This will be my final annual report as I retire at the end of July 2021 after over 20 years of being a part of building the company into what it is today. We started with a total of 4 staff (who were also responsible for running the University of Salford Purchasing at the same time), just 9 FE colleges, borrowed NWUPC frameworks plus a visionary University Director of Finance, Ray Corner, who saw what the potential was. We have moved a long way from those days to a UK wide organisation serving the whole of the education sector and where we are now actually donating surplus back for the benefit of students and their institutions.

There have been many bumps in the road along the way which brings me nicely to what has probably been the biggest and most recent, COVID19. The Group are absolutely dependant on our own income as we do not get support from any Government bodies or our members and our financial resources were going to be a major concern. Thankfully, Tenet performed really well and the CPC part of the operation also did a lot better than expected, so much so that we emerged from the year with a small surplus.

I could dwell on the negatives of COVID19 but would very much prefer to concentrate on some positives which have come out of the crisis. The first is the marvellous adaptability of CPL Group staff. We were able to move to home working very quickly and had all the areas of CPL Group effectively working the day after we announced the change. Home working has been difficult for most, but it has led to a much more flexible working life balance for most staff with them now benefitting from changes to working practice policies for the future.

It would be remiss of me not to mention the work of Myles Woodman and Ekkehard Kugler who did sterling work after being seconded to the NHS to assist with purchasing for them in the first months of the crisis. Myles has also been providing an excellent service to the education sector providing weekly updates of stock of crucial PPE supplies to fight the epidemic.

I should now move onto other matters outside of the crisis. This year marked the start of the process of cash donations by CPL Group to Educational institutions for the benefit of students. There were some marvellous projects to which funds were provided and although interrupted by COVID, we will be resuming the gifting process in early 2021. This process is a source of great pride to me knowing that we are completely separate from the big private companies working in the Education sector in that we are handing over surplus for the benefit of the students.

This annual report must also mark the retirement of a major stalwart of CPC for many years, our contracting supremo Pat Condon. He has been a massive support and great friend to me over the past few years and has led the contracting team through a significant number of changes and challenges. One of his final projects has been the provision and launch of the e-learning procurement training system which is truly superb and which I am sure will be around as a testament to his skill for many years to come. He will be greatly missed by staff, me and the business.

Concluding Comments

The concluding paragraph of this report must be one of thanks for the partnerships in building up the Company. Initially I must recognise and thank all staff, past and current, for all their hard work and support through the years. I must also thank all past and current members of the CPL Group Board as well as partner organisations like NPG, NWUPC and TUCO. I thank all the suppliers who have worked with CPC through the years as part of the service delivery partnership. Finally and as always, I thank all our customers without whose support, CPL Group would not function.

I hand the torch over to my successor, Darren Lowe, who I know will do an excellent job leading this super organisation.

The Contracting Team experienced a demanding year with the introduction of several new frameworks as well as the retendering of existing frameworks.

These were all delivered which is testament to the professionalism and commitment of the team. I am also delighted to report that their camaraderie and support for each other as a team was exemplary particularly during such a difficult year.

The Contracting Teams partnership with the Department for Education (DfE) went on hold during the year as a consequence of Covid19. 12 Frameworks remain supported and many of our other frameworks are under consideration for recommendation by the DfE. We look forward to the opportunities that this partnership will undoubtedly bring for the organisation.

CPL Group income fell this year as a direct result of the national lockdown and in particular the closure of educational establishments during the Spring and Summer.

Although Tenet contracts were able to continue with relatively little disruption the impact on the charity was greater as framework activity diminished considerably in the final quarter of the financial year.

CPL Group was able to survive this period without the need for any staff reduction and with minimal use of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme introduced by the Chancellor. We acknowledge that many companies have not been so fortunate and put this down to having excellent levels of cash and revenue reserves alongside a robust financial business model.

During the year we continued to honour our promise to reinvest surplus back into the education sector with over £325k being spent primarily in the form of grants to fund student activities and welfare. Furthermore, in November 2019 the Board committed a further £500k into the free reserves fund for further reinvestment.

The balance of funds available for reinvestment was £657k at the year end and whilst projects have been placed on hold whilst we concentrated on protecting cashflow through the year we feel confident that funds can start to be released during 2021.