BCGBA row: Squabble over £285k trust funds

Bowling News

Indications are that there is a festering internal row brewing between the BCGBA and the Trustees of its own Investment Fund. With the Trustees currently holding investments valued at over £175,000 and a Reserve Fund of over £110,000 the Trustees are currently overseeing a total package of over £285,000. There is some disagreement between the BCGBA main Board and the Trustees about the allocation of funds to support some internal pressures. So whilst the BCGBA is engaged in a major fall-out with some of its county organisations it is also fighting on another front within its own organisation with the Fund Trustees. The Trust Fund Trustees report to the BCGBA Board and that relationship is clearly under some duress at present.

The Association has 5 Trustees who are charged with administering the reserve funds of the Association. The Trustees have the authority to determine the investment policy in respect of these funds. The Trustees shall not reasonably refuse any request by the BCGBA Board to draw on these funds, but in general in the past have limited withdrawals to development projects. There is a real Yorkshire thread to this impasse with Alan Stephenson being the Chairman of the Fund Trustees and Steve Cochrane the Interim Chairman of the BCGBA, two gentlemen who know each other very well.

Whilst on the subject of finance I am aware that one of the areas contributing to the rift between the BCGBA Board and the breakaway group calling itself the 'BCGBA Interim Executive Committee' is the redundancy notice issued to the BCGBA Financial Officer. This post commands a salary of over £13,000 per annum for working one-day a week (Friday). That equates to an equivalent full-time salary of over £65,000 p.a.

That salary is seen by the BCGBA board as being unsupportable but that stance is now being challenged by the 'BCGBA Interim Executive Committee' who are demanding the reinstatement of the Financial Officer role and postholder. That demand stretches to a second post also made redundant, that of the Admin Manager. The BCGBA has replaced these two positions with the new post of the Finance & Governance Manager (part-time) and is currently recruiting to this position. According to its own recruitment timetable, it should be about to announce an appointment.

This new position attracts a salary of £36,000 - £43,000 p.a (full-time equivalent) working 3 days a week, making the actual salary around £21,000 - £26,000 p.a. One of the requirements for the advertised position is a CCAB financial qualification, which the Financial Officer post didn't require previously. The extract below from the BCGBA last Financial Statement illustrates the big numbers involved in this squabble. Has anyone ever asked the question about why the BCGBA needs to be harbouring a quarter of a million pounds whilst still introducing a player tax of £1 per bowler per annum to deliver changes to the organisation. It seems to me that the BCGBA is one of those organisations that judge how successful they are by how much money they have in the bank doing nothing. It would be a lot more if they didn't run the BCGBA competitions at a huge loss every year.

EXTRACT FROM THE BCGBA FINANCIAL STATEMENT FOR YEAR-ENDING 31 OCTOBER 2025

• BCGBA Ladies County Championship Final Yorkshire v Shropshire this Sunday

• Winter League decisions on future of Divisions 8 & 11

• The BCGBA power struggle started with a letter from South Yorkshire CGBA. Here is a copy.

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