Two trustees of the Eden Trust, owner of the Eden Project in Cornwall, loaned the eco-attraction a total of £180,000 during the year to March 2014, and earned £4,241 in interest from the loans during the period.
The latest annual report and accounts just published for the Eden Trust and its trading subsidiary, Eden Project Ltd, show that the two trustees were still owed £80,000 from the loans by the end of the financial year. However an Eden Project spokesman told Civil Society News that both loans had now been paid off.
He explained that the loans were short-term advances that were made as part of a wider programme of refinancing which also included bank loans and other commercial funding.
The Charity Commission’s guidance is clear that trustees must not derive any personal benefit from their position as trustees. But in this case the Commission said that the charity’s governing document allows the Trust to borrow from others and does not prohibit loans from connected parties, including its trustees. This is provided that they meet the criteria of such a loan being in good faith and at a proper and reasonable rate of interest.
“As long as the decision was made in line with the Commission’s guidance and there are no unmanaged conflict-of-interest issues, we therefore have no regulatory concerns,” the Commission said.
The Eden Trust spokesman added: “At the time of the loans by the trustees, Eden was facing considerable financial challenges. For the risk that the trustees were taking, the interest rate was appropriate. We examined the Charity Commission rules beforehand and we are confident that we operated well within the rules. These were short-term loans, part of a raft of measures to help Eden through a difficult period, and they have been repaid.”
During the year the charity had total income of £23.3m, £4.6m less than the previous year, and spent £23.9m, resulting in a loss at the year-end of £661,491.
Income fell, the charity said, because of fewer visitors, the end of certain projects, and the impact of flooding in the South West. Gift aid admissions to the Project generated £4.9m; in 2013 this was £6m.
The report concedes that it was a “difficult financial year”. In two restructuring programmes in February and October 2013 the charity made 68 staff redundant and did not replace people in a further 50 roles, resulting in salary savings of £2.2m. The seasonal recruitment programme was also scaled back by 30 per cent to keep costs down.
“The changes that were instigated will ensure Eden’s longer-term financial sustainability and refocused an otherwise wonderfully optimistic organisation to become very realistic in its budget setting and cost control,” the report said.
The charity plans to pay back all its outstanding loans by 2018.
Future plans
Looking ahead, the charity proposes to develop a range of accommodation offerings on the site, subject to planning consents; to develop new educational partnerships to deliver formal education onsite, and to extend the Eden brand into targeted commercial areas.
Around 50,000 people encountered Eden during the year; mainly on the Cornwall site but also in schools, businesses and universities across the country.
It had partnerships with McDonald’s, EDF Energy, Asus and LV Insurance and ran several events including the Electric Bike Show, Freaky Nature with Food, the Den Challenge, Eden Beer Festival and the Mine Closure Conference.
Construction started on the new Rainforest Canopy Walkway and a plan was hatched with YHA to install a temporary 62-room Snoozebox YHA Hostel on the outer estate for two years.
Discussions have also begun on the establishment of an Eden Project in China.
