I wanted to personally update you on the progress we’re making in restructuring our operations to ensure we can continue to deliver on our charitable mission while addressing an unsustainable £2.5m deficit forecast for this year.
Since announcing the restructure in June, I speak for the entire team when I say we’ve been incredibly moved by the response we’ve received. Your support, kind words and generosity mean the world to us, and we’re enormously grateful to the many people who have got in touch with offers of help or suggestions on how we can generate more income, all of which we’re reviewing and exploring where practically possible.
As I mentioned in my previous communication, the financial challenges we face have left us with no choice but to restructure our operations, with 17 roles at all levels within the charity, including within the senior leadership team, identified in June as being at risk of redundancy.
Since the start of the ensuing consultation process, we have worked closely and collaboratively with everyone affected, with the aim of supporting our colleagues through this difficult process and minimising compulsory redundancies wherever possible.
While the 17 roles are no longer part of our new structure, we’ve been able to significantly reduce the number of compulsory redundancies to just two through our voluntary redundancy scheme, redeployment efforts and natural attrition. 14 of our team members opted for voluntary redundancy and one additional colleague has chosen to leave to pursue new opportunities.
Any process of this kind is always challenging but we believe our new operating model will enable us to deliver on every aspect of our work to improve the lives of equines, albeit at a slightly reduced scale, while significantly easing the financial pressures we’re currently facing to protect the charity’s long-term future.
Bransby Horses will continue to rescue, rehabilitate and rehome horses, donkeys, ponies and mules, and we’re working closely during this transitional period with our restructured teams to ensure the high-quality care we provide to all equines is not compromised in any way.
- While we currently care for almost 290 equines across seven yards, we anticipate that this number will reduce over the next 12 months to approximately 250 equines across five yards. We aim to offset this through our continued partnerships with hundreds of valued fosterers and our many equine welfare partners, as well as by resolving as many welfare concerns in the community as possible.
- Our rescue services in the community remain unaffected and continue exactly as usual, and we would encourage anyone wishing to report any welfare concerns to get in touch with us as normal via our helpline.
- Our rehoming scheme and the spirit in which it operates remain unaffected too and we will continue to provide our extensive network of foster partners with support and advice whenever it’s needed. We had anticipated that a reduction in our workforce would lead to a slight reduction in the number of equines we’re able to rehome. However, so far, thanks to the efforts of our teams, we haven’t seen any decrease, with Bransby Horses rehoming more equines in July than any other month so far this year.
- Our award-winning visitor centre will remain open as usual (five days per week, including the café, from Wednesday through to Sunday), providing more than 50,000 visitors annually with the opportunity to learn about equine welfare and meet some of the hundreds of equines currently homed at the site.
We anticipate that our new operating model will deliver much-needed savings amounting to £1.3m and, as phase two of this project, we are already on with reviewing all of our assets and facilities with our new structure in mind, to identify any further cost reduction or income generation opportunities. We expect that this review will be completed by the end of the year and, alongside this, we’re also reviewing and exploring the many helpful income generation and cost reduction suggestions we have received over the last couple of months.
Bransby Horses has been transforming the lives of equines for over 50 years and we believe these important changes, coupled with the ongoing generosity and help we receive from our valued supporters, will go a long way towards ensuring we’re here for another 50 years.
Thank you for your understanding and continued support, it’s enormously appreciated.
Jo Snell, CEO