 90 day bonds, so that, on average, if needed, substantial funds would be available within 45 days of an urgent, unplanned requirement arising.

Risks

Risks faced by the Trust include the following:

• an unexpected, rapid deterioration of some part of the mill,
• fire or natural disaster,
• unforeseen accidents,
• reduction of open day and event income due to adverse weather,
• reduction of membership income,
• reduction in volunteer time offered,
• loss of highly skilled and experienced volunteers through age or other cause.

Risk is handled through the following. Regular inspection and maintenance is carried out by the “millwrights” team who are on site every Thursday evening and on first and third Sundays. Regular planned maintenance is carried out on certain items. The mill meets all current fire regulations and is inspected every year, with alarms and extinguishers tested and maintained. The electrical system is regularly checked by our resident electrician. The unforeseen, by its nature, is hard to cater for, but the sinking fund is intended to ensure funds are available to tackle unforeseen maintenance requirements. Income is split between membership subscriptions, open days and large events such as the fête. We have also benefited from generous bequests and donations. This spreads the income risk. We try to remain attractive to members, providing them with free entrance on open days, and entertaining talk after the AGM and regular newsletters. Our Membership Secretary maintains a very good relationship with the members. We are grateful for the dedication of our volunteers and recognise the value of their contribution. Lead Guides, on open days, have an obligation “to promote a happy and harmonious atmosphere”. We have instituted a training scheme for guides, lead guides, millers and millwrights and try to offer occasional events for the benefit of volunteers. We do not have anyone specifically in charge of the relationship with volunteers, although team leaders, rota organisers for open days and events and the Membership Secretary all have some responsibility for volunteers. We do need to make improved efforts to recruit more volunteers.

Review for 2011-2012 Business Plan

The requirements for this period will be identified and approved at the April board meeting and communicated to members at the AGM in June. Timetables for this year are slightly upset by the collision with the Election which has required the shifting of some dates.

Lease

The Trust holds a 99 year lease of High Salvington Mill from Worthing Borough Council commenced on 24^th June 1977. Under the terms of the lease we pay a yearly rental to the Council which was initially set at £10 per annum with increases of £10 per annum scheduled every twenty years. We are currently paying £20 per annum and this will increase to £30 per annum on 24^th June 2017.

Clause 6 of the lease states,

“(6) To insure and keep insured the demised premises at all times throughout the term in the joint names of the Council and the Lessees from loss or damage by fire flood storm or tempest aircraft and malicious damage to the full reinstatement values thereof with some insurance company of repute to be approved in writing by the Council and to pay all premiums and other monies necessary for this purpose and to provide the Council with a copy or copies of such policy or policies of insurance and also to produce to the Council the receipt or receipts for each such premium and to cause all monies received by virtue of each such insurance to be forthwith laid out in rebuilding repairing or otherwise reinstating the demised premises as theretofore in a good and substantial manner or in such other manner as shall be previously approved of in writing by the Council and the Lessees PROVIDED ALWAYS (i) that if the rebuilding or reinstatement of the Mill or any part thereof shall be frustrated all the insurance monies relating to the Mill or part in respect of which frustration occurs shall be used for such purposes as determined by agreement between the Council and the Lessees and (ii) that if the Lessees shall at any time fail to insure or keep the demised premises insured as aforesaid the Council may do all things necessary to effect and maintain such insurances and any monies expended by the Council for that purpose shall be repayable by the Lessees to the Council on demand and be recoverable forthwith by action as if such monies formed part of the rent payable hereunder”.

The Secretary arranges to renew insurance each year on the same basis as the previous year, and this policy does not cover damage or destruction of the buildings. He has received verbal assurances from other Trust officers that the Council insures the buildings, but has seen no evidence. It is possible that both parties believe that the other is insuring the buildings and this is a matter that needs to be checked, periodically, to ensure that the buildings are fully insured.

Funding Issues

Membership numbers stand at around 257 and the Summer Fête organisation is being undertaken by a team of volunteers, so funding from these sources is expected to remain steady or increas. Due to calendar quirks, the number of Open Days will reduce in 2011 from 14 to 12, which will reduce funding from admissions, refreshments and shop sales by a small amount. Some events will not run in this period (such as the Quiz Supper), but the amounts we will not receive from these are small. Greater efforts are being made towards the Fête and Autumn Rural Crafts event, so these ought to provide a higher return to compensate. Membership renewals continue to be healthy and the additional outreach activities of the Archivists have boosted awareness, membership renewals and donations.

Expenditure Issues

The repainting of the windmill and roundhouse, and the Gatehouse refurbishment have all been completed, thereby bringing to an end the large peak in expenditure over the previous period. The project to build sails for West Blatchington Windmill is not a Trust project, will be funded by them, and will not impact on capacity for open days, so will have no impact on Trust revenues.

Some equipment remains to be purchased for the Archive/Visitor Education Centre, but largely, this can be scheduled as and when funds permit.

Manpower Issues

Manpower is supplied by a corps of around 120-150 volunteers who we calculated in 2009 contributed nearly 500 man-days of unpaid labour to the needs of the Mill, with contributions including, (but probably not limited to), financial, secretarial, engineering, wood-working, metal-working, grounds-keeping, painting, computer, printing, shop-keeping, catering, baking, stock-keeping and museum skills. The Trust has no paid employees. Everything is achieved by volunteers. Since these calculations were made, we have established the Archive and the number of donated hours will have increased.

We have three millers authorised to run the mill – an operation that our rules say requires two of them to be present. The average age of our millers is pushing 70, and one has recently been injured/ill. We have an urgent need to train new millers.

Having lost 2-3 volunteers from the working group (“Millwrights”) over the last couple of years we have successfully added 2 volunteers since the start of painting the sails. One of those is currently ill and the age profile of the remainder remains high, however, the other new volunteer is relatively young and shows great promise.

This year 2-3 guides have elected to move onto the “reserve” bench, compensated for by only one recent recruit. Recruiting several guides over the next two years is therefore important.

Other open day volunteers, fête stall-holders and grounds-keeping volunteers remain steady, but we do need to encourage a constant trickle of new volunteers to maintain the numbers.

We still have a list of people interested in participating in a “history” group which the Secretary proposes initiating in 2011-12 to offer the Archivists additional man-power for cataloguing and help identify priorities from the need to support research. Having encouraged the new Archivists to start from the ground-up to identify and “own” their remit, their ongoing, wide-ranging consideration of mill affairs is keeping everyone else on their toes. They have brought fresh eyes to a strategic view of the Trust's future.

The Treasurer has indicated his intention to relinquish his post before he completes five years in the post and we have an able candidate waiting in the wings to take over. The Secretary is desperate to relinquish his post, and will have to stand down at the AGM. We are urgently seeking to recruit a replacement.

The Technical Adviser occasionally talks of stepping back or handing over, but otherwise continues to keep the mill and other assets in a good state of repair, assisted by a loyal corps of “millwrights”. Regular Thursday evenings and first and third Sunday mornings are devoted to tackling regular maintenance requirements. We all need to keep an eye out for individuals with good wood, metal-working and practical engineering skills so as to direct them towards the “millwrights” team to keep this vital working group up to strength.

The Membership Secretary continues to do an excellent job, and responds to any diminution of membership numbers with an extension of effort to sign up new members on open days.

Our long-standing newsletter editor has recently retired, but an able replacement has stepped forward to produce regular newsletters. We need to remember to keep both the editor and our publicity officer informed of all newsworthy events at the mill or involving the Trust so that they can do their jobs effectively.

Rota organisation for open day volunteers and responsibility for trestle rentals have both fallen into the remit of volunteers with other responsibilities, and it would help them to find new volunteers to take on these responsibilities.

Grounds-keepers continue to maintain the grass and hedges. The shop is well-managed and our catering organiser has replaced shop-bought cakes with home-made cakes that bring additional visitors to the site who are happy to pay £1 entrance fee to come in before they buy refreshments. We have no indications of any impending vacancies in these areas.

The make-up of the Board continues to reflect the major operational functions of the Trust and includes a wealth of experience, although it might strengthen the Board to find places for the guide organiser and a representative of the Archive. It has been suggested that there may be a bias towards individuals from spending, rather than income-generating teams and perhaps this should be examined.

It may be advisable to repeat the recruitment exercise that was undertaken five years ago, and this may need to become a regular exercise, possibly alternating venues between Salvington and Findon Valley.

Asset Issues

The windmill is currently in a good state of repair, with sail, body and roundhouse exteriors repainted over the last two years. The granary has recently had a rafter and floor-boards replaced, with a leak in the roof repaired and tiles replaced. The wind pump is in a good state of repair and is being fitted with straps or stiffeners holding the post to the legs to secure stability in high winds.

Over the next five years, the sails, which are 24 years old, are likely to need replacing. Sails are expected to have an average life of between 14 and 25 years, and a small area of rot has been observed on one of the common sails. The steps are now 50 years old and showing some degree of rot, so new ones will be needed over the same time period.

The long barn is in a good state of repair. The workshop has recently been refurbished and refitted with the purchase of new tools. There are no outstanding problems with the shop, kitchen or toilets.

The Gatehouse has been refurbished to improve its suitability to hold the Archive. The counter and shutters have been removed and the wall replaced, insulation has been installed, the partition removed, light tubes installed to bring daylight inside, electrics rewired and interior walls replaced. A small space-heater prevents frost damage or condensation problems. Shelving has been purchased and installed, along with a working surface, chairs and other storage for the Archivists.

A new gate has been made and fitted. The ground around the gate has been levelled and stanchions installed to support a temporary barrier to guide visitors on open days past the gatehouse.

A new frame and door has been fitted to the electricity meter box. A new concrete roof has been cast and is waiting installation to replace the current roof.

The shed is in a good state of repair. Trestle tables are stored under a set of covers fitted to the South side of the long barn that can be lifted and hooked into the raised position to provide access to the trestle tops. With the recent breaking of one of the support rings, the weight of the covers remains a safety concern while the rate of deterioration of the stored trestles seems to have increased.

Fête games and other equipment stored in the loft remain in reasonable condition. Artefacts now managed by the Archivists are often in poor condition and they have indicated their intention to identify conservation requirements for these artefacts. The workshop has been refurbished and reorganised with many new tools purchased in the last year, so this facility is not expected to require significant expenditure in the short to medium term.

Outreach and Marketing

Our publicity officer continues to do an excellent job of getting notices of our events posted in press and radio given that we have allocated no budget. Various responsibilities for publicity have tended to be devolved to other officers, such as fête publicity and the purchase of entries in local guides. It might be advisable to consider bringing this portfolio of responsibilities together and appointing the publicity officer to the Board.

The advertising that we regularly paid for in the Places to Visit in West Sussex guide has not been repeated this year due to a markedly increased cost. This guide is no longer managed by West Sussex County Council and might no longer be considered to be an authoritative publication. We shall be closely monitoring any impact on visitor numbers.

We have supplemented our usual 1/3 x A4 leaflets with a tri-fold A4 leaflet to be handed out at events where we advertise the mill. Our Archivists have been undertaking an excellent job of extending outreach as part of their initiative to seek documents, artefacts and memories related to the mill.

The Secretary has completed a website for the Trust with a sub-site that volunteers can log into to exchange private information, but this has not yet been formally rolled out, and to an extent, remains an experiment under evaluation. It remains a useful location for recording snippets of news before they reach the main Mill website or the newsletter. Event information is being added to a Facebook group page. Rota information is available via a Google spreadsheet that is editable by anyone in possession of the link. We could explore using a Google calendar to share event details with other mills, much as East Anglian mills do via their own group. The new Trust website provides a space for local groups to advertise their events at no charge and tries to link to local suppliers who have helped the Trust achieve its objectives. The Trust website should not be confused with the Mill website. The former is intended to provide a means for volunteers to communicate when away from the Mill site, while the latter is, and will continue to be, the public face of the mill on the web.

We help local organisations by renting out equipment and by providing guided access to the mill site. In 2010 several local schools came to the mill, one group consisting of 80 pupils! Another was arranged, by telephone, from a school in the South of France. Other visits include,

• Worthing and District Amateur Radio Club,
• Sompting Village Morris,
• Barn Owl Lacemakers,
• Weavers, Spinners & Dyers,
• Morgan Sports Car Club,
• Canadian Roots UK,
• Worthing National Trust Association,
• Wey and Arun Canal Trust,
• Sussex and Kent Weald Stationary Engine Group

While publicising their existence and activities these local societies have entertained and educated our members and visitors. We also raised funds for St. Barnabas and Chestnut Tree House hospices at our annual Christmas carols event.

A number of group visits, scouts and brownies, neighbouring mills and other organisations have also been arranged.

Legal Issues and Training

We review health, safety and training at every Board meeting, with any accidents reported to the Board. 2010 saw a few minor cuts, bruises and scrapes which have been reviewed and, where appropriate, responded to.

We have instituted a formal training program for guides, lead guides, millers and “millwrights”¹.

At the time of writing, we are not aware of any legal issues that need to be addressed by the Trust, but the question will be considered at the next Board meeting.

Conclusions

There are no major projects currently planned for 2011-12 that will make a significant call upon Trust funding, although the process of developing this business plan may change that. We need to plan for the expenditure that will be required for new sails and new steps over the next few years. Depending upon the extent of replacement required, timber for new sweeps, including whips and stocks, may cost many £000s.

Open Day income may be slightly down due to fewer open days, but we hope to more than compensate for this with major event fund-raising and expenditure requirements in 2011-2012 should be lower than in the previous year. Reserves are reasonable, given the continued availability of experienced volunteers to carry out maintenance work. If all major works depended upon purchasing in services from professional suppliers, then we would not consider reserves to be adequate to meet requirements for more than a few years.

Some volunteer time will be expended on imparting our expertise on behalf of West Blatchington Windmill to make their new sails, and some site space will be occupied for a few months, but this is not expected to impact on our own maintenance requirements or open days, and we hope the work will be completed before the Fête, which is the next occasion when we would normally require access to the entire field. This private project does provide us with an opportunity to train newer “millwrights” who have joined us since our own sails were last worked on. Peter Hill, of West Blatchington Windmill and the Sussex Mills Trust has provided very strong support for the High Salvington Mill Trust over the years, and it is pleasing, in return, to be able to provide space for this project. We urgently need to recruit a new Company Secretary and to train new millers. It is important that we succeed in recruiting and training some additional guides over the next couple of years. It would be helpful to recruit volunteers to take on rota organisation and equipment rental responsibilities.

The mill continues to be popular with visitors. We could increase advertising, but are limited in the numbers we can guide around the windmill. An increase of opening hours to increase tour capacity would require a greater commitment from our volunteers and could result in a loss of volunteers and consequent reduction of capacity. We need to consider the cost-benefit analysis of increased advertising or outreach costs given our low (£1 for adults) entrance cost. We think that by keeping a low annual membership cost and low entrance cost we provide one of the best value-for-money attractions in Worthing, subject to our capacity constraints, to attract a manageable number of visitors to ensure that High Salvington Windmill and ancillary heritage assets are valued and maintained by the people of Worthing while relieving the burden of funding and maintenance from the local Council.

1Please note that we use the term “millwrights” (in quotes) to refer to our volunteers who maintain the mill, although technically, none have any formal training in this area, other than what has been learned over 30 years of restoration and maintenance, or what has been imparted via training by those with this experience.