COOKSTOWN ENTERPRISE CENTRE LTD TRUSTEES, REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2024 The Trustees, who are Directors for th8 purposes of company law, present their annual report and financial ststemenls for the year ended 31 August 2024. Prlnclpal actlvlties The purpose ol Cookstown Enterprise Centre Limit8d is to industrial units lo both new and existing businesses together th the prowsion of Conference facil((ies, s&etarIa1 seNices, project management training. consultancy and other servi¢es nomally provKled by Local Efiterise Agencies. Coc4(slown Enterprise Centre Limited obtained charitsble status on 18 June 2003 and the charity reference number th the Northem Iland Charity Commission i% Nl 100109. Structure, govemance and manauem•nt The organisation is a charitable ¢ompany limited by guarantee. The company was established under a Memorandum ofAssttiatron whi¢h established the objets and PQ4vers of the tharilabk Company and is govemed under its Artides of Association. The appointment of directors is in accordance the tharivs Artid&s of Association. whereby at every Annual General Meeting one4hird of the directors shall retire from Offi (but are elNJible for re*lectionl. The directors to retire by rotation shall be those who have been longest in office since their last appointment or reappointment. No person other than a director reb.ring by rotats'on shall be appointed or reappointed a director * any gèneral meeting unless helshe is recomrnendefl by the directors or not less than fourteen nor more than thirty five clear days before the date appointed for the meetirrtJ. notits executed by a member qualified to vole at the meeting has been given to the charitsble panY of the intention to PmP05e that petson for appointment OT reappointmenL Fln4nclal review Thg resutts tor the ygar are set out c(t page 8. whKJ) the Directors nSider to be satisfactory. The reserves of the Company are held for the &Yvancement of ils ehantsble purpose, other than reslricted reserves which are hgld for a designated purpose. Dirgctors The direcaors who held office during the year and up to the date of gnatrjre of the finanual statements were a$ folb2WS." MrTWlson Mr S Best Mr McGuckin Mr P Cassidy Mr M Foley Mrs E Keams Miss G Evans (Res•Jn 17 January 20241
COOKSTOWN ENTERPRISE CENTRE LTD TRUSTEES. REPORT (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2024 Objoctlvgs and actlvlllg• The objects of the charity are sFeoficalty restsicted to the flO"n9". 111 The athancement of c(¥nmunty development. in p8rticular the promotion tor the public benefil of urban ond rural regeneration in Cookstown and surrounding areas. being an aa of social aTrJ economic deprivakn"on, by all or any of the following means.. {1) the creation of training and employment opportunitses by the provisKn of workspace. buiklings. aThJlor land for U$8 on favourable tsms., lill Ihe provision of financial oSSiStan¢. techniral assistsnc8 or busirss advice or cfjnsultsncy in order to prowde training and employment opportunities for unemployed people in cases of finanual or other charitable nged through help {a} in setting up their own business. or (b} to existing businesses., {iii} the relief of unemployment., (iv) the advoncemenl of education. training or retraining- Iv) thg prowsion of housing for those who are in conditions of need. (21 Prornolng such other charitle purposes as may from lime to time be detgnnin8d. 11 aims to achieve these objectives by provhling business start-up and development assistance for businesses setting up or developing in the Cookslown District Council area.
COOKSTOWN ENTERPRISE CENTRE LTD TRUSTEES. REPORT (CONTINUEDI FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST2024 Achievèmènts and pgrfom)nco During the p8ri0d lo August 2024. the business environment continued to present significant ehallenges to CEC and its dients. An employment related HR grievance proved to be extremety difficufL time consuming and resulted in unplanned legal fees. Becaus¢ of this matter, the operab.on of the business suffered considerable disruption, and the business was forced lo ¢Jperate without a staff member frjr the enb're trading year in a busy. labour-inlensive part of the company's operation. Cookslown Enterprise Centre howevei has again had a satisfactory fifianc1 performanc£ during this year. Snificant increased costs for insurance. heat. ligh( and pcwer as ?1[ as maintgnane8 have ba8n experienced resulting in a decrgase n the net profit margin. Inccffte fr¢yn Go for It and Go Succeed business support trainiro and menrIr initiatNes again contributed approximatsly 10% of the total revenue inrne. O¢cupancy of all CEC owned propertia$ has remained consistèntly above 95% with rental in¢cme and Conferen room hire revenues making up the remaining gOQh of the annual income. The strong financAal performanc£ has again made il p0sb charty lo invest time and reSOurS into the delivery of free of Charge $eMS to the l¢xal business and community and voluntary sector. Competitive rgnls and flexible tenancy agreements as well as free advice. and infoimab.on fonn the core of the support package provided by the entwprise eantre. The usage ot the confe( and meeting facilities operated at an extremely elevated k8vel of activity. The gross revenue generated from this semce to the business cc4nmunity locally was the highest since the business began trading over thirty years ago. As wth all core serrices piovided by CEC, thèse faalthes are provided to users in somè instsnces. free of charge or at very favourable fates. During the year, ongoing invesbnent in the overall Pfoperty base has enhap)eed the quality of propety on offer thus making it an attractive Choi lo all sections of the local rjirnmunity. A major capitsl expenditure project to improve the entsre roof area was approved by the twstees and work commenced in August 2024. To fijrther increase the property base. in April 2024, the organisab.on has completed purchase of the fom)er DSS Jobs & Benefits Office in Cookslown. This govemment owngd building was acquired und8T the Communty Asset Transfèr, process. Archrtectural plans are at an advanced stage for the r*purFX)5ir#J of this facilty to piovide offieè accommodati and suppx)rt services to the miero business as well as the community and voluntsry sectorg within the district. 11 is ants"apaled that this £1m conslwction proj.ect will be completed in mid-2025. Training suppori whith conts.nues to be delrvered on a 'no profit, basL%. through the pre-stsrt Expjore Entsrprise progromme as well as the 'Go for It. and Go SUed start4Jp inib"atives. These CO initialives are Offer free of charge to the local beneficiaries wrth funding beiThJ provid&J by the Uk Govemmenl through Invest Nl an¢J the ekven District Coum15 throughout Northern Ireland. Duiing the 18St tsvelve months local entrepreneurs conb.nue to avail of the free of tharge CEC rnonthty business advice and information dinics which are delwered by experienced adw'sors. The estsblishment ol'Flexi Spats. %thich prowdes hot desking and o>working faolths and privats offices for rant on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. Users froffl the business and community and voluntary sectors are provided with Hyper fast internet. modem, comfortabk fvmrture. and surroundings as well as cornplimenlary tea and coffee. ISO 9001.'2015 qualty aecreditation was aLw successfully relaitW in June 2024 followirvJ an annual surveillance audit conducted on site by NQA independant assessors. The company also continues to meet its charitable objects with 811 services provided al favourable rates and financial surplltses reinvested to ensure essenb.al support for micro business an<J social enterprises locally. The demand for busine pr¢)pety from Micro enterprises bcally has remained nStentlY high and the latest propety acquisition faalitsles CEC in its ce c'e"Ve lo provKle quality busine55 acc(oda0n with favourablg rents and flexible tenancy arrangements.
COOKSTOWN ENTERPRISE CENTRE LTD TRUSTEES. REPORT ICONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2024 Fin*n¢ial Revi•w The directors will conducl annual rgview5 of the appropriate level of Unrestricted Reseryes. The pUoSe of ihis R9sorve is to provide stabiltty for tho charrty lo ensure that it is #ble to honour exisb.ng contractual obligab"ons. lo upgrade existing capi(al equiFxnent, to cover unforeseen events beyond the company's control and lo enable it to continue its operations in the evont of a sBnificanl fluctuation in experKlthre or incfyme. The dirgctots have taken a decision to estsblish a DeSnated Reserve at a level ol four months of annual expendituTe. This is a reserve designed to Meet unexpected financial cm)ents. and aL80 to build a provision for redundancy for all stsff in the unlikdy event that thg company would cease to cary gn its trjrrenl activities. T directors estimate tho provision for four months of annual exFenditurg to be £100.0W. The present levd of Reseffts available to the charity is £2.107.230 arKI this is considered satisfactory.
COOKSTOWN ENTERPRISE CENTRE LTD TRUSTEES, REPORT (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2024 Statsment of di$¢108Urn to auditor So far as 8ach person who was a direetor at the date of approving this report is aware, there is no relevant audit infomiation of which the wnpany's audrtor is unaware. AddonallY, the directors irKJMdually have taken all the necessary Steps that they ought to have taken as d1ClorS in order to make themselves aware of all relevant audit information and lo estsblish that the company's auditor is aware of thal intomiab"on. This report has been prepared in accordants with the pros1OnS applicable to mpanIeS entiued to the small companies exemption. On behalf of th8 board Mi T Wlson Dlrector 19 March 2025