Sue Ryder’s chief executive, Paul Woodward, is to retire from the post next March after eight years in the role.
Woodward’s decision is revealed in the care charity’s latest report and accounts, for the year ended 31 March 2013 – its 60th anniversary year. The report states: “We closed 2012/13 in a strong strategic and financial position. Over the past seven years, Sue Ryder has grown in stability and strength and we’re now in a strong position to continue to provide incredible care to those we care for and their families.”
Total income was up by £5.2m to £83.8m and a £3.1m deficit in 2011/12 was turned into a £2.5m surplus. Although income from health and social care contracts with the government fell by £1.9m, due partially to the charity’s 2011 exit from the English homecare market, income from hospices was up and turnover from its retail network grew significantly.
Sue Ryder has ambitious plans for the next few years too: in March it launched a £6m capital appeal for a new purpose-built Thorpe Hall Hospice in Peterborough, and confirmed plans to build a specialist neurological care centre in Preston.
As a result, the charity has budgeted to deliver a deficit for the next two years but to break even again by 2015.
Retail success
The charity’s shops network delivered excellent results during the year. Thirty-six new shops were opened, at a cost of £3m, while 18 were sold, yielding a net surplus of £3.1m after disposal costs. Sue Ryder now boasts a total of 415 shops.
A superstore in King’s Lynn which opened in April took over £2,100 in its first day of trading. Overall shops income was up £5.3m to £41.9m and profits were up 13 per cent to over £8.6m. eBay sales increased nearly threefold.
But the shops chain also swallowed the biggest chunk of the charity’s spend – at £33.4m this expenditure was well ahead of the next-largest expense, that of end-of-life care, at £20.3m.
The charity plans to continue growing its retail chain this year, with more large-format shops and cafes within some of the stores.
Fundraising decline arrested
Other fundraising activity also paid dividends. In-memoriam fundraising raised over £1m, a legacy of £1.5m was secured and £1m was raised towards the Thorpe Hall Hospice appeal. These successes contributed to the arrest of a recent decline in fundraising income and a net contribution to the charity from fundraising of £2.3m.
Free reserves levels grew by £1.8m to £19.7m, amounting to three months’ worth of expenditure.
The Duchess of Kent House Charity, a fundraising charity for the Duchess of Kent House hospice, became a subsidiary of Sue Ryder on 4 March 2013.
During the year, Sue Ryder provided care to more than 16,000 people at its hospices, neurological care centres and in the community.
The annual report also highlighted the success of its VAT campaign which raised awareness of the tax inequalities between NHS and charitable providers of healthcare and helped to secure an amendment to the Health and Social Care Act 2013 and a recommendation from healthcare regulator Monitor, that the government should look into this and report back to the sector by next year’s Budget.
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