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2026 AGM minutes (2025) 18/8/26

Heswall Rackets Club

Annual General Meeting Minutes

Date: Wednesday 19 August 2026
Time: 18:30
Venue: Heswall Rackets Club

1. Welcome and Opening

The President, Colin Winstanley, welcomed everyone to the Annual General Meeting.

2. Previous Minutes

The previous AGM minutes were presented to the meeting and were agreed by the room en masse.

Colin confirmed that he hoped everyone had received the digital copies and that printed copies were also available on the night, including reports from all sub-committees.

3. President’s Overview of the Club

Colin gave a quick overview of the club and the progress made following the implementation of the two new Padel courts.

He commented that the development had made amazing progress and had possibly transformed the club both financially and in terms of the vibrant atmosphere around the club.

The courts are busy, the bar is busy and, in Colin’s words, “the club is buzzing.”

Colin stressed that this is not all due to Padel. Racketball has grown massively, the club still has five squash teams and the whole club has picked up.

He said that this only bodes well for the future and is really positive for the club.

4. Accounts

The accounts had been made available to everyone.

Colin stated that if anyone had any questions for Jeremy, the accountant, he was sure Jeremy would be able to answer them.

Colin:
“Any questions from the room about the accounts?”

No questions were raised.

Jez:
“I will keep this brief as everyone has been sent the accounts.”

Jez explained that the end position of the previous year, 2025, was still not where the club wanted it to be.

He said that this year everything was looking better. In terms of the balance sheet, members could now see the money being reinvested back into the club, including the Padel courts, CCTV and the new website.

The cash flow was around £80,000 in the bank.

At the bottom of the accounts, the loans from members and the LTA loan were shown. Jez stated that the club was in a strong position to be able to satisfy those repayments.

Any questions?

No questions were raised.

5. Padel Development

Colin:
Moved the meeting on to the Padel development.

Roger:
Confirmed that the Padel report had been passed around and that the club’s Padel coach was also present at the meeting.

Roger stated that the figures were ahead of what had been budgeted for.

He stressed that the club must not lose sight of the fact that it owes £45,000 to the LTA and £115,000 to members, and therefore the club needs to ensure that the finances are consolidated.

However, he said that at the moment everything was looking very positive.

Roger also confirmed that Sean, the Padel coach, had bedded in very well and had proved very popular with the members.

Any questions?

No questions were raised.

Colin:
Colin said he would like to “dovetail” the Padel coach Sean into the club.

He described Sean as a great ambassador and said that the club was very proud of the way he had dovetailed into the club.

Colin invited anyone with questions for Sean, or anyone with ideas about how the club could boost daytime Padel slots, to speak to Sean, who would be in the bar after the meeting.

6. Membership Fees

Colin:
Jeremy had put out a notice regarding his thoughts on membership fees, and Colin handed over to Jeremy to provide further details.

Jeremy:
Jeremy proposed an increase of around inflation, approximately 3% across most categories. He explained that not every category would increase by exactly 3%, with some increasing slightly less and some slightly more.

Jeremy explained the reasons for the proposed increase.

As a club, average energy costs have increased by around 70% over the past five years, while membership fees have not been increased in recent years.

He also highlighted the investment made into the club’s facilities, including the Padel courts, the bar update and heating on Court 4.

He said there were therefore plenty of reasons for the small increase.

Proposed Membership Pricing

Membership Category

Current Fee

Proposed Fee

Adult

£204

£210

Joint/Family

£288

£294

Senior Full Joint

£144

£147

Senior / County / Day / Youth

£100

£105

Senior Day

£50

£52.50

Social

£25

£26

Junior

£20

Frozen at £20

Pay & Play Registration

£1

£2

Jeremy stated that, based on the current membership, the increases would allow the club to achieve approximately £2,000–£2,500, up to £4,000.

Colin:
Asked the room for their thoughts on the new figures.

Question – Ann Ager

Ann Ager said that she thought the increases were very modest.

She asked why a Senior Full member had to pay the membership amount in one payment when full members could pay via Direct Debit.

Jez:
Explained that, as it is half the amount, the club still has to pay fees for Direct Debits. The proposal was therefore intended to try to avoid these additional fees.

He explained that generally the lower amounts are paid in full, while Full Single, Family and Joint members can pay via Direct Debit.

Question – Oliver Hickman

Oliver Hickman said that, essentially, Padel was what was really making everything take off at the moment.

His question was that if non-members were only paying £2, a full member currently had to play nine times a month to be better off than a non-member.

He said that he felt there was not a lot of incentive to join.

Oliver also said that if someone was joining just for Padel during the winter months, they would not play as much, meaning becoming a member was not really worth it.

Colin:
Colin responded that the Padel sub-committee was trying to find a way to convert Pay & Play members into full members.

He said that everything was new to the club at the moment.

Colin stated:

“We don’t get everything right first time, maybe not even second or third, but we are constantly looking to readjust and get things right.”

He agreed that Oliver was probably “bang on right”.

Colin explained that Pay & Play was essentially introduced to get people through the door, show them how good the club was and what facilities were available, and then try to convert them into members.

Colin:
Asked whether there were any further thoughts on Jeremy’s proposed increase.

Comment – Steve Grith

Steve Grith said that, based on where the club currently was and listening to what Jeremy had said, the proposed increase was about right.

He said that the club did not want to scare everyone off for the sake of an extra £2, but suggested that the club should take stock again in approximately three to four months and see what position it was in at that point.

He said that he did not think there was currently enough data to support doing anything more.

Colin:
Colin commented that it felt like the Padel courts had been there forever, but they had not.

He said that the sub-committee was working on the issue and that they were constantly reviewing it.

John W:
John said that the club was also looking at the fact that, during the winter, members could convert to squash and Racketball, whereas Pay & Play members could not.

He commented that Racketball is similar to Padel but a little more energetic.

Vote on Membership Fees

Colin:
Asked for a show of hands to accept Jeremy’s proposed membership increases.

Result:
All members present voted in favour.

The proposed membership fee increases were therefore approved.

7. Incorporation of the Club

Colin:
Colin explained that one of the important things coming up for the club now that the Padel courts were in place was to incorporate the club into a limited company structure.

He said this would give the club the foothold it actually needs both legitimately and legally, and that this was something the club was endeavouring to do.

Colin explained that he and Roger had been looking at the matter, with Roger having done more of the work.

Colin invited Roger to take over.

Roger:
Roger explained that the trustees had, for some time, felt it was incumbent upon them to turn the organisation into a limited company.

At present, the trustees are trustees of the property, and the club cannot own the property while operating as an unincorporated body.

Roger explained that approximately four years ago, the club had considered doing this but decided that attempting to do so during the Padel planning application would have caused significant delays.

The committee therefore agreed to put incorporation to one side until the Padel project was up and running.

Roger confirmed that the club had engaged the services of Brabners solicitors.

It had been agreed that the process would move forward in two phases:

Forming the limited company.
Transferring the property from the trustees into the limited company.

The Memorandum and Articles of Association — in other words, the rules under which the club operates — would then be structured with the help of Brabners to reflect the constitution as it now stands for the unincorporated body.

Roger said that at that point the club may take a pause.

He explained that the issue going forward is that the LTA loan will need to be moved from the club into the limited company, along with the loans from members.

The club does not want to have those loans rewritten if doing so could result in interest being charged, as they are currently interest-free.

Roger explained that the loans could potentially start incurring interest because the member loans were structured shortly after the club obtained its £45,000 LTA loan.

Brabners had advised that six to twelve months would be the normal timeframe for the process to take place.

Roger said that the club would try to press Brabners to complete the process more quickly.

The club will report back to members as and when more information becomes available.

Colin:
Colin said that he believed incorporation was something the club had to do in order to move the club forward and confirmed that the club was getting on with it.

8. Election of Officers and Committee Members

Colin:
Colin moved on to the election of officers and committee members.

He confirmed that the club remained open to new members of the committee and that anyone who wanted to help was welcome.

He also said that the club was looking for new ideas and help.

Colin said:

“I will be honest, the current committee is amazing, it really is. We do tend to get things done.”

He named Sean Holgate, Leah and Paul as examples of committee members who get things done, and said that the sub-committees really do work.

Colin asked whether there were any other questions.

9. Car Parking

Rich Stapleton:
Rich raised the issue of car parking.

He said that one of the problems resulting from the current success of the club was that the club was now very busy and car parking was becoming an issue.

He asked whether this could be addressed in some way, for example through line marking.

He also asked whether it was time to start using the barrier to stop dog walkers and others from parking.

Colin:
Colin said that the club had looked at lining the car park, or alternatively using T-boxes, as these would be cheaper.

He said that he did not know whether people would take notice of them.

John D:
John explained that the club had received a quote for marking the car park, which was £100 per line.

At the time, the club had not been in a position to progress this.

Colin:
Colin said that if the car park were lined, the club would then also have to look at lining a walking route around the building for health and safety purposes.

He said this could start to become an endless, bottomless pit of expenditure.

He also pointed out that, with the overflow area, the club has a massive car park.

John Neo:
Asked whether the car park could be extended up to the tree line.

Colin:
Colin confirmed that it could, but said that this would work out at approximately £5,000–£10,000 per space.

Colin acknowledged that car parking is a problem, but said it was also a problem that some clubs would love to have, given the level of footfall the club currently has.

He confirmed that the club was actively looking at different solutions.

John W:
John said that even if the car park were lined, it would probably only create space for another two or three cars.

He said the club had to look at the issue sensibly.

He reiterated that the club does have the overflow area and that people simply need to park more considerately.

10. Election of Current Committee

Colin:
Before concluding the meeting, Colin asked the room whether they were happy to elect the current committee en masse.

Result:
All members present voted for the current committee to remain in position.

The current committee was therefore re-elected.

11. Any Other Business

Colin:
Asked whether there was any other business.

No further business was raised.

12. Close of Meeting

The meeting was closed after 33 minutes at 19:03.

Meeting closed: 19:03

Heswall Rackets Club
AGM – 19 August 2026

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23/09/2026

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