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 Efite￿rise Agencies. Coc4(slown Enterprise Centre Limited obtained charitsble status on 18 June 2003 and the charity reference number th the Northem I￿land 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 f￿lO￿"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 a￿a of social aTrJ economic deprivakn"on, by all or any of the following means.. {1) the creation of training and employment opportunitses by the provisK*n of workspace. buiklings. aThJlor land for U$8 on favourable tsms., lill Ihe provision of financial oSSiStan¢*. techniral assistsnc8 or busir*ss advice or cfjnsultsncy in order to prowde training and employment opportunities for unemployed people in cases of finanual or other charitable nged through help {a} in setting up their own business. or (b} to existing businesses., {iii} the relief of unemployment., (iv) the advoncemenl of education. training or retraining- Iv) thg prowsion of housing for those who are in conditions of need. (21 Prornolng such other charit*le purposes as may from lime to time be detgnnin8d. 11 aims to achieve these objectives by provhling business start-up and development assistance for businesses setting up or developing in the Cookslown District Council area. COOKSTOWN ENTERPRISE CENTRE LTD TRUSTEES. REPORT (CONTINUEDI FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST2024 Achievèmènts and pgrfom)*nco During the p8ri0d lo August 2024. the business environment continued to present significant ehallenges to CEC and its dients. An employment related HR grievance proved to be extremety difficufL time consuming and resulted in unplanned legal fees. Becaus¢ of this matter, the operab.on of the business suffered considerable disruption, and the business was forced lo ¢Jperate without a staff member frjr the enb're trading year in a busy. labour-inlensive part of the company's operation. Cookslown Enterprise Centre howevei has again had a satisfactory fifianc1￿ performanc£ during this year. S￿nificant increased costs for insurance. heat. ligh( and pcwer as ￿?1[ as maintgnane8 have ba8n experienced resulting in a decrgase n the net profit margin. Inccffte fr¢yn Go for It and Go Succeed business support trainiro and men￿rIr￿ initiatNes again contributed approximatsly 10% of the total revenue in￿rne. O¢cupancy of all CEC owned propertia$ 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 p0s￿b￿ ￿ charty lo invest time and reSOur￿S into the delivery of free of Charge $eM￿S 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 SU￿ed 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