## **Furniturelink** ## **Report of the Trustees** ## **for the Year Ended 31 March 2024** ## **OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES** We continue to strive to meet our corporate objectives to: - => Divert unwanted furniture from landfill. - => Provide affordable furniture. - => Enable furniture re-use for residents. ## **ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE** The year has seen the Charity face and successfully overcome a number of issues largely through the great work of Wendy our CEO and her team. - Our previous electricity supplier EON significantly over-charged us for lighting and heating at our Riverside accommodation for which we eventually obtained redress after much correspondence. We also had concerns about the charges from our new supplier Opus for the power used at Unit 2b which have yet to be resolved - We faced a pause on our access to unwanted furniture through the FRN contract at the John Lewis Brookwood site and the need to deal with the presence of POP (Persistent Organic Pollutants) in furniture which restricted the sale of affected items on for re-use - The take-back contract with John Lewis was terminated in November 2023. This agreement allowed us to repurpose old sofas returned by John Lewis customers through their take-back scheme. The contract was discontinued due to concerns about the potential presence of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) on the sofas. - We continue to hold a debit stock contract with John Lewis, enabling us to reuse unclaimed debit stock items from the John Lewis distribution hub at Brooklands. - Transition from our use of the CTX system for selling and purchasing records to Micromarket, where existing CTX users were granted a reprieve. - Lift failure on one of our vans now repaired - We occupied space at a Guildford Riverside site June 2023 to Nov 23 - Having to increase prices ahead of competitors only seeing them having to do the same and us therefore retaining our customer base - Having to upgrade out IT systems to deal with obsolescence issues - Resignation of another Trustee as he relocated These reflect the complexity of running a small business in the current economic climate with increasing rates of inflation. Overall our deficit for the year was £10,300 and increase of £3,400 on the previous year though we have still managed to retain some £30k in cash reserves. I must also thank the Trustees for their contributions to keeping the business thriving with a special thanks to our Finance officer for keeping us on the rails The Trustee Board has met on the following dates: Weds 4th September 2023 Weds 8[th] November 2023 Weds 22 November 2023 (AGM) Weds 17[th] January 2024 Weds 3[rd] April 2024 Weds 3[rd] July 2024 Our thanks to all involved with FLG and especially to Wendy, our CEO, who’s determination and ingenuity have successfully managed Furniturelink through another challenging year. ## **FINANCIAL REVIEW** The annual finance report for the year end Aug 2024 is as set out in the attached Statement of Financial Activities. ## **STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT** -The charity is controlled by The trustees. -The trustees consider that there are sufficient reserves. Any possible risks have been considered and taken into account in future budgets. - All trustees appointed when necessary and are given sufficient training on appointment. ## **REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS** ## **Registered Company number** 07252909 (England and Wales) ## **Registered Charity number** 1137021 ## **Registered office** Unit 2b Merrow Business Park Guildford Surrey GU4 7WA ## **Trustees** R Crooks Chairman Dr A Gunning M J Adams (Company Secretary) K Rogers (resigned Nov 23) G A Wallace (Treasurer) ## **Company Secretary** M J Adams Page 3 ## **Furniturelink** **Report of the Trustees** ## **for the Year Ended 31 March 2023** ## **REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS** ## **Independent Examiner** A J Bennewith FCA, FCPA, FFA, FFTA, FIPA, DChA, FRSA 3 Wey Court Mary Road Guildford Surrey GU1 4QU Approved by order of the board of trustees on ............................................. and signed on its behalf by: .......................................................................... R Crooks - Trustee Page ## 2023/24 FLG Annual report The year has seen the Charity face and successfully overcome a number of issues largely through the great work of Wendy our CEO and her team. - Our previous electricity supplier (Opus) significantly over-charged us for lighting and heating at our Riverside accommodation for which we eventually obtained redress after much correspondence - We faced a pause on our access to unwanted furniture through the FRN contract at the John Lewis Brookwood site and the need to deal with the presence of POP (Persistent Organic Pollutants) in furniture which prevented us from selling contaminated items on for re-use - Transition from our use of the CTX system for selling and purchasing records to Micromarket, where existing CTX users were granted a reprieve - Lift failure on one of our vans now repaired - Retention of our storage space at Riverside site until at least Dec 2025 in the face of redevelopment proposals from the site owner - Having to increase prices ahead of competitors only seeing them having to do the same and us therefore retaining our customer base - Having to upgrade out IT systems to deal with obsolescence issues These reflect the complexity of running a small business in the current economic climate with increasing rates of inflation. Overall our deficit for the year was £10,300 and increase of £3,400 on the previous year though we have still managed to retain some £30k in cash reserves. I must also thank the Trustees for their contributions to keeping the business thriving with a special thanks to our Finance officer for keeping us on the rails ## **Furniturelink** ## **Report of the Trustees** ## **for the Year Ended 31 March 2024** ## **OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES** We continue to strive to meet our corporate objectives to: - => Divert unwanted furniture from landfill. - => Provide affordable furniture. - => Enable furniture re-use for residents. ## **ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE** The year has seen the Charity face and successfully overcome a number of issues largely through the great work of Wendy our CEO and her team. - Our previous electricity supplier EON significantly over-charged us for lighting and heating at our Riverside accommodation for which we eventually obtained redress after much correspondence. We also had concerns about the charges from our new supplier Opus for the power used at Unit 2b which have yet to be resolved - We faced a pause on our access to unwanted furniture through the FRN contract at the John Lewis Brookwood site and the need to deal with the presence of POP (Persistent Organic Pollutants) in furniture which restricted the sale of affected items on for re-use - The take-back contract with John Lewis was terminated in November 2023. This agreement allowed us to repurpose old sofas returned by John Lewis customers through their take-back scheme. The contract was discontinued due to concerns about the potential presence of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) on the sofas. - We continue to hold a debit stock contract with John Lewis, enabling us to reuse unclaimed debit stock items from the John Lewis distribution hub at Brooklands. - Transition from our use of the CTX system for selling and purchasing records to Micromarket, where existing CTX users were granted a reprieve. - Lift failure on one of our vans now repaired - We occupied space at a Guildford Riverside site June 2023 to Nov 23 - Having to increase prices ahead of competitors only seeing them having to do the same and us therefore retaining our customer base - Having to upgrade out IT systems to deal with obsolescence issues - Resignation of another Trustee as he relocated These reflect the complexity of running a small business in the current economic climate with increasing rates of inflation. Overall our deficit for the year was £10,300 and increase of £3,400 on the previous year though we have still managed to retain some £30k in cash reserves. I must also thank the Trustees for their contributions to keeping the business thriving with a special thanks to our Finance officer for keeping us on the rails The Trustee Board has met on the following dates: Weds 4th September 2023 Weds 8[th] November 2023 Weds 22 November 2023 (AGM) Weds 17[th] January 2024 Weds 3[rd] April 2024 Weds 3[rd] July 2024 Our thanks to all involved with FLG and especially to Wendy, our CEO, who’s determination and ingenuity have successfully managed Furniturelink through another challenging year. ## **FINANCIAL REVIEW** The annual finance report for the year end Aug 2024 is as set out in the attached Statement of Financial Activities. ## **STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT** -The charity is controlled by The trustees. -The trustees consider that there are sufficient reserves. Any possible risks have been considered and taken into account in future budgets. - All trustees appointed when necessary and are given sufficient training on appointment. ## **REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS** ## **Registered Company number** 07252909 (England and Wales) ## **Registered Charity number** 1137021 ## **Registered office** Unit 2b Merrow Business Park Guildford Surrey GU4 7WA ## **Trustees** R Crooks Chairman Dr A Gunning M J Adams (Company Secretary) K Rogers (resigned Nov 23) G A Wallace (Treasurer) ## **Company Secretary** M J Adams Page 3 ## **Furniturelink** **Report of the Trustees** ## **for the Year Ended 31 March 2023** ## **REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS** ## **Independent Examiner** A J Bennewith FCA, FCPA, FFA, FFTA, FIPA, DChA, FRSA 3 Wey Court Mary Road Guildford Surrey GU1 4QU Approved by order of the board of trustees on ............................................. and signed on its behalf by: .......................................................................... R Crooks - Trustee Page