Bond, the UK umbrella body for international development organisations, has reduced its staff headcount and moved offices as part of a restructure in order to “ensure long-term financial sustainability”.
The body, which has over 350 organisational members, announced this week that it had not replaced some leavers, while also combining some roles and filling them internally.
A spokesperson told Civil Society that its staffing changes included redundancy, not extending fixed-term contracts, the merging of some positions, and resignations followed by freezing positions.
They said the organisation, which had 42 employees in the year to March 2024 according to the Charity Commission website, now employs 39 members of staff.
In order to make additional savings, Bond has also not renewed the lease on its longstanding office space at the NCVO Society Building in north London.
It will instead relocate to a new office at Impact Hub Euston from June.
Bond had operated at a deficit in 2023-24, according to accounts filed with the commission, with a total income of £2.73m and expenditure of £3.22m.
Romilly Greenhill, Bond’s chief executive, said: “At a time of increased financial pressure across the development and humanitarian sector, yet increasing need for support globally, we’ve made some difficult but necessary changes to ensure we remain a supportive, impactful and resilient organisation.
“These steps will strengthen our financial position and enable us to continue delivering high-quality support for our members and the wider sector.”
Bond’s announcement follows international development charities such as Oxfam recently announcing staff cuts.
Many British aid charities have expressed concerns about the UK and US governments’ cuts to development spending in recent months, as well as the recent increase to employer national insurance contributions (NICs).
Related articles
