Clearview Consulting September 2016 - Lambeth...Education Centre Feasibility Study Clearview Consulting September 2016 4 | P a g e 1.0 Background and Objectives 1.1 Context The Brixton

Education Centre Feasibility Study Clearview Consulting September 2016 1 |

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Brixton

Windmill

Education

Centre

Feasibility

Study Report

Clearview Consulting

September 2016


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Contents

Section Contents Page Number

Executive Summary 1. Background and Objectives

4

2. Methodology 5

3. Key Findings 7

Stage 1 – Current and Future Activity Planning 4. Stakeholder Engagement 23

5. Building Options Appraisal

29

6. Public Consultation 34

7. Business Planning 36

8. Market Analysis

57

9. Marketing Strategy 64

10. Brand Development

66

Stage 2 - Capability and Capacity Planning 11. Resourcing: Capacity Planning and

Capability Analysis

68

Stage Three - Develop Financial Model(s) and Risk Assessment 12. Funding Support 95

13. Cash Flow and Financials 98

14. Risks

100

Next Steps 15. Action Plan

103

Appendices A Building Option Appraisal 1-4 Detailed

Review

109

B Shaping the Future of Brixton

Windmill: Online Survey Results

Summary

Separate Attachment

C Brixton Windmill Restoration Project

2010 – 2015: Final Report and

Evaluation

Separate Attachment

D Sample Baking Courses:

Product/Pricing

113

E Funding Study Separate Attachment

F 10 Year Cash Flow Forecast Separate Attachment

G High Level Programme Schedule Separate Attachment


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Executive Summary


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1.0 Background and Objectives

1.1 Context The Brixton Windmill is one of the Borough of Lambeth’s great heritage assets. It is a hidden

gem, located in an unlikely situation but in the heart of the community and attracting much

loyalty from dedicated local volunteers through the Friends of Windmill Gardens (FoWG).

The Brixton Windmill and its park setting provides a rare view into Brixton’s industrial and

agricultural past. It is a valuable and valued educational resource. With the help of Heritage

Lottery Funding, the Friends of Windmill Gardens, in partnership with LBL, successfully

restored this Grade II* listed building and developed a series of educational workshops which

have been strongly supported by the Windmill Cluster of schools and others within Lambeth. From 2016, the building within which the FoWG resides will no longer sustainably support

both the FoWG and Holmewood Nursery School and Treetop Children’s Centre (‘Stay and

Play’) and it will become necessary to consider alternative arrangements. London Borough of

Lambeth recognises the positive contribution made to the community by the FoWG and has

earmarked £360,000 capital investment towards the building of a new Education Centre

subject to a well-rounded and independent assessment of agreed development options,

supported by a robust business plan.

1.2 Objectives To undertake a feasibility study and business planning exercise: 1.2.1 To assess 4 Building Options, working with the design team at Squire & Partners and

wider stakeholders to identify a preferred building option which best meets stakeholder needs

and which can be delivered within budget available

1.2.2 To develop business plan recommendations to support long-term sustainability of the

Friends of Windmill Gardens (FoWG)

1.2.3 To support the future sustainability of the one o’clock club as part of any proposal

given. Ideally, any recommended approach would also safeguard ongoing continuity of

provision by Holmewood Stay and Play as well as deliver a positive impact on their emerging

business plan.

“Looking Forward, Looking Back” photo by Owen Llewellyn


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2.0 Methodology This has been segmented into three phases of work as follows:

2.1 Stage 1 – Current and Future Activity Planning The starting point was to understand the existing and potential activities of the FoWG,

Holmewood Stay and Play and other identified stakeholders. What these organisations can

achieve going forward will be dependent on what facilities are available to them and at what

financial costs in addition to efforts which can be made by paid staff and volunteers.

A creative assessment of funding opportunities was vital because this could help transform

possibilities. However, a long term sustainable option cannot be based on short term funding

opportunities.

2.2 Stage 2 - Capability and Capacity Planning This involved an assessment of the strengths of FoWG and identified any capacity or skills

gaps which may need to be addressed to support identified development.

This work stream helped define:

Governance structure

Management roles and responsibilities

Staffing structures (volunteer/paid)

Any proposed organisational changes

Partnerships and potential partnerships opportunities

Organisational policies that need to be developed

NB. This reports indicated recommendations against the above. The FoWG will need to

further refine as part of next stage Implementation planning.

2.3 Stage Three - Develop Financial Model(s) and Risk Assessment

2.3.1 Financial Model

In order to show long-term sustainability of the FoWG in this venture, a 10 year cash flow

forecast has been developed indicating income and expenditure covering:

All operational costs including volunteer and paid-for staffing, training and expenses

Running costs for the management and maintenance of the Education Centre

Support costs such as insurances, fire risk assessment and health & safety checks

Utilities and other service requirements

Business development costs and any start-up expenditure

New/existing income stream projections

Any miscellaneous income/expenditure

Any assumed grant income and/or other fundraising donations

Specialist insight has been sought to further develop the education and flour/bakery model as

a base business case; this includes realistic costs and likely income for short and longer-term

activity including consideration of any set-up costs and equipment purchase. Where possible,

assumptions have been tested with the FoWG and other stakeholders as well as through local

market analysis.


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As part of detailed implementation plans further testing is recommended to help establish

robust marketing/pricing strategies and phased resourcing against market development would

be beneficial to support ongoing financial sustainability.

In areas of new activity in particular, groundwork undertaken for this report to establish

market opportunities should be expanded upon as part of detailed implementation plans and

new partnerships identified nurtured and grown.

A key requirement was to ensure that Holmewood Stay and Play will not be unduly impacted

by any planned business activity and that FoWG’s development objectives are not

compromised by mission drift into revenue raising ventures. Iterative work with both

organisations has ensured that the vital need to minimise service disruption can be met.

Potential for diversification of income has also been reviewed to support wider spread of risk.

2.4 Approach The approach taken was to look at low impact business models with minimum overheads

requiring realistic earnings. This means that a sound business could start quickly with the

options of growing over time once some reserves are built up. Consideration of outsourcing

and the scope for local park management possibilities has also been explored with key

stakeholders. Revenue focus was extremely important and had to be realistic because so much depends on

volunteers whose main interest is delivering the heritage, education and community

engagement side. The emergence of a vibrant food and social business culture with the

Cooperative Lambeth Council has created the context for a viable on-site and off-site food

business that could be helpful to new revenue streams. Discussions across the borough and

beyond suggest that the Brixton Windmill brand could be very strong.


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3.0 Key Findings

3.1 Overview

Following a robust evaluation process, recommendation has been given for an

Education Centre building which houses the FoWG only sited within close proximity

to Brixton Windmill

Building decision was based on consideration of a range of parameters including key

stakeholder needs analysis, benefits, risks as well as costs and value for money

Education programmes developed in line with current educational curriculum

(including but not limited to History/Geography/Maths and Science) supporting the

sharing of the Windmill’s history and helping to safeguard the cultural heritage of

Brixton Windmill for generations to come, will be the core activity for the new

Education Centre; this is the primary reason funding for the new building has been

agreed

Maintaining the charging for educational programme delivery at affordable rates

however, means that income from educational delivery alone would not generate

sufficient income to maintain building/staffing running costs

Development of a viable business plan which would allow the FoWG to operate

sustainably is a requirement from London Borough of Lambeth before they will

release the building capital for the new centre

Educational activity will therefore need to be part of a wider portfolio of activity to

cross-subsidise this activity and to spread financial risk

Potential has been identified to further develop existing activity and scope exists

across all areas to either grow and/or optimize current working practices in order to

maximize revenue from these

In particular, flour milling has best potential for sales growth, subject to being able to

increase milling capacity, and having full-time access to a permanent building greatly

enhances opportunities to expand income from events and tours

Market demand already exists for wholesale flour sales and recent Beer & Bread

festival shows promise that scope exists to make larger community focused events

more profitable, working more closely in partnership with other local business

providers

Key new income streams which have potential to be profit making include: baking

courses, hall hire-out and the provision of a more regular pop-up café

Refreshments was a key ‘ask’ by residents and park users in recent public

consultation exercise as was baking related activity which would be a natural

progression from current FoWG involvement, many of whom bake at home, as well

as a key opportunity to extend the Brixton Windmill Flour brand

As per the detailed financial forecast, this indicates that the FoWG could operate

sustainably long-term without reliance on grant funding to cover ongoing running

costs over time and have the potential to generate increased income generation from

creating greater efficiencies within current activity and through the introduction of

new income streams

However, some grant funding would be advantageous, particularly in early start-up

years, while FoWG establish business development support and expertise needed to

implement new business activities and to support FoWG charitable activity

While a more detailed, annual fundraising strategy has been identified as part of the

FoWG Action Plan, initial focus to be given immediate attention will be for the

FoWG to submit a funding application for the new Heritage Lottery Resilient Fund;

this has an eight week decision timescale which, if successful, could generate

significant funding prior to the new Education Centre opening if the application is

submitted in the final quarter of 2016


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LBL have allocated resource support to the FoWG to progress this quickly

The FoWG have a proven track record of developing smaller funding bids and it is

recommended that they continue to (selectively) proactively pursue these alongside

developing commercial activities as a means of supporting their charitable activities

3.2 Building Recommendations

Four building options were reviewed as part to the Feasibility study. These included:

Building Options

Option 1

Providing the education facility as a new building within the park, retaining

the one o’clock club (‘Stay and Play’) in its existing form, as a stand-alone

entity

Option 2

Demolish the existing one o’clock club building and provide a larger building

in the park for both organisations to use, with shared facilities where

appropriate and efficient, but with a clear separation where necessary

Option 3

Expand the current one o’clock club building to enable a larger building, as

with Option B

Option 4

Explore alternative sites for a new building, such as Thames Water sites

The following summarises the outcome of evaluation undertaken:

Evaluation Scoring: 1= weakest fit, 3= strongest fit. Maximum score is most suitable

option

Criteria / Objective Option

1

Option

2

Option

3

Option

4

Affordability - Cost falls within ballpark of

£360k allocated

3 1 1 1

Suitability for FoWG’s proposed activities 3 2 2 1

Suitability for Holmewood’s business

activities

3 2 2 1

Business sustainability 3 2 2 1

Environmental sustainability 3 3 2 1

Planning risk 2 1 2 1

Time to construct 2 1 2 1

Provides new and additional amenities to the

community

2 2 2 1

TOTAL SCORE 21 14 15 8

In essence, Building option 1 – providing a new Education Centre within the park as a stand-

alone building for FoWG usage, retaining the Stay and Play facility as is - was the only option

which could both meet stakeholder needs and be developed within budget.


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3.3 Public Consultation

Extensive public consultation was undertaken to gauge the receptiveness of local residents

and park users to the proposal to build a new Education Centre within Windmill Gardens. A

high number of people were reached via a combination of activity and the overall response

was overwhelmingly supportive.

Activity included:

A series of panels detailing the Education Centre building development and

potential activities which might be introduced as part of the business plan were

displayed for two days in Windmill Gardens in July

Feedback was gathered by representatives from FoWG, London Borough of

Lambeth, Squire & Partners and Clearview Consulting who attended the event

People were notified of the consultation by leafleting all local residents in Blenheim

Gardens and neighboring streets, emailing residents (via BGRMO), posters in the

park and on the estate, online advertising of the event on both FoWG and BGRMO

websites, Twitter of Future Brixton and FoWG and word of mouth invitation

In excess of 100 people saw and commented on plans and 835 ‘ticks’ were recorded

in favour across all listed activities with almost no adverse feedback given

104 individual comments were recorded via post-it notes which were generally

extremely positive and supportive of proposals in addition to offering some other

valuable ideas for further consideration

Key concerns (although limited) appear to be more related to the fencing around the

children’s play area being too low and lack of park lighting at night

Consultation feedback was supplemented by an online survey published by Clearview

Consulting to gather more detailed views of planned business activity and to evaluate

existing FoWG members’ and volunteers’ thoughts on FoWG membership as well as

identify any capacity to support increased volunteering

The online survey was sent to over 1000 people via FoWG dedicated contact lists

(919), BGMRO emailed to all residents for whom email addresses were held and the

survey could be accessed through the FoWG website

90% of respondents said they would be interested in coming along (to centre) to learn

more about Brixton Windmill and the part this plays in Brixton’s cultural heritage;

80% were interested in Brixton Windmill and its history; 68% were interested in a

tour of the windmill and also in Brixton flour making; and 54% expressed interest in

baking classes

The survey also generated some useful information to support that existing volunteers

would consider increasing their volunteer time once the Education Centre opens and

in areas where there would be a need for increased volunteer resource (milling, tour

guides, events, fundraising and business support) indication was given of new

volunteer interest in all of these areas

3.4 Business Outlook

3.4.1 Commercial Activity

The Friends of Windmill Gardens have been extremely successful to date in developing the

Windmill and in harnessing voluntary support to ensure that this hidden gem finds a wider

audience, both within Brixton and further afield. Keen to re-introduce the popular educational

programme developed with the help of Heritage Lottery funding, the FoWG are now excited


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at the prospect of a new Education Centre, which would enable them to grow and evolve their

oganisation and widen the cultural and community benefit they seek to deliver.

As a requirement of securing the release of building capital, the FoWG recognise the need to

develop a business plan which will allow them to operate sustainably and are open and

receptive to the challenges this brings in terms of running a building, covering costs and

putting in place new working practices to enable them to generate the necessary revenues to

do this.

Key income streams which have potential to be profit making include: flour milling, baking

classes and hall hire. Growth potential exists within membership and merchandising provided

improved system support and tighter controls can be put in place to effect greater working

efficiencies.

Education activity would be the core primary deliverable and scope exists to expand this

activity into new markets including parents and families, and schools outside of the borough.

Educational income on its own however would be insufficient to support long-term

sustainability and therefore needs to be part of a wider portfolio of activity to cross-subsidise

and spread financial risk.

In many cases, efficiency and greater optimisation of existing activity could be enhanced by

improved system support. Areas where improvements have already begun include efforts to

explore Direct Debit for membership payment and the introduction of product scanning which

will help more closely monitor merchandise sales. Key system development however is still

needed to centralise records management to afford better access to contact data and to enable

development of more targeted and timely communications.

In summary, system support recommendations include:

A centralized CRM system which would support better audience segmentation, more

targeted communications and could significantly aid ongoing membership

development

An updated website with more flexibility for content management and greater facility

to integrate with enhanced mailing tools such as MailChimp

Improved stock control systems to support better stock management and

understanding of merchandising sales/customer preferences i.e. what is

popular/profitable – so worth buying more of – and what is not (so can divest)

Improved financial control systems so can track invoicing and other regular income

and expenditure; this will be increasingly important once new business activity

introduced

In addition, once the new Education Centre opens, there will be a need to put in place

a scheduling and booking system to ensure that the centre usage – for Education

purposes, tours and visitor centre activity, baking classes and other centre hire can be

monitored effectively in order to ensure that the centre is managed properly and

opportunities for educational, charitable and income generation activity are optimised

3.4.2 Partnerships

3.4.2.1 Commercial

In terms of commercial partnership opportunities, a number of bakeries have already

discussed taking Brixton Flour on a wholesale basis and there is keen interest even at this

early stage in partnering for the delivery of bakery courses and training. Building on existing

and new partnerships forged as part of this reporting process, sales of Brixton Windmill Flour


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have already been made to the Old Post Office Bakery, the Honest Loaf, Cornercopia, Bad

Boys Bakery (HMP Brixton) and the Dulwich Picture Gallery. The latter is currently running

an exhibition of windmill paintings so affords a prestigious ‘shop window’ for the display and

sale of branded Brixton Windmill Flour while Cornercopia sells local produce (so potential

for other future windmill product sales) and also has a restaurant arm so has opportunities to

use Brixton Windmill Flour also in its own food production.

Discussions with Ma Baker’s, Virtuous Bread and the Learning Loaf have given positive

indications for partnering with regards to running Baking classes and the Learning Loaf in

particular (baker’s arm The Honest Loaf) offer the possibility of a low risk entry to this

market by hiring the Education Centre space and organizing the classes and attraction of

attendees which could support a much faster introduction of this activity and would offer the

FoWG some valuable insight should they also wish to run their own courses alongside these.

Should milling capacity significantly increase, the FoWG could also consider developing

links with a supermarket which has affinity for artisan products as this would secure high

volume retail sales and would still deliver reasonable return even if profit margins reduce to

accommodate.

3.4.2.2 Wider Community

In addition to an existing network of community contacts as well as established working

relationships with Holmewood Stay and Play and Blenheim Gardens Resident Management

Organisation, the FoWG have an excellent working partnership with London Borough of

Lambeth (LBL). LBL administered the Heritage Lottery funding on behalf of the FoWG for

previous windmill improvements and have strongly supported the FoWG in plans to grow and

expand their Education programme delivery by ring-fencing funds for the building of a new

Education Centre. LBL have also facilitated the development of the FoWG first stage

business plan by recruiting external consultancy support (Clearview Consulting) to develop

this in conjunction with the FoWG and have since extended this support to enable the FoWG

to prepare their HLF Resilient Fund application as well as to help work through some of the

initial business modelling and governance recommendations made in this report.

3.5 Market and Brand Development

Key strengths of the FoWG include a relatively established organization - having been in

operation since 2003 – with a proven track record of making improvements to the windmill

and of successfully broadening awareness and growing support for this important heritage

asset.

The Brixton Windmill is perceived as a strong marketing brand – albeit there is a need to

exploit the ‘artisanal/niche’ angle rather than trying to emulate high street packaging. Design

and promotional materials are professional and good quality and the range of varied expertise

which exists across the volunteer base is exceptionally broad and of a high caliber.

Managing a wider portfolio of activity will require new skillsets and gaps exist in business

development expertise which would require further external support (funding/upskilling) to

enable the FoWG to successfully take developments to the next level. Current resource

capacity, while extremely committed, is insufficient to manage/implement new business

proposals and resource levels would need to grow in order to ensure future working is

operationally and financially sustainable. While the Brixton Windmill brand is extremely strong, there is currently inconsistency in its

representation which is diluting its impact and muddying brand positioning. The lack of an


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agreed brand strategy cuts across everything from corporate vision and organisational values

(including how the volunteers work and communicate with each other) to brand identity

(‘brand story’, packaging, brand integrity etc.) to customer experience (the ‘customer

journey’ will need to be expanded upon once the Education Centre is open and regular sales

activity underway). Developing this alongside other key strategies (fundraising, events, sales)

will be an integral requirement towards helping the FoWG make the step-change needed to

transition to the next stage of its development. The FoWG are firmly committed to

developing all requirements themselves but the pace and depth at which this happens would

be substantially assisted should Resilient funding application be successful prior to the

building opening as it would extend current resourcing and staffing expertise much more

quickly.

Market and environmental analysis indicate that opportunities outweigh potential threats and

both charitable and commercial objectives could be met as part on an integrated business

plan. Public consultation supports the wider benefits the introduction of a new

Education/Visitor Centre would bring and there is a high degree of interest in all of the new

Education and other service activities proposed as well as general support from residents and

regular park users for facilities which do not currently exist including access to public toilets,

nappy changing facilities, provision of park refreshments (via pop-up café), better lighting in

the park at night and improved park landscaping

Creation of an enhanced educational facility would also afford the opportunity to expand the

educational programme and grow reach to a wider range of schools both within and outside

the Borough as well as introduce classes for adults/families working in conjunction with

Holmewood. Furthermore, having a recognized visitor centre will strengthen opportunities to

develop links with other windmills and cultural centres on a national and international basis.

Key areas to be addressed in terms of any potential threats include ensuring that the capability

and capacity to run the new Education Centre is sufficient and that the building design has

been ‘future-proofed’ to allow the FoWG the flexibility they need as they test different

income streams and refine their overall service portfolio over time. Close working with both

Squire & Partners and LBL throughout this process has been invaluable and the FoWG are

confident that the building space which is to be created will afford this.

One of the greatest concerns of the FoWG was the erosion of existing educational contact

base due to extended delays. Equally however, the pace at which the FoWG are being

expected to develop is quite daunting for the FoWG for whom this is a major step change in

terms of their operational and organisational working. The FoWG recognise the need for the

Education Centre to be in place as quickly as possible – and are fully committed to supporting

this - but it must also be acknowledged that the FoWG are fundamentally a volunteer-led

organisation and therefore much of what is being asked of them to transition to the new

business model is very new to them and will require some time and assistance to work

towards.

Some high level work to develop a route map for future service and product development has

been undertaken and next steps will be to develop more detailed business and marketing plans

for each of the work streams highlighted. The diagram overleaf summarises current and

future product activity which might be explored:


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3.5 Capability and Capacity Planning

In summary, the areas which the FoWG must address include:

Capability and/or capacity to run the planned Education Centre

Succession planning to ensure clear leadership maintained at critical period of change

Consideration of the creation of a trading subsidiary for commercial activity

Key challenges will include the need to increase resource capacity from current levels to

sustain more frequent visitor centre activity and to maintain regular flour production to match

higher yield needed for (new) external demand. The need to upskill the volunteer force will

be imperative to create the business development expertise needed to manage and introduce

new income streams and further support would be advantageous in the areas of fundraising

and tighter financial management control; skills development and the introduction of some

paid for support might be assisted through the Heritage Lottery Resilient/Transition funding

(HLF) for which the Friends are intending to apply.

An essential resource which the FoWG need to prioritise will be the recruitment of a paid for

Education Officer (part-time); this is likely to introduce different challenges in terms of

having to take on responsibility for direct line management as this post was previously

managed by the Council who administered the HLF funding which paid for this. Currently,

funds exist to cover the cost of an Education Officer through a mix of remaining unrestricted

income and outstanding income still due from previous Schools’ work; these invoices are

currently being processed. Over time, it may be worth the FoWG exploring funding

opportunities to support this (although this is not reliant upon this to operate going forward).

There is a possibility that the former Education Officer, who was instrumental in establishing

the successful working partnership with the Windmill Cluster of Schools, and who also

designed many of the FoWG educational programmes, may become available to take on part-

time Education Officer work once current council contract ends at the end of September.


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Regardless, the FoWG will be looking to recruit this post on a part-time basis as an immediate

priority.

Reassuringly, some commitment has been expressed from existing volunteers to increase the

time they volunteer once the new building opens and in a recent online survey, interest was

also recorded showing potential for a number of new volunteers in areas where activity will

require increased resource including flour milling, tour guiding and events. The survey also

indicated possibilities for increasing FoWG membership including new corporate members

(higher spend).

On the service delivery front, ROTL day release (HMP Brixton) offer added (free) resource

for flour milling, pop-up cafe and gardening projects and both Bad Boys Bakery and the

Clink Restaurant have expressed interest in partnering with FoWG to provide resource

support as well as purchasing flour. Opportunities also exist to strengthen existing

relationships with both Holmewood and Blenheim Gardens Resident Management

Organisation (BGRMO) and Holmewood are keen to work with the FoWG to potentially

develop joint education projects while BGRMO have access to a wide range of tradesmen

who currently service resident needs and potential exists to further explore gardening and

park upkeep as well as Education Centre building maintenance.

An important consideration for the FoWG will be whether to set up a separate trading

subsidiary for the management and accounting of the increased commercial activity to be

undertaken. It is recommended that further legal advice be sought on this but it will be

important to ensure that that the organisation has some professional safeguards in place so

that trading may be undertaken ethically and with complete financial transparency while also

ensuring that the necessary public and company liability insurances are in place and that

individual volunteers cannot be held personally responsible.

Currently, the FoWG has the necessary public and professional liability cover through their

existing insurance with the British Association of Friends of Museums (BAFM) underwritten

by NFU Mutual but this will need to be added to for wider Education Centre buildings and

contents purposes; the FoWG are currently exploring this.

In addition, much tighter financial controls need to put in place to ensure that any new

business activity can be run efficiently and effectively. It has been suggested that the FoWG

might consider moving towards a full cost recovery model but at the very minimum, a more

experienced financial resource will be required, whether bought in as a paid for resource or

through higher level training for volunteer staff.

On a personal level, volunteers should be valued and also value each other – this does not

come naturally and support needs to be sought for preparing a volunteer strategy which

should include proactive efforts to ensure that volunteers feel rewarded and support each

other with positive messages and actions.

Finally, the FoWG has a wealth of expertise across the organisation but in addition to

planning new/increased resourcing it will also be crucial to ensure that plans are in place for

the replacement of key Executive members should they decide to step down or move onto to

other things. Succession planning has been identified as a critical consideration for resource

planning when developing future implementation plans.

Overall, key organisational aims will be to ensure that whatever resourcing structure is

adopted, it will need to ensure that the social business can be well run without losing the

community charitable ethos that is so fundamental to the FoWG.


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Based on the detailed review undertaken of FoWG skills and motivation, the conclusion is

that there can be a high level of assurance to LBL that the FoWG can have the capacity,

capability and motivation for their new business plan and the Education Centre.

The best assurance comes from the fact that the new building enables easier delivery of a

sustainable programme and a much more rewarding volunteering experience than current

shared facilities allow and which is cumbersome in terms of further growth plans. The

building will also be the centre of the business plan, trading, events, education and

fundraising so there is an imperative on the FoWG to make it work.

3.5.1 Governance Structure

As part of ‘Next Steps’ development, a more detailed governance review needs to be

undertaken with the FoWG to agree the appropriate governance structure as part of an

integrated work programme addressing all of the areas raised.

As a starting point, the following diagram sets out the possible principals that have been

discussed with the FoWG. Please note that this is indicative only at this stage; further work

needs to follow to scope this more fully as part of detailed implementation planning.

3.6 Organisational Sustainability The resoundingly good news is that the long-term business forecast is reinforcing that the

FoWG could operate sustainably without reliance upon grant funding to cover building

running costs. Grant funding could however provide much needed external business support

and mentoring affording the chance to really optimize longer term business planning and

revenue generation opportunities.

A key recommendation is for FoWG to apply for HLF Resilient Grant funding to support the

necessary upskilling and new business development expertise required to make the step-

change from existing to new business model; as this application has not yet been submitted it

is currently excluded from the financial forecast but it is anticipated that this could be

actioned prior to Christmas and if successful, funds could be in place prior to the new

building opening.


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It is important to note however, that the FoWG are not reliant upon this income to be able to

cover the building costs from Year 1. As indicated in the financial forecast, the FoWG

Friends are able to just about wash their face if no reliance on grant income.

Please refer to attached snapshot which indicates income in Year 1 of £59,778 against

expenditure of £58,965.

FoWG Income and Expenditure - excluding Grants Yr 1 (refer to highlighted sections)

2017/18

TOTAL Yr1

£ £ £

Building construction costs ( inc F&F, VAT & fees) - -

Commercial standard kitchen 15,000.00 15,000.00

Purchase of a modular mill - -

15,000.00

WINDMILL BUILDING COSTS - -

-

EDUCATION BUILDING COSTS ( less staffing -cleaner) 3,600.00 3,600.00

Park & Gardens - -

-

STAFFING -

Development Officer 50% of £32pa 1FTE 12,800.00 12,800.00

Education Centre Officer 50% of £32k pa 12,800.00 12,800.00

Fundraising capability ( time bought) 10,000.00 10,000.00

Cleaner / cleaning services 600.00 600.00

Development upskilling capability 60,000.00 60,000.00

-

EDUCATION CENTRE COSTS ( less staff costs shown seperately above) 1,850.00 1,850.00

-

MILLING COSTS 5,300.00 5,300.00

-

MEMBERSHIP COSTS 160.00 160.00

-

EVENTS & TOURS COSTS 11,150.00 11,150.00

-

MERCHANDISING COSTS 1,500.00 1,500.00

-

BUILDING HIRE COSTS 2,250.00 2,250.00

-

OTHER EXPENDITURE ( less staff costs) 19,755.00 19,755.00

-

141,765.00 58,965.00 58,965.00

Net cash outflow -

EDUCATION CENTRE SALES 5,010.00 5,010.00

-

MILLING ENTERPRISE 6,478.00 6,478.00

-

MEMBERSHIP ( INCL MEMBERSHIP DONATIONS) 1,690.00 1,690.00

-

EVENTS & TOURS SALES 3,950.00 3,950.00

-

MERCHANDISING SALES 3,000.00 3,000.00

-

BUILDING HIRE INCOME 15,600.00 15,600.00

-

OTHER INCOME STREAMS ( excl grants itemised as a subset separately below)9,050.00 9,050.00

Fundraising incl. HLF Resilience Grant 100,000.00 100,000.00

144,778.00 -

Capital investment from LBL - -

Kitchen sponsorship 15,000.00 15,000.00

15,000.00 -

Net cash inflow 59,778.00 59,778.00

Cash inflow/outflow 59,778.00 59,778.00

In summary, Year 1:

Income marginally exceeds expenditure

There is sufficient income excluding grant money to fund building operational costs

and Education Development Officer post

Transitional funding is not required to cross-subsidise operational costs and Friends

could operate without this

Year 2 sees a rise in income across all income lines as a result of having the building.


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3.6.1 HLF Resilience Fund

The FoWG have a very strong relationship with their HLF partner contact and are in a

good position to secure transitional funding as they are aligned with quite a lot of the

funding categories

This could be as much as £200K+ - the FoWG would want to aim for as high amount

as felt to be justifiable

Having confirmation of Education Centre building funds release will strengthen their

HLF application

3.6.2 FoWG Business Journey

The following diagram shows the potential future journey the FoWG may go through between

current and future operation subject to the level of financial success they may achieve.

3.6.3 Financial Conclusion

Given FoWG business plan is not reliant on HLF funding to be sustainable in early years to

cover operational costs this is not felt to be a high risk.

Funding included spread over 10 years is not high and has been successfully achieved at

higher levels on a consistent basis by the Friends previously so is not unrealistic.

HLF application process is quite rigorous so funding application support would be

advantageous for the FoWG to apply for HLF funding; LBL have already committed to

providing this.

Based on market analysis and business development potential, the FoWG are well placed to

realise significant income increases subject to the necessary upskilling of existing volunteers

and introduction of new business expertise; this feasibility study supports that the FoWG are

eligible and capable of achieving this.

Education Centre Feasibility Study Clearview Consulting September 2016 18 | P a g e

3.7 FoWG Business Plan: Summary of Recommendations and Detailed Actions

The following summarises all activity the FoWG need to consider in order to prepare for operational working at the new Education Centre and to successfully

implement a sustainable business plan:

Theme Points to Address Future Needs Governance Review Tasks

Overall Charity

Accountability,

Liabilities and

Reporting

Risk Management

and Safeguarding

Consider limited company (or similar) to protect

Trustees from most personal liability risks (not all)

Ensure safeguarding policies in place and in

practice

Consider for all partnerships the level and type of

partnership agreement needed

Governance review to consider some form of

charitable limited company or otherwise achieve

limited liability

A Full Cost Recovery model

Ensure that structure enables the social business to

be well run without losing the community

charitable ethos

Ensure that the whole organisation has bought into the new

plan and each group understands its role

Ensure that all activities are in pursuit of charitable objectives

For building opening ensure that the Trustees are prepared –

health & safety training, fire safety, individual responsibilities

Suite of partnership agreement documentation

Risk management and insurance policy


Mentoring for the

Trustees

Supporting strategic leadership HLF Resilient Funding would provide this Identify key leaders

Sustainability of the

Charity and its

Activities

Meetings with this group and evidence of

experience suggest that this is a strong group but

is all voluntary work

Online Resilient Heritage strength checker

Capacity to support sustainability work e.g.

fundraising

Formal record to be kept of all voluntary efforts for

match funding purposes

Prepare a fundraising strategy

Start a formal process to consider longer term management of

windmill and park; identify/strengthen both existing and new

partnerships with BGRMO, LBL, HMP Brixton to support this


Social Impact

Analysis

Need to be able to demonstrate Social Return on

Investment in the language that funders speak

This could be funded by the HF Resilient Fund Need firm targets and monitoring of SROI (social return on

investment) and an Evaluation policy

Financial and Data

Management and

Accountability –

Business

Management and

Development

As business increases capacity and capabilities

will need to be increased

External support to realise the business

development will be needed

Buying in professional accountancy support on a

part-time basis to be considered

Governance review to consider if right mix of skills

for an emerging significant social business

Professional book-keeping capacity will almost

certainly be needed

Reserves policy Clear and auditable protocols for Gift Aid Business development plan to align with marketing strategy Cash handling and security Data Protection policy Customer complaint handling process



Staffing, Paid and

Voluntary

The FoWG will also need to build into their

thinking the roles of cleaner and bookkeeper

ensuring that the roles can be deployed well

without resultant diminishing of the voluntary

efforts

Personnel policies need to be developed and a

training needs assessment should include

consideration of personnel management

HR policies needed e.g. Living Wage; Health and Safety; Lone

working; Manual handling; Display Screen; Equalities policy

Volunteer strategy may need reviewing

Policy on training


Education Work Prepare for increased admin requirement ensuring

that income is collected in a timely manner,

records need to be accurate and updated on a

regular basis, and feedback (positive/ other) kept

to inform ongoing developments

Worker should be self-administering but voluntary

or paid admin capacity would allow for further

growth

Policies on charging and on safeguarding

Strategy for Education market development (inside and outside

Borough)


Heritage A feasibility study would be needed on any

proposal to transfer responsibility for the

windmill to the FoWG

A service level agreement (SLA) would need to

be put in place between LBL and FoWG if

FoWG were to take on future windmill

maintenance

The building will open up many opportunities for

heritage talks and activities.

Visual access for those with disabilities e.g. CCTV

cameras could be considered

A project plan, conservation plan and an Audience

Development Plan may be needed for HLF funding


Events The events do require “all hands on deck” which

can cause stress

The new building will reduce the reliance on

events to some extent as there will be a

permanent presence within the park

Fewer events may be needed as the FoWG is

established with regular opening and wider trading

etc.

Strategic review of which events prove to be more

successful in terms of community engagement,

growing brand reach (new membership sign up,

new volunteers etc.) and/or profitability/income

generation (donations, flour/other merchandising

sales)

Events strategy

Tighter measurement and tracking of income generated/cost of

event, sales and merchandising stock control, audience

participation


Trading Including

Milling Flour

Will need trading systems and protocols (e.g.

agreeing profit margins)

May need trading subsidiary

Governance review to consider if a trading

subsidiary is needed both for focus and to meet

Charity Commission guidance

Review needed for separate trading subsidiary, set clear ethical

trading policies

Ensure all legislation including food hygiene policy includes all

aspects as well as home produce


Physical shop in Education Centre will afford wider

access to Friends merchandise and support brand

extension

Online shop will increase reach and sales

opportunity when Education Centre closed

System capability required to better manage sales

recording and inventory stock control

Need stock-keeping policy including any ‘sell by’ requirements

for flour and any other perishable sales goods


Facilities

Management (FM)

and General

Administration

A regime of management needs to be put in place

and owned at a high level

Building hires will need to be proactively

marketed and managed as it is one of the main

sources of regular discretionary income

In the governance review, a building management

group should be considered and both finance and

volunteer time budgeted for the medium and long

term

FM manuals for staff and hirers will be needed

A building hire and charging policy will be needed with a scale

of charges for community and other use

Policies on use and terms needed e.g. for alcohol consumption;

opening and closing times, cleaning charges, religious/ political

uses


Communications

Consultation and

Marketing

Internal communications plan to engage existing

volunteers and to secure buy-in to new business

approach will be critical to success of business

venture

Communications with members could be

improved to increase sustainable income

Data held on various different databases leads to

duplication and inefficient contacts management

Ongoing user feedback systems should be

developed

Crowdfunding and similar popular appeals may be

the way forward and this would revolve around

how the Friends communicate the cause

Development of the FoWG/ Windmill ‘story’ needs

to be crafted for inclusion on promotional material

and on flour packaging to reinforce the brand

Current CMS, while adequate as a website, is

stubbornly inflexible. A different system e.g.

Wordpress would allow integration of mailing

records with a mailing system such as Mailchimp

as well as allowing a much more flexible website

Centralised CRM system would enable enhanced

audience segmentation to support more targeted

communications and facilitate better records

management

Reports of all consultations and surveys should be kept with

evidence of how they have influenced plans or service

provision

Overarching marketing strategy will be needed including brand

development/ growth policy



Environmental

Impact

n/a Most significant funders will want to see

measurable outcomes in place

A Transport policy (for the planning application) and an

environmental policy will be needed

Park, Gardening etc. Park upkeep should not be confused with the

current exercise

n/a at this stage; to be revisited within 3 years once

building in place

Agreed SLA (service level agreement) needed if to

be adopted

n/a at this stage

Membership Need a membership strategy to meet business

plan targets as well as inclusion

Membership admin system which supports

renewals; introduction of direct debit Payments

Membership benefits review

Membership strategy and policy on fees and membership rules

Direct Debit policy


Legal Issues Lease Terms

Consumer Law

Health & Safety

Safeguarding

Contracts

Could apply for pro bono support Need external advice and support


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Stage 1: Current and Future

Activity Planning


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4.0 Stakeholder Engagement

4.1 Stakeholder Groups

Parties directly involved in this project included:

Friends of Windmill Gardens (FoWG)

Holmewood Nursery School and Treetop Children’s Centre (HNSTCC, more

commonly referred to within this report as ‘Holmewood’ or ‘Stay and Play’)

Investment & Growth, London Borough of Lambeth (LBL)

Windmill Cluster of Schools

Blenheim Gardens Resident Management Organisation (BGRMO)

Cllr. Garden

Eley Kishimoto (Design company/FoWG Creative Ambassador)

Squire & Partners (S&P Architects)

Clearview Consulting Services (conducting feasibility study)

Public consultation also included seeking feedback from wider residents and Windmill

Gardens park users (general public) – this is covered in more detail in Section 6.

4.2 Aims

• To capture business requirements and aspirations of all key stakeholder groups with

focus on long-term sustainability of FoWG and HNSTCC

• To inform S&P design brief for four building options under review

• To actively contribute to building options review in order to support optimum

building selection

• To manage risks and deliver added value/benefit to LBL and FoWG

4.3 Methodology

A series of face to face meetings were held to establish key requirements from stakeholder

groups. Areas probed included building needs, business aspirations, attitude towards proposed

building options – and whether any preferences were held for shared (joint) building or stand

alone.

In addition, stakeholder interviews identified any challenges/constraints and what might be

needed to support continuity of service, or at least could minimize service disruptions

(particularly important for Holmewood Stay and Play).

Within a 2 week period, Clearview attended:

11 face to face meetings

2 Exec Committees

Sustainability Sub-Group Meeting

1 FoWG Business Event

Spoke to 40+ people

Supplemented by desk research and review of existing documentation


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4.4 Key Findings

The following summarises the detailed findings from each of the stakeholder interviews.

4.4.1 Friends of Windmill Gardens

4.4.1.1 What They Need

Classroom big enough to hold 30 people at a time

Facility to double up as required as a visitor centre

Dual purpose kitchen that can be used for training and catering

Toilets: male/female/disabled

Storage area for grain (consider weight)

Shelving and dry space to store flour

Easy to open shop and secure storage area for merchandising

Possible area for secondary modular milling facility*

Space will need to be multi-functional to support a variety of income streams

including bakery courses, hall hire out and other activities * put on hold for now

4.4.1.2 Preference for Building Location

Against the wall, but not obscuring the mural or encroaching onto existing children’s

play area

Liked the version which showed the centre going around the back of the windmill

with seating area viewing the windmill

Critical requirement is to have sight of windmill from centre

4.4.1.3 Single Building to House Both FoWG and HNSTCC

Feel that existing building is uneconomic to run and have concerns about how long it

will last

Issues with shape and where Education Centre part would be sited; if extending

existing building, consideration would need to be given to moving the stay and play

group further away so that could maintain eye-line to windmill

If new, shared building would a larger single building obscure view and/or be more

intrusive than two smaller buildings?

4.4.1.4 What FoWG Liked About “Inspired” Modular Building Option (Quote 2015)

Low cost > all options came in under £200K

Eco standards – vey high

Versatility - could easily adapt to different needs

Speed of construction

Liked that could have bi-fold windows all along wall > light and airy

Could choose type of roof/wall cladding; liked cedar exterior; saw a version in North

London which had panels which looked like weather boarding and replicated older

style of previous buildings

Inspired (modular building provider consulted) said could manage complete process

including planning application and other work needed within cost quoted


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4.4.1.5 S&P Design – Positive

Liked that have been basing ideas on where older buildings had been and want to try

and replicate a “heritage centre”

Like timber building; colour not an issue

Like version which goes behind windmill and looks onto windmill; important to

make money from corporates that others can directly see windmill

Like that version behind windmill might support storage below land level, utilizing

land incline

4.4.1.6 S&P Design – Initial Concerns

S&P “too big” and this project too small for them; discussion re: Computeraid project

in Bogota, Columbia reinforced social commitment

Thought open rafters wasteful of space; now open to some areas being open to add to

ambience and some closed offering added storage potential

Unhappy about any versions which will obscure mural and/or encroach on existing

children’s play area

Areas where might help shift perception: longevity of S&P design v limited life span

of modular construction

Heavy weight storage (particular if modular milling adopted) will not be readily

supported by building without foundation

4.4.1.7 Café/Kitchen

Will need a kitchen which is dual purpose to support baking/other classes (training)

and catering (functions and events); size and dimensions yet to be ascertained

Much better ‘fit’ with business USP (flour) and less resource intensive to simply hire

out space

Mixed opinion within FoWG camp re: café but primary view is that there is currently

insufficient footfall to attract an interested café provider at this stage and there is

limited capacity/desire to manage

Typical income generation from small cafés is low and insufficient to sustain

Education Centre; potential may present in 3-5 years if neighboring residential area

grows

Would still benefit from building in designated customer seating area to support

FoWG pop-up café and for future proofing should café become viable in future

4.4.1.8 Building an Integrated Vision

FoWG are open to Holmewood’s needs for space to run classes and think they can

accommodate

Recognise there are periods when schools will not be using the centre, willing to

build in time to ongoing schedule where Holmewood could use free of charge at

outset

FoWG also open to more closely supporting Blenheim Gardens RMO in joint funding

applications; perception that once centre is established in park, this will potentially

open further doors to seek additional funding support for further park development

Very interested in exploring what might be feasible via BGRMO park maintenance

and building estate management


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4.4.2 Homewood Nursery School and Treetop Children’s Centre

Currently only have one room; at maximum capacity now (24 children)

Can still expand with this by offering more stay and play sessions throughout the

week once have full access to own space

HNSTCC committed to continuing to use this building for vulnerable family

outreach; would use funding from supervised vulnerable 2 year olds’ programme to

fund park resources but would place in established facility in Upper Tulse Hill where

already equipped to deal

Ideally, to support HNSTCC business plan, need additional room to utilize for paid

for training purposes, 3 sessions a week x 2 hours

Feel this should be offered free of charge by FoWG for 3 years to reflect previous

shared arrangement

HNSTCC open to shared building IF all safeguarding needs can be met; would need

separate secure access and more protected play area (ideally electronic gate access or

at minimum higher fencing around outside play area)

Would require separate toilets for children and access to own kitchenette facilities

Would be interested in a shared used of hire out space for children’s parties – but

could use existing building room at weekends/evenings if have sole occupancy

Concerns expressed about being seen to be the ‘poor relation’ if new separate

building for Education Centre and no change to existing HNSTCC building; has been

communicated that LBL capital would only fund external updating to align with any

new building > would still require adaptation of play area fencing to allow FoWG to

explore opportunities with non-DBS and others

Question over longevity of existing building; but not an immediate concern for

HNSTCC (3 years into 7 year lease; may be extended to 11 years)

Issues exist with current boiler / electrics; some money already ear-marked by LBL

Children’s Services to address (Stella Clarke)

Excellent working relationship with Blenheim Gardens RMO; put in new flooring

and kitchenette free of charge and maintain garden area around building for free

Can see advantages to a new shared facility – but greatly concerned over who would

‘own’ responsibility for ongoing building maintenance and do not want to take on for

the whole building

Are content to remain in existing building if agreement reached for an

integrated vision for how FoWG and HNSTCC would continue to work together

4.4.3 Windmill Cluster of Schools

Completely committed to Brixton Windmill Education programme (“excellent”) and

have built bespoke links to their Geography and History teaching

Potential exists to extend programming so rather than a ‘bi-annual’ programme for

schools where two years taught together – if have a two-year teaching programme

with different content could send more classes each year

Budget set aside for school visits and some scope exists to increase sessional charges

Are interested in millers going into schools to support wider teaching programmes

(children growing wheat/making bread/pizza etc.)

Believe Educational sessions could be offered outside the borough to neighbouring

boroughs such as Southwark, Wandsworth and Westminister

Limitations with how classes could interact previously because of limited space

Seating and equipment of existing building not suitable for older children due to

small size

More space for the whole class (typically 30 in a class) would be advantageous

Believe that this is an important heritage site; providing for generations to come

very important


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4.4.4 Blenheim Gardens Resident Management Group

Relatively good working relationship with FoWG but feel that ‘single-mindedness’ of

FoWG in past has led to wider park/community needs being neglected

Especially concerned about lack of recreational facilities for older children/teenagers

and would welcome some form of multi-surface pitch and/or equipment for them

Think a bigger childcare facility would be advantageous as can otherwise be very

expensive for parents to seek paid childcare elsewhere or take time off work,

particularly over key holiday periods such as Summer term, Easter, Christmas

Are very receptive to constructive discussion and have access to multiple services

which could be of benefit to FoWG; e.g. would consider taking on maintenance of

park and building estate management if residents get something in return e.g.

pitch/improved equipment

Blenheim Gardens residents quite affluent and could contribute to funding for this;

not that wouldn’t pay but haven’t previously been encouraged to do so

4.4.5 Cllr. Adrian Garden

Original FoWG ‘ask’ was too ambitious

No use just restoring something for heritage purposes only > has to be for benefit of

community and future

Backdrop of spiraling budget/service cuts, still require clearer definition of who does

what in terms of park management

Challenge of not losing green space > fact that there was a building there previously

is a good precedent

But not enough to say there was a building there before > need more of a compelling

argument

Open to a shared, single building; doesn’t think this has been fully considered before

4.4.6 Eley Kishimoto

A wide raft of ideas and acting as “FoWG Creative Ambassador” linking into wide

range of contacts

Believes park is ripe for development; warehouse development now completed

Considers café to be a critical requirement to sustain business model and to “hold

people there” in park; not aligned with desires of FoWG Exec who have neither the

desire nor staffing capability to manage a cafe

Sees this very much as a community project not just an “eco-asset” and so should

have capacity to meet various hall hire requirements and generate income

Considers costs to demolish existing building may be prohibitive and so would make

provision of one single, new, shared building possibly unfeasible > costs still to be

assessed

4.4.7 Other Considerations

Part of FoWG initial resistance to S&P was that FoWG not involved in discussions

from the outset; and that previous work to investigate other building options

seemingly ignored

FoWG needs to be more actively involved in design process; Clearview helping to

facilitate this but will still need more consideration by S&P of FoWG ideas/concerns

to secure FoWG buy-in to LBL/S&P vision


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Brixton Prison may be closed and converted to housing development within next 5-10

years (BGRMO/Council) NB. This is perceived only, not confirmed

Possibility that Thames Reservoir may be converted to residential

In Prague Place, Liberty School has already closed; building 53 new units there

Younger people in vulnerable families now will age and influx of new families

increase demand for older children play area

Security of new building / protection against vandalism and break-ins

More lighting at night

Associated park furniture – can this be categorized as capital cost?

Community ‘value-add’ – park facility for older children?

Park opening times

City farm project - not active but could reappear / will be dealt with as separate

council project application; currently favoured by Windmill Cluster of Schools but

not supported by Blenheim Garden residents at this time


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5.0 Building Options Appraisal

5.1 Building Options

Four building options were tabled for consideration in the invitation to tender for this

project. These were:

Building Options

Option 1

Providing the education facility as a new building within the park, retaining

the one o’clock club (‘Stay and Play’) in its existing form, as a stand-alone

entity

Option 2

Demolish the existing one o’clock club building and provide a larger building

in the park for both organisations to use, with shared facilities where

appropriate and efficient, but with a clear separation where necessary

Option 3

Expand the current one o’clock club building to enable a larger building, as

with Option B

Option 4

Explore alternative sites for a new building, such as Thames Water sites

5.2 Building Objectives

Building objectives were also tabled. These were:

Building Objectives to be met Provide a space suitable for a classroom/event/exhibition space/visitor centre, along

with suitable storage and toilets

A pop-up café and appropriate training kitchen facilities

Provide public toilet provision during times when the centre is staffed

Develop income generation activities to support the FoWG and the running of the

building, plus future maintenance of Brixton Windmill and the management of the

gardens, as well as the Brixton Windmill itself

Storing grain and flour to allow for the FoWG to build on their aspirations to develop

their commercial milling operation

Affordable and quick to assemble/construct

Achieve high levels of environmental sustainability

Be in keeping with the Grade II* listed Windmill building and park

Be of high eco rating and low maintenance costs

These objectives primarily relate to building requirements that will deliver the functional

needs of FoWG and support the use of the new Education Centre building and Windmill

Gardens park by FoWG and the wider neighbouring community.

The objectives also acknowledge key urban planning and environmental policies and

requirements, with opportunity to transfer the maintenance of Brixton Windmill and

potentially the upkeep of Windmill Gardens from 2020 to FoWG. (The latter would be

subject to negotiation with the FoWG).


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They also acknowledge the conditional nature of the granting of capital funds to FoWG for

the construction of this building, i.e. the need to demonstrate a sustainable business model and

10 year financial forecast/business plan.

In addition, they also require the construction to be compliant with environmental and eco

policies that Lambeth require so that the building is environmentally sustainable.

Paramount to all the above is the need to demonstrate that the new building and its activities

create direct benefit and value add to the surrounding community. This latter point is

important and key to the council agreeing to offset the release of open space towards the

construction of a new community run site.

All the above requirements have been fully taken into consideration in all aspects of this

design and business development process.

5.3 Four Options to One

Squire and Partners (Architects) have produced 5 outline design proposals that addressed

options 1, 2 and 3. These have been costed by MACE and an order of costs for each design

proposal has been produced.

Option 4, exploring other alternative sites for a new building such as Thames Water, has been

ruled out. This is because at this moment in time no buildings in the vicinity of the Brixton

Windmill are available nor are any site locations within Windmill Gardens itself deemed

acceptable. Locating a new building at the farther end of Windmill Gardens, away from the

Brixton windmill itself is not acceptable. This is primarily based on historic responses from

the neighbouring residents and community at previous consultations in 2002 that did not want

to be overlooked, or their quiet enjoyment disturbed by increased levels of activity. From an

operational perspective, the distance from the windmill itself diminished the uniqueness and

validity of the proposed education centre itself.

The capital budget ring-fenced for this project by Lambeth is £360,000. Raising additional

further funds towards the construction of the building in addition to this sum, has been ruled

out. The possible time delay and dependency on having to raise further funds for the building,

was ruled out because the priority focus is to have a building in situ sooner rather than later,

in order not to lose the benefits already gained from the Heritage Lottery Funding and

Educational Centre development already in train. Adding to the fund raising activities of

FoWG whilst it was stretching to become a sustainable business was deemed too great a risk.

The five outline design proposals by Squire and Partners have resulted in only one design

falling within cost parameters and the capital budget available. The other four design

proposals were over budget by a considerable margin.

The costing of outline design options has essentially ruled out three of the four options that

required evaluation and consideration: Options 2, 3 and 4. Option 1 – ‘providing the

education facility as a new building within the park as a stand-alone entity, retaining the one

o’clock club in its existing form’’ now remains the only feasible option. This single option

focus has the agreement of London Borough of Lambeth and also FoWG.

As such, for completeness this report felt it important to undertake a short additional business

appraisal to further validate the above position to ensure the value of all other options were

considered, and that the single option approach was the right one to pursue.

See over for Building Options Diagram


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Education Centre Building Options – Squire & Partners

Option 1 = Options A & D on diagram (New, stand-alone building for FoWG)

Option 2 = Option B on diagram (New, joint FoWG/Holmewood building)

Option 3 = Option C on diagram (Extended joint FoWG/Holmewood building)

Option 4 = already ruled out (Thames Water Sites)


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5.4 Additional Options Appraisal

Broader business criteria have been used to appraise and evaluate each building option and

which also allow for comparison. The criteria (outlined below) takes into consideration the

building and business needs of the FoWG already mentioned previously. They also look at

benefits, risk as well as cost and value for money.

Appraisal criteria /objectives

Affordability – costs fall within ballpark of £360k allocated

Suitability for proposed activities of the Friends of Windmill Gardens

Suitability for Holmewood Stay and Play

Business Sustainability

Environmental / Building Sustainability

Planning risk (High risk 1, Low risk 3)

Time to construct (Slow 1, Fast 3)

Provides new and additional amenities to the local community

The original building options 1, 2, 3 and 4 have been appraised against these objectives. Each

option has then been scored 1-3; one being the weakest fit, three the strongest fit against each

of the criteria. The option with the highest overall score represents the most favourable option

based on the set criteria.

The results show that even when the options are evaluated together using the same appraisal

criteria, Option 1 still achieves the best score.

Evaluation Scoring: 1= weakest fit, 3= strongest fit. Maximum score is most suitable

option

Criteria / Objective Option

1

Option

2

Option

3

Option

4

Affordability - Cost falls within ballpark of

£360k allocated

3 1 1 1

Suitability for FoWG’s proposed activities 3 2 2 1

Suitability for Holmewood’s business

activities

3 2 2 1

Business sustainability 3 2 2 1

Environmental sustainability 3 3 2 1

Planning risk 2 1 2 1

Time to construct 2 1 2 1

Provides new and additional amenities to the

community

2 2 2 1

TOTAL SCORE 21 14 15 8

A detailed appraisal of building options 1-4 is given in Appendix A.


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How The New Education Centre Might Appear


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6.0 Public Consultation

6.1 Activity Undertaken

A series of panels were created detailing Education Centre building development

plans including reference to potential activities which might be introduced as part of

business plan

Panels were displayed for two days (Sat and Sun 9-10 July) in Windmill Gardens

with attendance by FoWG/S&P/Clearview Consulting/LBL

Communications plan included leafleting all local residents in Blenheim Gardens and

neighboring streets, emailing residents (via BGRMO), posters in park and on estate,

online advertising of event (FoWG and BGRMO websites), Twitter of Future Brixton

and FoWG and word of mouth invitation

Consultation feedback supplemented by online survey published by Clearview in

support of business planning activity

In excess of 100 people saw and commented on plans – a relatively good turnout

given we were competing with Brixton Arts festival and Wimbledon Finals weekend

835 ‘ticks’ were recorded in favour across all listed activities, with only 6

‘crosses’; at least 4 of the crosses were known to be by young children (e.g. “I like to

eat chocolate so can’t really say yes to nutritional advice”)

104 individual comments recorded via post-it notes – generally extremely positive

and supportive of proposals and offering some other valuable ideas for further

consideration

Key concerns (although limited) appear to be more related to the fencing around the

children’s play area being too low and lack of park lighting at night; one comment

suggested that activity should focus on community benefit rather than corporate


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6.2 A Selection of Comments

Majority (70-80%) feel that this is a positive venture which will offer improvements

to the community/park and would be generally welcomed

Individual comments reinforced the desire for some form of refreshments/café area,

public toilets/nappy changing facility and a working water fountain as well as a

general interest in baking classes

Several comments reflected the desire for somewhere where older residents could go,

speech and language skills for non-English speaking and after schools’ clubs for

children

Quite a few comments liked the idea of having somewhere they could hire out for

parties and other family/social events (weddings were mentioned) and the

introduction of more musical events (‘acoustic afternoon’ specifically suggested)

Some interesting new ideas included: hire out of picnic blankets/food hampers, bee-

keeping activity, film hire location (FoWG already considering), Windmill Forest

school and keep fit/sports training linked with nutritional advice

Ideas which might merit pick-up or jointly developing with Holmewood included bug

hotels, trim trails for younger people/two year olds, climbing wall (popular,

mentioned several times), adventure play, musical walkway, “living wall”

6.3 Online Survey

Online survey ran 24 June to 14 July 2016

Solus email sent to 919 contacts

267 opened the email which was 29% of recipients (a higher percentage than for July

e-newsletter which went out 5 days later and also mentioned the survey)

Very low bounce rate at 1.63% (15) and 4 unsubscribed

Total survey response was 80; 70 came from FoWG e-mailing (57 click thrus) and

July e-newsletter (13 click thrus), 2 were ‘tests’ by Clearview and the remainder (8)

are assumed to come from Blenheim Gardens RMO e-mailout

Overall, Education Centre a popular idea* and positive response received

against all business income stream activities highlighted; *(further supported by

FoWG event questionnaire undertaken in Park)

6.3.1 Survey Highlights

90% of respondents said they would be interested in coming along (to centre) to learn

more about Brixton Windmill and the part this plays in Brixton’s cultural heritage

80% interested in Brixton Windmill and its history; 68% interested in a tour of the

windmill and also in Brixton flour making; 54% interested in baking classes

Of 46 volunteers, 46.3% (19) answered that they would consider increasing their

volunteer time once the Education Centre opens

42% (23) of those who said they do not currently volunteer said they would be

interested in volunteering in the future

In areas where there would be a need for increased volunteer resource, 8 said they

were interested in training to be a tour guide, 4 said they were interested in training to

be a miller, 3 said they would like to offer business planning/finance support and 3

are interested in fundraising

Of those interested in volunteering, 12.5% (4) said that they could volunteer once or

more than once per week, 25% (8) said they could volunteer once per month and

37.5% (12) said they could volunteer whenever there is an event

Please refer to Appendix B: Shaping the Future of Brixton Windmill: Online Survey

Results


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7.0 Business Planning

7.1 Income Streams (New and Existing)

The following section reviews existing FoWG work streams and explores how these might be

improved and grown. It also identifies new areas of activity which the FoWG might consider

in order to generate increased income needed to ensure that the FoWG can operate

sustainably once the new Education Centre is in place.

The areas covered include:

7.1.1 Education Sessions

7.1.2 Flour Production/Sale

7.1.3 Membership Growth

7.1.4 Events/Merchandising

7.1.5 Paid for Tours e.g. London Walks

7.1.6 Baking Classes (Kitchen Hire-Out) *New

7.1.7 Hall Hire-Out *New

7.1.8 Holmewood Space Hire * New

7.1.9 Grants (start-up/business development support and ongoing events)

7.1.10 Other Donations/Fundraising

7.1.1 Education Sessions

Following provision of Heritage Lottery Funding, the Friends of Windmill Gardens

successfully introduced an ongoing cultural educational programme working in partnership

with the Windmill Cluster of Schools and London Borough of Lambeth who managed the

financial and staffing resource (Educational Development Officer) who delivered these.

These were extremely well received and subsequent stakeholder discussions reinforce that the

re-introduction of educational activity of this nature would be well received. Primary

discussions have also suggested that scope exists for a small increase per class from £60 to

£80 for Primary schools with higher charging for secondary classes where more preparation is

required to develop.


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7.1.1.1 Market Development

Initial investigations to establish the ‘size of potential markets’ indicate substantial

opportunity for growth amongst both Primary and Secondary schools within Lambeth as well

as to neighbouring boroughs; Southwark, Wandsworth and Westminster as well as Croydon

appear to be primary markets with good bus/transport links. Other areas to be explored at a

later stage could include Camden and Islington, offering good tube links and as relatively

progressive London Boroughs could be receptive to such cultural visits.

In addition, regular access to facilities which can be more suitably tailored in terms of

desks/chairs and other working facilities offer potential to consider expanding delivery to

adult classes and working in partnership with Holmewood to deliver additional community

related education. Holmewood have already expressed an interest in utilising space at the new

Centre for delivery of ESOL (English Language) classes and Parents training.

As Holmewood Nursery School and Treetop Children’s Centre who occupy the current ‘Stay

and Play’ building have only one room which is occupied by younger children – and equipped

with toddler size chairs/toilet facilities – this does not readily lend itself to such expansion,

and now that their own funding subsidisation has ceased, this would benefit Holmewood in

the development of their own business plans while providing much needed local development

support.

As part of initial discussions, it has been agreed in principle that the FoWG would allow

Holmewood access to centre space for training purposes free of charge for an agreed time,

after which usage would become chargeable (likely to be at a discounted rate).

7.1.1.2 Volume

To ensure that a balance can be gained between educational provision and other FoWG

activity, recommendation is that this operates for a maximum of 3 days per week (week days)

to allow for service growth and optimum matching of resourcing against market opportunity.

Should demand grow faster than anticipated, scope exists for the FoWG to re-adjust their

business plan as needed.

Based on feedback from former Education Development Officer, the ‘school year’ has been

confirmed as 39 weeks. It is anticipated however that there is likely to be little out-of-school

trips taken in the first and last week of each school term (12 weeks in all) and September

could be a slow month, so it is more realistic to assume between 25-30 weeks for schools’

educational visits.

In the financial model, we have worked to 39 weeks with the additional weeks above schools’

usage assumed for adult and other classes together with possible Centre hire for summer

programmes and after-school club use.

NB. Projections for future growth have assumed a healthy increase once a permanent building

is in place. Scope exists for these figures to be adjusted (up or down against available

resource) once operationally active according to demand.

For further detail on previous educational activity undertaken, please refer to Appendix C:

Brixton Windmill Restoration Project 2010 – 2015 Final Report and Evaluation.

For further detailed breakdown of educational activity as included in the 10 Year Financial

Forecast, indicating market/pricing assumptions, please refer to Appendix G: 10 Year Cash

Flow Forecast (Summary and Education Tabs)


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7.1.1.3 Staffing

For the purposes of the financial model enclosed, assumption has been made that a paid part-

time Education Development Officer would be employed on a contractor basis (no NI./other

run-on costs) for a maximum of 3 days per week. This might follow a staggered introduction

subject to market development and education programme needs.

Currently, funds exist through a mix of remaining unrestricted income and outstanding

income still due from previous Schools’ work; these invoices are currently being processed.

Furthermore, there is a possibility that the former Education Officer, who was instrumental in

establishing the successful working partnership with the Windmill Cluster of Schools, and

who also designed many of the FoWG educational programmes, may become available to

take on part-time Education Officer work once current council contract ends at the end of

September. Regardless of whether this happens or not, the FoWG shall be looking to put this

post in place as an immediate priority.

Based on feedback from Holmewood, it has been confirmed that they will not be introducing

any immediate changes to their activity for the coming term or directly after the Christmas

period. The Stay and Play building can therefore still be used on a part-time basis by the

FoWG for Educational programme delivery until the new Education Centre is in place as

soon as a new Education Officer is recruited.


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7.1.2 Flour Production/Sale

7.1.2.1 Milling Production

Based on data provided by FoWG, the following indicates milling potential at current

operational working:

Milling days per week 1 day

per

week

2 days

per

week

3 days

per

week

4 days

per

week

5 days

per

week

6 days

per

week

Milling days per month

(assume per 4 weeks)

4

8

12

16

20

24

Volume at 72kg per day

(assumes 7-8 hour day,

includes wastage)

288kg 576kg 864kg 1152kg 1440kg 1728kg

Milling days per 39 weeks 39 78 117 156 195 234

Volume at 72kg per day output 2808kg 5616kg 8424kg 11232kg 14040kg 16848kg

Milling days per annum over

52 weeks (i.e. 48 weeks

assumed)

48 96 144 192 240 288

Volume at 72 kg per day 3456kg 6912kg 10368kg 13824kg 17280kg 20736kg

Current

As an organisation that relies on volunteer resource, it is unlikely that FoWG will choose to

grow milling capacity in the short to medium term, or if at all, unless there is significant sales

demand to do so and it fits with business vision. Yet the potential to be a full working mill,

subject to further work on where demand might be, and how easy and cost effectively this

demand can be serviced, is high and a real opportunity.

If current production levels can be consistently maintained, producing flour and some flour

by-products, could provide a healthy income stream for FoWG and a milling social enterprise.

Even at the lower end capacity of milling 1 day a week, this revenue stream appears profitable

with a good margin. Milling flour 3-4 days a month, (approximately one day a week), at an

average 7-8 hour day would typically produce a conservative estimate of 72kg of flour from

75kg of grain.

At 72kg a day for 4 days a month, this equates to 3456kg of milled flour per year (assume 48

weeks); this assume 4 days a month for this model from the outset.

7.1.2.2 Milling Resource

Currently, availability of milling resource fluctuates and so while forecast figures have used

the above model for financial purposes, it is recognised that some increase in milling capacity

would be needed to support this over time. Steps are currently being taken by the FoWG to

establish a wider milling base and to create a regular milling resource pool in the same way as

there are Windmill Tour Guides at present.

Based on initial discussions as part of the feasibility study, an opportunity has been identified

to develop working partnerships with both The Clink and Bad Boys Bakery at HMP Brixton.

Both have suggested the possibility of working with ROTL (released on temporary licence)

Day Release offenders, who could be trained up as millers and provided with work

placements in exchange for providing free supplementary milling resource support.


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7.1.2.3 Retail Sales

30 x 25kg bags of grain (750kg) are required to produce approximately 720kg of flour. This

amount of grain would appear to last approximately 3 months based on a 3-4 day a month

level of milling. There is some wastage in production, but over time some of this should

lessen with increased capability and efficiency.

At 72kg of flour produced in an 8 hour day, current milling time equates to 48 x 1.5kg bags,

72 x 1 kg bags or 144 x 500g bags of flour possible per day.

Pricing

For the purpose of the model used in our forecast, retail sales price of £1.90 per 500g bag has

been used less expenditure on input costs (such as grain).

Three possible standard sizes of bag have been considered by FoWG: 500g, 1.5kg and 16kg;

500g is FoWG’s preferred size of bag to market as it provides the maximum profit margin. If

sold directly (without any intermediary), the profit margin for this size is assumed to be circa

£1.40 profit per 500g bag excluding some operational costs still to be established. At worst,

these additional operational costs might bring this margin down to say £1.25 per bag.

Choosing to work with only one size of bag initially for Retail purposes would be wise as it

will help reduce materials costs in the initial years.

(NB. Subsequent feedback since creating our costing model has confirmed that 16kg would be

used for wholesale use only; the latter would require further work on bag costs but this is not

believed to be prohibitive).

Channel Distribution

At the moment, 500g bags and 1.5kg bags of flour are sold at events, and there are some

stocked in a handful of local shops but visibility is low and sales return is not that closely

monitored. Introduction of a new permanent base will afford higher visibility and will open

up opportunities to increase retail sales via the increased tours planned and via new income

streams such as baking classes.

In addition, introducing an online shop will increase accessibility and encourage greater take-

up by new audiences although distribution methods beyond the centre will still need to be

considered for such a channel.

Current strategy is to provide locally to bakers and to household customers in the domestic

market.

If milling levels stay as they are currently, over a year 3456 kg of flour can be produced, or

6912 x 500g bags. This would mean circa 144 bags need to be sold a week or more likely 576

bags sold per month via multiple sources and at the Windmill. Channels for retail sale require

development as it unlikely current channels will produce sufficient sales to match potential

output and therefore, for the purposes of our financial model, an assumption has been made

that this amount of flour would need to be split between retail and wholesale flour sales.

Should other retail distribution channels with greater volume potential be possible, from say

larger local retail outlets or possibly in conjunction with local and regional branches of a

national supermarket, then it is more likely current levels supply will be balanced and met by

demand.


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Should milling production significantly increase however, with more regular milling resource

readily available, future consideration should not be ruled out for negotiation with a larger

high street supermarket chain to locally stock Brixton Windmill Flour as part of any ‘artisan’

food section; it may very well be worth approaching the likes of Tesco’s who have branches

within Brixton and are supporting ‘farm to fork’ initiatives at present.

If further growth is possible, then milling an extra day a week (i.e. 2 days a week or 8 days a

month) may be worthwhile, especially as this extra flour could create a number of regular

medium to longer term contracts for the supply of flour.

Margins for larger volume purchase might be assumed to drop to £1 per 500g bag but the

benefit of known regular income in the medium term would be beneficial for the

sustainability of the business and worth considering. RRP (Recommended Retail price) is

suggested to remain the same as at the Windmill at £1.90 per 500g bag so would not erode

direct sales. Minimum volumes per month per supplier to make the margins worthwhile

would need to be considered.

It is suggested this extra milling could potentially start for Retail sales in year 6.

7.1.2.4 Wholesale Sales

Should FoWG not want to immediately increase milling days above current levels, the

financial model has allowed for a steady growth projection, including the introduction of a

wholesale market income stream to be trialled and developed in parallel. It is assumed that at

the outset, the total volume of flour produced will not be fully absorbed by retail sales only

and sales have been split across both retail and wholesale, subject to demand.

Building off the idea of selling to a different market, on a small but commercial scale, it is

anticipated that there would be wholesale demand from local bakeries and even HM Brixton

for a high quality, organic wholemeal flour produced locally, providing a known regular

income stream over the short to medium term.


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Indeed, as part of feasibility study discussions, market demand for wholesale provision of

Brixton Flour has already been established with the Old Post Office Bakery advising they

would be willing to take 32kilos per month, HMP Brixton (Bad Boys Bakery) proposing that

they would trial between 4-8K per month, The Learning Loaf, advising that they would be

interested in taking 4K per month to start and a handful of other local bakeries suggesting

similar.

Given interest already exists, this could be capitalised upon immediately once the new

building and regular milling resource is in place to service demand. It is therefore suggested

that the wholesale market might be tested in Years 1 and 2 to refine pricing and distribution

strategies with a view to increasing production in Year 3 subject to resource/market demand.

Pricing

A 16 kg bag sold for between £16-£18 per bag would be competitive with other mills and

organic flour specialists whose prices vary from £15 - £22 per bag. (Bachedre mill £19 per

16kg bag, Shipton Mill £21.50 per 25kg bag, Marriage £15.49 per 16kg bag, Doves £18.90

per 25kg to cite just a few).

Our financial model has priced proposed wholesale bag at the low end at £16 per 16kg to aid

market entry. Brixton Windmill Flour could potentially command more, if its flour is deemed

a quality product and pricing increase to £17.50 might be tested once market penetration

established.

Producing larger volume bags could be more cost effective and operationally more efficient.

Sale price per kilo for this model is assumed to be £1 per kg and bags sold at £16 per 16 kg

bag. Price points need to be tested to ensure a regular income is possible. It might be

worthwhile to start entering any flour competitions in the coming few years to seek validation

of flour quality.

Volume makes these sales worthwhile as few bags need to be sold to bring in the same

income as of 8 x 500g bags, albeit at a lower profit margin.

With commercial volumes for retail or wholesale, a mix of volunteer and other resource might

be necessary (refer to 7.2.2.2). Staffing, operational and associated distribution costs need to

be considered and worked through for larger volume milling.

Side products (‘brand extension’) such as Windmill bread sales and baking classes can also be

built off the milling income stream and longer term, building a working partnership with a

college or work place provider might afford opportunities to develop apprenticeship training

in milling.


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7.1.2.5 Bread sales

Currently, the FoWG receive a 0.40 pence donation per loaf from sales of Windmill loaves

made by the Old Post Office Bakery. Income is modest and while this is a welcome initiative

kindly offered, collection is problematic as payment is not made on a regular basis and so

difficult to factor into regular income projections.

Moving forward, it is suggested that the Friends might realise direct income from their own

bread sales from the FoWG shop within the Education Centre following bread making classes

and/or the Friends own baking use of the (planned) kitchen once this has been installed.

A modest income line has been put into the model for this for this that feels realistic and

achievable. If successful, this could be increased.

Over time, consideration might be given to introducing other ‘home-made’ produce by

Friends and potentially local people under a common ‘Brixton Windmill’ brand; this could

include jams and preserves as currently sold by the Friends’ Parks group and cakes and

sandwiches perhaps as part of the pop-up café made using Brixton Windmill Flour.

The FoWG have already been approached by the London Beekeepers Association (LBKA) to

work together at the new Centre which could generate honey alongside other Educational

partnership benefits.

Care would need to be taken that any perishable items sold adhere to required food hygiene

regulations in their production, and display ‘use/sell-by information’ as well as utilising eco-

friendly packaging.

7.1.2.6 Modular Milling

The possibility of adding a second, modular mill to enable increased milling capacity was

explored; this offers some benefits in that it can be operated with lower resource levels but

issues with quality and lack of space to house within the Education Centre have discounted

this at this time.

7.1.2.7 Miller Training Courses and Accreditation

Miller training courses could also be a possible by-product of the milling enterprise. Course

and proficiency accreditation is possibly worth pursuing and the cost per course evaluated as

another revenue stream.


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7.1.3 Membership Growth

7.1.3.1 Membership Overview

Membership types Cost Proportion of

total paid

Total

Paid Up

Members

Total

Members

on VR List

Total

Lapsed

Single £5 51% 52

Family £8 27% 27

Concessions £2 16% 16

Life £100 5% 5

Corporate £250 1% 1

101 222 46%

Based on data provided by FoWG:

There are five membership types (outlined above)

Currently there are 101 paid up members on a mailing list of 222; of the paid up

members, the majority are ‘single’ or ‘family’ members, with just 1% (1) corporate

member

Almost half of the current membership mailing list has either lapsed or chosen to

cease being a member

In a recent online survey*, of those who replied as members (33), 20% (6) responded

to say that they had since lapsed, and of these, 100% gave the reply for the reason

they had lapsed as ‘not been contacted to renew’ (please note that this is a relatively

small number so must be taken in context of responses given)

Top 3 Reasons given as to why people had chosen to become a member included:

o Important to support a valuable community resource (81%)

o Like to be kept regularly informed of what’s happening (45%)

o Enjoy being involved in helping to shape the future of Brixton Windmill for

future generations (43%)

65% of members chose to pay by cash (20), with 26% paying online (PayPal) (8), and

16% (5) by cheque

61% said they would be interested in paying by direct debit

93% confirmed that annual one-off payment would be their preferred direct debit

option

More than 75% reported that they think membership rates are about right/offer good

value for money with just over a quarter (26%) thinking that they are too low

Currently, there is some crossover with volunteers mailing list but not all volunteers

are members; potential exists to convert 200+ from this list to membership status but

records are somewhat muddied so clear communications are hindered

Records are ‘historical’ – these have been inherited from someone who has now left

so there is a need for a new system, training and handover to fully optimise this

income stream

* Refer to Appendix B: Shaping the Future of Brixton Windmill – Online Survey

Results

At the moment, there is no designated membership strategy and in the past, members have

been allowed to lapse because it has been difficult to track when membership was coming up

for renewal. Based on online survey data and other ad-hoc feedback, it can be assumed that

members would, in the main, be happy to renew and feel that the rate they are paying is

offering good value or money.


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Clearer financial record keeping will help paint a picture of membership profiling and for

membership segmentation purposes as well as to flag regular monthly membership due to be

renewed; as part of an agreed membership renewals contact strategy, set communications

templates could be developed as part of a ‘Reminder’ mailing (or emailing) cycle which could

be queued in email/CRM# system to send at regular points in run up to renewal date.

# Recommendation is made for new integrated customer records system (CRM).

Opportunities exist for membership income to be increased immediately through better data

management and clarity on contact records across both membership and volunteers so that the

‘size’ of current growth potential from existing contacts can be better understood. Currently,

there is some question as to whether volunteers should be members but introduction of a

simple, discounted membership offer for volunteers is recommended as this could help realise

several hundreds of pounds each year and would ensure that volunteers can be more involved

in decision-making through this support.

As part of membership strategy development, it may be necessary to consider whether

membership ‘benefits’ can be more clearly defined/enhanced; for example, currently,

everyone gets the e-newsletter whether a member or not so there is no real incentive for non-

members to join if their motivation is ‘to be kept informed of what’s happening’. Based on

survey data, most existing members see the Windmill (and associated activity) as “a valuable

community resource” which they wish to support and enjoy helping to shape the future of

Brixton Windmill “for future generations”; it may be worth exploring whether there are other,

more regular ways for people to actively contribute to this beyond just voting at the AGM

which can be more widely communicated to attract new members and/or convert those who

have already displayed a certain level of commitment to the development of the Windmill

through volunteering.

A good example is the current “Creative Ambassador” role recently introduced from which

the FoWG have significantly benefited through wider business introductions and other

promotional support.

7.1.3.2 Product/Market Development

In addition to a ‘volunteer membership’ offering, opportunities exist to develop or cross

promote membership to the families and others attending the educational programmes and to

consider synergies with other milling/windmill ventures – both National and International.

While corporate membership is somewhat neglected at present, this could offer a tangible

return if more detailed consideration can be given to recruitment strategy as this particular

membership product already has strong, clearly defined membership benefits.

A concerted drive to convert existing local business supporters to corporate members may

become easier once the new Education Centre is in place and a corporate ‘bundle’ involving

reduced hire rates for the centre space to supplement the use of the Windmill for corporate

events could help cross-sell both membership and event/space hire at the same time.

7.1.3.3 Pricing/Payment

Membership rates were increased only a year or so ago and while some 26% suggest that

current rates are ‘too low’, current rates compare very favourably against other visitor

attractions and existing members perceive they receive good value for money.


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It is not recommended therefore that membership rates should be increased any time soon –

more simply that volume should be grown across all segments and that membership

categories could be expanded to recruit from a wider base (see ‘Product/Market

Development’ above).

The introduction of Direct Debit payment would afford several advantages and is highly

recommended:

o Significantly aids membership renewal if DD set to auto-renew

o Introduces ease of payment for the member, particularly useful for those who may be

time-stretched or who may have moved away (but still wish to support) so volunteers

dealing with membership renewal find it hard to reach them

o Annual DD appears to be the most popular – could introduce an influx of cash at key

points of the year which could be better mapped and included in financial forecasts as

payment dates (set against known renewal data) could be identified

o This is an area currently being explored by the FoWG

7.1.3.4 Donations

This is a valuable additional contribution which (joining) members can opt in to pay – thought

needs to be given as to how this could be better recorded – could suggested ‘amounts’ as tick

boxes be included on membership form perhaps as per standard fundraising communications

(could still include an ‘other’).

Efforts should be made to marry those who previously gave donations with renewals

communications, so that additional revenue could be sourced from a) membership renewal

and b) repeat donations. If set up via Direct Debit, the option to ‘opt in’ for auto payment of

both could be put in place which might see revenue from membership income double.

7.1.3.5 Gift Aid

Many have indicated their consent for Gift Aid to be processed – this could be worth in the

region of an additional 25% without any added cost to FoWG members - yet currently these

are not being actioned and untapped monies are simply waiting to be claimed.

Going forward, a process needs to be put in place to ensure that all Gift Aid contributions are

actioned and that there is ‘ownership’ within the Friends for overall membership development

(not just list management) linking back to wider FoWG development strategy.


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7.1.4 Events/Merchandising

The Friends of Windmill Gardens deliver a regular programme of events each year consisting

seasonal events plus a series of larger festival type events which contribute to high profile

awareness raising and opportunities to recruit new members and volunteers. In addition,

events are used to fund raise via personal donations (‘bucket shaking’) as well as the

collections box specifically located near the entrance to the Windmill for those taking tours to

leave a contribution of an amount they feel is fair – the recommended amount is £3 but

visitors often leave more and have been known to donate up to £20 per visit.

This year, Brixton Windmill celebrated its 200th anniversary and a series of additional,

specialist events have been added to celebrate this magnificent achievement with differing

levels of success. Event attendance has been good across all but some have proven far better

financially and the FoWG has taken on board key earnings from these for future activity.

200th Anniversary 2016: Beer & Bread Festival, Windmill Gardens


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7.1.4.1 Events List 2016

Event Group Event Title Event Funding Notes

Seasonal Easter Egg Hunt Part paid by the

Minet Trust Grant

Harvest Festival Paid for by the

Minet Trust Grant

Football Mostly paid for by

BGRMO grant

Art in the Park Paid for by the

Minet Trust Grant

and balance from

Parks income

Annual Festivals Summer Festival

and Parade

Costs £6-7K raised

from an Awards for

All grant plus £500

Historically, has

been the main

annual event of the

year

Very expensive to

produce as very

theatrical in nature

and involves lot of

costly contractors

Main road no longer

closed off now to

general traffic as

previously, so makes

difficult to stage the

Parade and

motivation to run

has lessened

Consideration being

given to phasing out

the Parade as new

events such as the

Beer & Bread

Festival generate

equally high

community

participation and

substantially more

profitable

200th Anniversary

Events

Easter Treasure

Hunt

Paid for itself

Beer & Bread

Festival

Sponsorship, stall

income, donations

Made a substantial

profit and allowed

the testing of a new

funding approach

including working in

partnership with

other business


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providers (beer/food

stall holders)

Also afforded the

opportunity to use

the Windmill for

barley which was

very successful

Open Air Film

Show (Moulin

Rouge)

Made a loss but was

covered by profit

generated by Beer &

Bread Festival

Good attendance and

creative tie-in to the

Windmill through

film shown but high

costs to hire

equipment needed

and pay for film

licences required

negated profits made

previously by Beer

& Bread Festival

Allowed the

showing of new

FoWG ‘short’ film

Special Lecture Taking place later in

the year

Other All year round Tai

Chi

Paid for by Free

Sport Grant and then

self-financing

(collections each

week from

participants)

Popular and fits with

commitment to

healthy lifestyles

(aligns with Council

agenda)

It has been suggested as part of Capability and Capacity Planning analysis (refer to Section

11) that as the FoWG gear up for significant step-change in operational working, it might be

prudent to consider reducing the number of events they undertake given the high amount of

resource these take to deliver. This would allow greater focus on wider strategic business

planning and an opportunity to refocus resources in the short-medium term.

Concerns have been voiced about this as the FoWG see their events as a powerful vehicle

from which to draw a number of key supports including (but not limited to) wider awareness

raising and brand reach, opportunities to recruit new volunteers and members, income

generation through park fundraising and windmill merchandising sales, as well as potential

to widen local business partnerships.

In addition, a number of existing volunteers enjoy organising events activity and this is one of

the areas indicated in the online survey where a relatively high number of new volunteers

indicated that they would like to become involved.

With the introduction of a number of additional 200th Anniversary events this year, it has also

been voiced that some of the FoWG are experiencing ‘events fatigue’ and this may be a good

time to review events strategy for the immediate and longer term future.


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Once the new Education Centre is in place, while the need for wider awareness raising will

still exist, this may be in part reduced and the balance of community engagement activity is

likely to shift.

Proposal therefore is that an events strategy be developed looking at primary and secondary

objectives and events which are cost prohibitive, such as the Annual Parade, be considered

either for cancellation or at least put on hold for the next year or two while new business

activity is established. In addition, it could be possible to bring on board ‘fresh faces’ in the

form of new volunteers to inject new energy and to free up more established volunteers to

input to the development of wider business plans.

Furthermore, crossover here comes in the development of new and existing business

partnerships and it is believed that scope exists for revenue to be increased at park events

through either some form of % contribution by non-FoWG stall-holders selling their own

produce, or perhaps by paying equivalent of a small ‘ground rental’ to include their stalls in

larger events.

NB. At the time of producing this report, data on income generated through events was

limited and so notional amounts have been included; scope exists for this section of the

financial forecast to be further developed by the FoWG.

7.1.4.2 Windmill Merchandising

The Friends of Windmill Gardens have a wide range of windmill merchandising which is sold

at events and tours and is stocked in a handful of shops in Brixton but with limited visibility.

Items include a range of colourfully designed mugs, t-shirts, shopping bags, books, greetings

cards, postcards and tea towels. Brixton Windmill Flour (500g and 1.5kg) has now also been

introduced.


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Items are affordably priced and designed to a high standard. The range of postcards for

example offer a selection of beautiful windmill images covering original historic former

buildings to present day at only £2.50 for 6, while books such as “Mill Memories” offer a

collection of stories from Brixton residents and their families who have lived and worked

around the mill together with more detailed insight into the history and development of the

windmill and the Ashby family who once ran it.

Some funding support has been received previously towards this and in 2014, 600 of the Mill

Memories Book were produced, half of which were funded by All Our Stories Lottery Grant,

while this year, 5000 new guide books were printed, paid for by a Heritage Lottery Fund

grant.

It has been advised that mark up on all merchandising is a healthy 100% but gaps exist in

available data on individual costs and stock control is relatively loose with items stored in

various places including suppliers due to lack of storage at current premises. This should be

helped significantly by having a permanent building with space for own storage.

Stock assets are positive and it is estimated that £22,000 worth of stock is held at the time of

producing this report. Opportunities exist to extend the FoWG ‘shop window’ through the

introduction of an online shop which would improve accessibility and ease of ordering.


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7.1.5 Paid for Tours

Currently, Windmill tours are offered to the public free of charge with a box encouraging

donations of £3.00. Visitors sometimes pay more, particularly if only notes are held or if

overseas visitor/s.

The tours typically run every second weekend of the month between March to October but are

also usually open to coincide with park festivals and other windmill events.

The FoWG intend to keep the weekend tours as free of charge as they see these as a

community benefit. Once the Education Centre is in place however, this opens up

opportunities to charge for mid-week visits linked to the newly available visitor centre where

more can be offered and which might open up the possibility of extending opening times

beyond October.

If tied in to walking tours and refreshments, a charge of £8-£10 per visit would not be

unreasonable and opportunities exist to further explore partnerships with other existing

London/Brixton walking tours. Access to the Education Centre shop will also provide greater

opportunity to link windmill merchandise sales more readily to windmill visits.


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7.1.6 Baking Classes/Kitchen Hire-Out

7.1.6.1 Kitchen Design

This represents a new income stream which would offer positive return once kitchen has been

installed. Currently, the ring-fenced money from London Borough of Lambeth will not extend

to cover this but allowance has been made within the building design to accommodate this

after the building has been built and the financial forecast includes £30K to be raised by the

FoWG for kitchen fit-out. As far as the capital budget will allow, this will include the

‘infrastructure’ such as flooring, walls, mechanical & electrical (ventilation, electrical points

etc.) and services supply (electricity, water, no gas).

The allocated kitchen space is not huge (20m²) but discussions with various bakeries and a

baking enterprise which provides classes from a school in Charlton Manor (“The Learning

Loaf” http://www.thelearningloaf.com/ ) confirms that this would be possible with some

smart thinking and attention to the flow of the kitchen with adjoining classroom area. Having

a commercial/training kitchen opens up even more possibilities for FoWG and food related

courses and hire.

Initial discussions with bakeries including Bread Bread, The Old Post Office Bakery and Ma

Bakers amongst others have indicated the importance of getting the kitchen design best suited

to the purposes the Friends wish to use this for.

Advice has differed widely from purchasing new equipment including a four deck oven which

revised space would simply not accommodate to considering smaller key items and ensuring

all essential kit to be on wheels so that it can be moved accordingly to accommodate multi-

functional use, ranging from catering and food preparation surfaces (in support of a wedding

for example) to provision of baking teaching and demonstration spaces.

Discussions with The Learning Loaf who also offer a range of services including baking

classes, have suggested that rather than purchasing bread ovens, it could be more practical to

invest in a Rational Combi oven which are more expensive to buy but would be space saving

and could be used for everything from baking loaves to making cakes to cooking a full meal.

They can even be used for ‘proving’ the dough for baking.

These are typically more expensive costing on average between £7K-£10K new but a ‘nearly

new’ version could be purchased for around half this and would offer economies elsewhere in

that only one oven would be required which could service all kitchen needs, but perhaps as

importantly, unlike bread ovens, these do not require extensive ‘warming’ times so would

also save on extensive electricity bills as they can easily be switched on and off between use

rather than running for long periods to keep the right temperatures and running up huge

electrical bills!

A range of other equipment including mixing bowls, mixers, weighing scales, etc. has been

noted and would be required if offering classes on a commercial basis. Consideration would

also have to be given to stainless steel demonstration area and class working surfaces; these

could ‘double up’ as food display areas with table cloth covering if then to be used to service

an event such as a wedding.

Overall, an allowance of circa £30K is recommended to kit out kitchen equipment only and

this capital cost has been spread over two years in financial forecast to ensure cash flow is

realistic and positive. Sponsorship for the kitchen or some other form of fundraising (e.g.

crowd funding/grant support) would need to be sought if this is to be added sooner rather than

later.

http://www.thelearningloaf.com/


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7.1.6.2 Baking Classes

Offering baking classes would afford the FoWG the opportunity to build on their ‘USP’ – the

Brixton Windmill Flour – offering a natural brand extension and fulfilling a popular

community ‘ask’ as posted multiple times at the recent public consultation.

Charging for bakery classes for sour dough bread making and associated artisan loaves could

easily command between £75 - £125 per person and allowing for hire-in of a baking instructor

(averaging £150 a day) and a light lunch provision, could generate profits of around £750-

£1,000 per class for a group of 10-12. (Refer to Appendix D for a sample of Baking Courses

as currently offered).

Using this approach, the FoWG would be responsible for advertising and recruiting the class

attendees and general marketing of the courses which could add expense and resource to an

already demanding remit. It is anticipated that the FoWG would not want to run more than 1

every 1-2 months to do this. A tutor who delivers bakery /bread making courses from her

home in Fulham – so used to working with limited facilities – has already been identified who

is very interested in discussing this venture further with the FoWG

An alternative approach would be to simply hire out the kitchen/classroom space and the

trainer/s undertake their own marketing and bring all of the equipment – and the trainees –

with them. This offers a lower rate of return - perhaps somewhere in the region of £250 per

session - but this could open up the opportunity to run these more frequently so still achieving

potentially the same projected income but without initial set-up charges (other than kitchen)

offering a faster entry to market and lower financial risk.

In early start-up years at least, this may be a more practical way to test this market

opportunity without overly committing limited resources and a suitable partnership, via the

Learning Loaf, has already expressed an interest in both working with the FoWG to deliver

this. Furthermore, they would be happy to help guide on the design/flow of the kitchen as

well as purchase Brixton Windmill Flour as this allows them to fully ‘source’ this from a

local provider, replacing existing supplier with the FoWG.


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7.1.6.3 Pop-Up Café

The Education Centre in its final dimensions (150m²) is too small to accommodate a full

blown café without requiring loss of other priority areas such as class room space or storage

(needed for both grain for milling as well as merchandising goods).

Furthermore, there is currently not felt to be sufficient market demand to attract a social

enterprise or commercial café operator and the FoWG themselves have neither the resource,

experience nor motivation to currently take on such a venture which they feel us too far

removed from their current goals.

However, the FoWG have experienced some limited success with providing refreshments for

events and tour visitors and many of the volunteers bake at home so there is potential to offer

a pop-up café to provide light refreshments to centre visitors.

In addition, initial discussions with Bad Boys Bakery (HMP Brixton) suggest that potential

could exist for ROTL Day Release offenders to set up and run a regular pop-up café in

partnership with the FoWG at the Education Centre possibly at weekends. It is recommended

that this be explored further as offering this service at a set time on a regular basis will

become known by regular park users and other residents and is therefore more likely to be

used more widely alongside centre visitors.


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7.1.7 Hall Hire-Out

An additional new income stream has been identified as the hire out of the Education Centre

space when not directly in use for educational purposes or for tours/as a visitor centre. This is

likely to be in the evenings and during non-term times so the building space would lend itself

well to after school clubs and other classes such as adult classes and potentially hire for

summer programme use. The latter is quite resource intensive and so the FoWG have

expressed an interest in hiring out the space for a set fee rather than running these type of

programmes themselves.

In recognition of the unique appeal of the Windmill as a ‘niche’ venue, consideration of

testing the centre for wedding receptions and other celebratory purposes is something that

would not represent a core product but could yield a reasonably high return. Given the FoWG

have no experience in this highly specialised market, recommendation would be to partner

with an existing wedding planner and/or to get themselves onto a ‘niche wedding’ venue list.

In order to develop this particular income stream further consideration would be needed

against:

Rental hire strategy – pricing and bookings process, allowance for any tiering of

pricing e.g. lower rates might be applicable for regular usage and /or residents hire

versus corporate and other business usage

Scheduling – important for there to be overall sight of who is using the centre when

so that the centre is not double booked and the space can be optimised for both

meeting key educational/other aims as well as maximising revenue opportunities

Building centre management – who will hold responsibility for general maintenance

and upkeep, fire and health & safety checks, key holding, cleaning provision etc.

Stackable/foldable tables and chairs will be needed for the different functions the

space will need to be used for; it is possible to hire these in as needed for occasional

use such as weddings as these costs can be built into hire model and this furniture

would not therefore take up valuable storage space as needed for other requirements

7.1.8 Holmewood Space Hire

Holmewood are keen to develop an ‘integrated vision’ with the FoWG in relation to usage of

space within the centre. The building has been designed in such a way that it could

accommodate two separate teaching classes at the same time if necessary although it would

likely be more practical to arrange at different times if can be scheduled as the arrangement

for a moveable wall with open plan roof has reduced sound proofing capability. Holmewood

are interested in developing Adults and Families classes (e.g. ESOL classes, parents support

classes). Some mention has been made of birthday parties but further discussion between both

groups would be needed as to how these might be best accommodated/ charged for.

In principle, in order to support Holmewood’s business development, the FoWG are open to

discussing the use of the Education Centre by Holmewood free of charge for an agreed time

period, after which rental charges would apply at an agreed rate (likely to be discounted)

should Holmewod wish to continue to use this space.

7.1.9 Grants and 7.1.10 Other Fundraising, please refer to Funding Support (Section

12).


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8.0 Market Analysis

8.1 Overview

Much of the detailed breakdown of information gained related to each income stream

(existing and new) is covered in Section 7: Business Planning. Where appropriate, this has

referred to market/product development, pricing considerations and other market related

factors.

Where possible, efforts have been made to establish data upon which to make assumptions

such as the size of the market e.g. number of available schools within each borough and

breakdown by school type for education work stream. Assumptions made are captured against

the individual work stream tabs in the financial forecast presented (Appendix G).

Given the range of income streams explored, and time available in which to complete this

study, in-depth analysis of each area could not be undertaken to full extent. It would be

beneficial therefore, for further market analysis to be undertaken to support new market entry

prior to implementation. By establishing more detailed understanding of the following for

each income stream, a more effective Marketing Strategy can be evolved:

Size of market/potential market share

Customer segmentation

Competitor information (product/pricing/distribution strategies)

Opportunities and Threats (i.e. barriers to entry)

Partnership development opportunities

Any other useful information relevant to each area

For the purposes of this report, the following reviews have been undertaken in relation to

FoWG and the development of the new Education Centre

8.2 PESTLE Analysis to provide an initial environmental assessment

8.3 SWOT Analysis to provide an organizational assessment as to current strengths

and any gaps in need of further development, as well as key opportunities and threats

for business/market development

8.2 PESTLE Analysis

See over page


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8.2 PESTLE Analysis

(Political/Economic/Socialogical/Technological/Legal/Environmental)

POLITICAL ECONOMIC

Brexit; impact of this on market

development as yet unknown

Changes to government and council

funding and policies reduces

available subsidies for community

projects

Grant funding impacted by

legislative changes and the removal

of EU funding

Local policy changes create a

tougher business climate to operate

within

Other local community pressure

groups obstruct potential growth

plans

Exchange rate fluctuations raise the

cost of materials

Recessionary fears lead to lower

consumer confidence and lower

income generation

Well priced activities and

focused marketing lead to larger

volumes of visitors and buyers

Low interest rates and low inflation

supports being able to provide free

and concessionary participation in

activities provided by the charity

SOCIALOGICAL TECHNOLOGICAL

Diverse population in Brixton with

close proximity of affluence and

low income demographics

Established needs of local residents

and park users for a range of

services and activities which

Education Centre could support

Lack of leisure facilities on estate

for older children and growing

family demographic which will see

more teenagers on estate and in

nearby area

Opportunities to grow volunteer

base and potential for work

placement partnerships e.g. HMP

Brixton (ROTL Day Release

offenders)

Advance in interactive teaching

tools and support materials

Milling developments/efficiencies to

be realized

Range of systems which could aid

FoWG delivery (CRM/Invoicing/

Stock Management systems)

Online shop facilities

Modular building options a

consideration

Ongoing maintenance of Windmill

LEGAL ENVIRONMENTAL

Changes to employment legislation

increases operational costs by

requiring the charity to consider

paying for aspects of 'free resource'

it currently or is considering using

Health and safety legislation and

regulation places increasingly

onerous levels of safety on the

Grade II* building considerations

and wider cultural heritage

The loss of green space versus the

provision of other useful/needed

community benefits for the park and

gardens, in the planning application

Sustainable building to BREEAM

excellence rating


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public and operational use of the

windmill to reduce income

generation

Changes to Health and Safety

legislation and building regulations

requires Education Centre/FoWG

to invest in infrastructure upgrades

to remain compliant and open to

the public

Sustainable maintenance of the park

and gardens and garden waste by-

products

Provision of an educational resource

to encourage environmental

sustainability in the young

Ethical pop-up / tenant hire from

local businesses encouraged to use

the space and gardens Safeguarding of new centre against

vandalism/break-in and reported

desire from local park users for

improved park lighting

Added value to be gained from new

communal facilities to be added e.g.

toilets, nappy changing facilities,

pop-up café

Development of any food products

and associated packaging

8.3 SWOT Analysis

See over page


8.3 SWOT Analysis

(Strengths/Weaknesses/Opportunities/Threats)

STRENGTHS

WEAKNESSES

Brixton Windmill is a Grade II* listed building, the only building of its kind in central London and a key heritage asset for the Borough of Lambeth/Brixton

The Friends of Windmill Gardens have been in existence since 2003 and have a proven track record of making improvements to the Windmill and of successfully broadening awareness and growing support for this important cultural asset

With support from Heritage Lottery funding and London Borough of Lambeth, the Friends successfully established an educational programme within Lambeth working with local Cluster of Windmill Schools and other schools within Lambeth

Based on stakeholder feedback, there is high demand for the educational programe to continue/grow

London Borough of Lambeth recognises the importance of growing the educational activity linked to Brixton Windmill and have ear-marked £360K to provide a new educational facility

Established working partnerships with Holmewood Nursery School and Treetop Children’s Centre (adjacent ‘Stay and Play’/One o’clock club) and Blenheim Gardens Residents Management Organisation (BGRMO) will afford shared opportunities to further develop educational related activity which will benefit the local community

(continued over page)

Having to share a building with local Stay and Play Group giving reduced access to the number of days and limited facilities has hindered wider educational development

Educational activity in its own right is recognized as the ‘raison d’etre’ for the new Education Centre – but is not financially self-sustaining so will need to be cross-subsidized by other income streams

Establishing profitable income streams will take time and the FoWG would need to consider introducing a broader portfolio of activity in order to spread risk

Managing a wider portfolio will require new skillsets and gaps exist in business development expertise which would require further external support (funding/upskilling) to enable the FoWG to successfully take developments to the next level

Current resource capacity, while extremely committed, is insufficient to manage/implement new business proposals and resource levels would need to grow in order to ensure future working is operationally and financially sustainable

While the Brixton Windmill brand is extremely strong, there is currently inconsistency in its representation which is diluting its impact and muddying brand positioning



STRENGTHS

WEAKNESSES

Flour milling has now been introduced and Brixton Windmill Flour

is a high quality, artisanal flour which has been successfully used by

local bakers and others to make a range of bread and related items

Grain used is produced from organic Mulika wheat

Wheat is also grown on site next to the Windmill and the FoWG

work with other parks in the area and local schools who have a

wheat growing programme

The FoWG volunteer network has an extensive breadth of

professional expertise including marketing and communications,

PR, website development and design ensuring consistently

impressive promotion of windmill events and ongoing development

The FoWG events programme delivers high community

engagement and new events such as the Beer and Bread Festival,

introduced as part of the Windmill’s 200th year celebrations, have

been well received; creating opportunities to develop wider

business/community partnerships and introducing new audiences to

the Windmill

The Beer and Bread Festival in particular also established new ways

of using the windmills’ stones to mill barley for the beer and

successfully generated a much more profitable return with higher

levels of visitor donations and new business sponsorship

Overall, the core members of the Executive and specialist working

teams (Sustainability, Parks, Education & Heritage, Events,

Marketing and Communications) are all extremely committed and

active in their support for windmill development and tours/guiding

and milling operations are well managed and delivered to a high

standard


Scope exists for more efficient working and activity would benefit

considerably from the introduction of system supports such as:

o a centralized CRM system which would support better audience

segmentation, more targeted communications and could

significantly aid ongoing membership development

o an updated website with more flexibility for content

management and greater facility to integrate with enhanced

mailing tools such as MailChimp

o Improved stock control systems to support better stock

management and understanding of merchandising

sales/customer preferences i.e. what is popular/profitable – so

worth buying more of – and what is not (so can divest)

o Improved financial control systems so can track invoicing and

other regular income and expenditure; this will be increasingly

important once new business activity introduced

o NB. These issues are not unrecognized and some work has

begun to address some of these in some areas already

Although quite clearly committed to the success of Windmill

development, the lack of longer term strategic planning and a

‘shared vision’ can sometimes mean that activity is not as ‘joined

up’ as it could be which can result in financial and other operational

inefficiencies



OPPORTUNITIES

THREATS

Opportunity to create an enhanced educational facility which will

greatly benefit users and add value to local area/residents

This would also afford the opportunity to expand the educational

programme and grow reach to a wider range of schools both within

and outside the Borough as well as introduce classes for

adults/families working in conjunction with Holmewood

Having a recognized visitor centre strengthens opportunities to

develop links with other windmills and cultural centres on a national

and international basis

Changing demographic of the borough is bringing a wider affluence

and extending cultural/heritage support

Community engagement is high > active ‘ownership’ of local area

change and improvement

Potential exists, through continuing growth of resident support, to

work with BGRMO and others in terms of taking on future

windmill maintenance and upkeep of the park (would need to be

negotiated)

Lambeth Council’s continuing commitment to regeneration of

Brixton as a whole and strong support within the Borough for food-

based enterprises and related activity is further strengthened by an

active commitment by LBL to supporting the FoWG and the

ongoing success of the Education Centre

Having a permanent educational base will allow the FoWG to

consider development of other beneficial projects which could

attract external funding to develop much needed systems and skills

development (refer also to Section 11 ‘Capacity and Capability

Planning’)


Finite budget; £360K may limit building options which can be

delivered

Grade II* listed building carries more stringent considerations in

terms of building in surrounding area

Planning permission; in addition to listed building considerations,

review will need to be mindful of policy around loss of public open

space which any further development of the park could result in

Design Team are over ambitious and proposals are unrealistic or

unachievable within existing budget

Failure to ‘future proof’ building design leads to inability to

maximize service delivery

Future changes in local authority unduly impact rental/other tenancy

conditions (should be mitigated by putting in place SLA agreement)

Income/growth is slower than forecast; FoWG are unable to realise

sustainable revenue streams/ongoing operational costs and

maintenance cannot be met

Time/other delays erode existing educational contact base

Capability and/or capacity to run the planned educational centre is

insufficient

Reliance on volunteer pool may be hindered if volunteer pool

diminishes and/or new skills base not developed

Failure to put in place necessary succession planning could result in

loss of leadership at critical period of change


OPPORTUNITIES

THREATS

Feasibility exercise has indicated that market demand for provision

of Brixton flour on a wholesale basis already exists and strong

potential exists for wider partnership development for flour sales as

well as extended service offerings such as baking classes

Public consultation supports the wider benefits the introduction of a

new Education/Visitor Centre would bring at different levels – high

degree of interest in all of the new Education and other service

activities listed (refer to section 6) as well as general support from

residents and regular park users for facilities which do not currently

exist including access to public toilets, nappy changing facilities,

provision of park refreshments (via pop-up café), better lighting in

the park at night and improved park landscaping

Development of an online shop would afford the opportunity to

widen access to FoWG merchandising and could help extend reach

Initial discussions with HMP Brixton suggest the possibility of

working partnership/s between The Clink Restaurant and Bad Boys

Bakery with the FoWG/Education Centre;

This could create much needed local work placement opportunities

for Day Release and ex-offenders whilst also offering access to a

(free) resourcing for milling, gardening and pop-up café


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9.0 Marketing Strategy

A full Marketing Strategy has been identified as one of the ‘Next Steps’ in proposed Action

Plan outlined in section 15.

For the purposes of this report, an introductory outline has been included to indicate what this

typically might cover:

9.1 Product development; existing, new, product extensions

9.2 Pricing strategies; adapted for market penetration/growth, consider profit margins, any

repeat purchase and concessionary discounting

9.3 Place; channel/distribution strategies – postal, online, physical carriage

9.4 Promotion; marketing and communications, campaigns, promotional channel strategy e.g.

advertising, mail/e-mail, events, website, social media etc.

9.5 People; staffing, dependencies

9.6 Processes; system supports

9.1 Product Development and 9.2 Pricing

Outlined individually in more detail in section 7.2, the following shows the proposed product

portfolio for the FoWG moving forward, with indications of how these products might fit

together and how they might be positioned accordingly within the market.

The illustrative size of the work streams indicates income stream priority and anticipated

higher/lower volume of activity. This is not indicative of anticipated income levels which

might differ significantly (for example, education programmes are ranked as the highest

priority overall but anticipated that flour and baking classes will generate higher income).


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9.3 Place/Distribution

Channel strategies would need to be devised across all of the above with particular

consideration to be given to flour deliveries (retail and especially wholesale), merchandising

extension (via pop-up shop in Education Centre and development of an online shop) and

wider partnership development for pop-up café, community hall hire and wedding venue

development.

9.4 Promotion

In addition to current marketing and communications activity, targeted campaigns would be

needed to ‘launch’ new products and further development of online and offline marketing

materials would be required.

Consideration would need to be given to:

Customer/Audience segmentation and key messages

Most appropriate way to reach identified target groups

Development of a more efficient CRM system which would allow more integrated

records and data management

Opportunities to ‘piggy back’ existing or partner communications to save cost and

extend reach

9.5 People and 9.6 Processes

These are covered in more detail in Section 11: Capability and Capacity Planning


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10.0 Brand Development

Again, development of a future-facing brand development strategy is included as part of

‘Next Steps’ Action Plan in Section 15.

Different view-points are held regarding brand development, many see this as the visual

identity – the logo, ‘look and feel’, corporate image. Brand development in its truest form in

fact reflects every touch point across the organisation – so can include customer experience,

an organisation’s ‘values’, its strategic mission and vision. Everything an organisation does

should be aligned with what its overall brand vision and mission are.

Currently, the FoWG have a collective set of aims but could benefit from shaping this in a

way where there is an agreed FoWG “story” which can be consistently reflected and

promoted by all. The Brixton Windmill brand is strong, it represents an important part of

Brixton’s cultural heritage and is generally acknowledged as a high quality, artisanal brand

which more naturally occupies a niche rather than mass market position.

One key point to be raised within this report for further discussion is the critical importance of

ensuring that the integrity of the Brixton Windmill brand is protected at all times and the vital

role this will play in future business development.

In terms of visual identity, the FoWG greatly benefit from professional and well produced

materials and merchandising and promotional activity is good. In recent straw poll testing

amongst both local businesses and the residential market, feedback indicated that the simple,

‘rustic’ representation of the windmill was more in keeping with the windmill’s roots and a

simple, unfussy characterisation which is ‘clean’ and impactful was seen to be more powerful

than the multi-coloured text labelling which has been used on some 500g flour bags.

Original Later Designs

While these designs are professionally executed, they do not communicate the organic

‘artisanal’ qualities which are the brand’s strengths and current packaging appears more to be

mirroring high street labelling which is the wrong fit for Brixton Windmill Flour.

It is recommended that, as part of organisational/brand development going forward, a more

formal brand evaluation exercise be undertaken and development of key organisational

mission, vision and the ‘Brixton Windmill story’ be developed. The latter could be

reproduced on the back of flour bags, reinforcing the FoWG message more strongly – and

consistently – as the Brixton Windmill portfolio increases and more activities are introduced.


P a g e

Stage 2: Capability and Capacity

Planning


P a g e

11.0 Resourcing: Capacity Planning and Capability Analysis

11.1 Aims

To undertake an assessment of the strengths of FoWG and others who may be able to

input voluntary efforts

To inform options appraisal and business planning as well as any final

recommendations on governance and volunteer support/staffing

11.2 Methodology

To review existing skills and resourcing and to assess against identified future activity:

To scope the governance, management and staffing/volunteering needs of the new,

proposed sustainable social and education activities

To create a skills, time, capacity and motivation matrix of what is needed for success

This will be done by:

Completing an audit of skills, time and motivation of the known and likely personnel

available to make the Education Centre work; this will start with updating existing

audit work undertaken by the FoWG

11.2.1 Skills

This will include at least four types of skill:

Management, Leadership and Quality Systems Implementation

People skills, with colleagues and with the users and public

Community activism, social entrepreneurship, attracting support including funding

Necessary task skills e.g. café management, communication, IT, fundraising and office

management skills

11.2.2 Time

The time part of the audit needs to be realistic when it comes to reliance on voluntary efforts

in a complex urban situation.

Any additional business element will require considerable additional work – even if an

outsourcing arrangement is made.

11.2.3 Motivation

The motivation analysis is also vital as it cannot be assumed that the people who give up their

time to work with schoolchildren or as mill guides for example will also want to be

responsible for running a business and/or managing a building.

On the other hand, there may be new people attracted by the different skills needed.


P a g e

11.2.4 Output

A matrix diagram will be produced identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the present

arrangements and how any gaps may be filled. This could be by upskilling, recruitment, re-

prioritising existing efforts, outsourcing and partnership working.

As above, this work stream will also outline proposed governance structure and management

roles and responsibilities, staffing structures, proposed organisational changes including

partnerships and potential partnerships, and define policies that would need to be developed

for the preferred option or options.

11.3 Key Findings and Recommendations

This section uses data from surveys, observational analysis and recent track record to assess

the capability and capacity of the FoWG for the new business plan and building.

It finds that while the group does have the capabilities and motivation needed at this point,

there does need to be a programme of preparation for the new building and the social

business.

There is good evidence of latent capacity that can be drawn on from both the survey work

undertaken by Clearview and from the currently under-tapped membership. However, there

needs to be a step-change in approach which means focusing more for the next two years on

systems, reporting, upskilling volunteers, marketing etc. as set out in the tables below.

One approach would be to consider reducing the number of events which take up a lot of

energy and effort; initial feedback from the FoWG however is that this is an area which the

FoWG feel should be maintained as events generate awareness, community engagement,

membership/volunteer recruitment and fundraising.

Nevertheless, some streamlining will still be needed to ensure energies are optimised on

activity which generate sufficient return and it may be necessary to supplement volunteer

resource with some paid for resource support in the short-medium term while new skills and

expertise is acquired.

If this approach is followed, the FoWG will meet the new challenges by better deployment of

resources rather than by sheer numbers of volunteers which could introduce instability at a

time of key change

11.3.1 Headlines from the Potential Volunteer Survey

Of 46 volunteers, 46.3% (19) answered that they would consider increasing their

volunteer time once the Education Centre opens

42% (23) of those who said they do not currently volunteer said they would be

interested in volunteering in the future

In areas where there would be a need for increased volunteer resource, 8 said they

were interested in training to be a tour guide, 4 said they were interested in training to

be a miller, 3 said they would like to offer business planning/finance support and 3

are interested in fundraising

Of those interested in volunteering, 12.5% (4) said that they could volunteer once or

more than once per week, 25% (8) said they could volunteer once per month and

37.5% (12) said they could volunteer whenever there is an event

Of those respondents currently volunteering, 28% (16) would like to do more


P a g e

42% of those who don’t volunteer would be prepared to volunteer in the future

(equalling 23 people)

10 potential volunteers are prepared to do baking

8 potential volunteers are prepared to do gardening

Various questions relating to frequency confirm that there is positive support for both

regular monthly/weekly volunteering and also for events

There is no specific evidence that volunteers wish to be available for daily

volunteering so a growth business model would need to allow for some paid staff

resource if the building is to be used most days of the week as planned

11.3.2 Headlines from the Survey of Current Trustees’ and Group Members’ Skills

and Experience

This shows a high degree of expertise among a large voluntary leadership group. It is

unusually strong in so far as all of them have considerable relevant expertise. The benefit of

this is that the organisation can deal competently with a wide range of activities. (Refer to

Table in 11.3.2.1 below)

However, the new building and social business will need focus and prioritization and the

tables below (11.3.2.2 and 11.3.2.3) suggests how the strengths of the current groups can be

used to best advantage. Some gaps are also identified which need to be worked on as part of

the preparation for the future. It is vital to understand that an enterprise requires a different

structure and approach from a general voluntary group. The main differences being the need

for entrepreneurial flair to show through, while remaining accountable, and the need for a

concerted strategic approach to the income and expenditure which introduces another

dynamic.

11.3.2.1 Table Illustrating Skills/Experience of Trustees

Skills/Experience from Snap Shot Survey of Trustees (Supplied by FoWG)

Architect specialising in restoration of

historic buildings

Treasurer of Brixton Forum

Active member of Brixton Society

Engineering background

Completing accountancy training–

level 2

Retired associate lecturer

Long-time community activist

MA in Art History

Director at Makerhood, Established

Flextiles for her creative felt and

fabric work

Independent editorial consultant and

director at Write Expression Ltd,

Website development (specifically

Wordpress), social media,

commissioning and editing,

journalism

Degree in Biochemistry

Trained Art teacher. Currently

working full time on Kennington

Flower Garden HLF project.

Previously worked on Brockwell

and Hanwell Lido projects

Developed the Windmill

Education workshop programme

working closely with the

Windmill Cluster of schools.

Worked with Camila Cardenosa

on the Windmill Mural in

playground.

BGRMO Chair of board

Lambeth Housing worker

Long-term resident of Blenheim

Gardens

Former charity fund raiser

Former FoWG Exec member

(pre-restoration), now has own

Electrical engineer business

Very experienced costume

designer for film and stage; Won


P a g e

Works full time. Part time Maths

teacher, passionate about astronomy,

photographing nature. Science /

Maths Msc

Musician, member of No Frills Band,

regularly plays at windmill events

Retired, has worked for a disability

organisation. Wrote text of our new

guide book, organising/editing the

history of the Windmill in 16 objects

project. Attended training at Mills

Archive; Keen to develop our archive

Self-employed designer; previously

worked primarily in magazine

design/typography; Experienced in

liaising with printers and production

companies

Recently retired from working at Big

Lottery Fund

Has experience of writing and

checking funding bids

Experienced journalist;(30 years’

magazine editing). Also has financial

bookkeeping experience

Emmy for Lion in Winter

costumes

Installation Artist, has own PR

company

Active in Wheels for Wellbeing

& Friends of Brockwell Park

Trained Blue Badge Guide

Former Lambeth Councilor 1980s

Former university teacher, fluent

in French, German & English

some Italian

Former Lambeth Community

Area officer,

Currently works full time for

Islington Council.

Active member of Brixton

Society and organises Friends of

Windrush Square

IT specialist (currently

unemployed)

Freelance graphic designer, has

experience of working in

museums

Retired youth worker, native

Italian speaker

11.3.2.2 Governance, Skills, Capacity and Motivation Analysis and

Recommendations (Detailed Action Plan) – please see over page

11.3.2.3 Key Skill Groups Matrix – this follows on from table above


11.3.2.2

Stage 2 - Capability and Capacity Planning – Skills, Time and Motivation Audit Analysis: Recommendations and Detailed Actions

Theme Current

Governance

Skills

Needed/Available

Capacity/Time

Available

Motivation Points to

Address

Future Needs Governance

Review Tasks

Overall Charity

Accountability,

Liabilities and

Reporting.

Risk

Management

and

Safeguarding

AGM

General

meetings

Executive

meetings.

Management,

Leadership and

Quality Systems

Implementation/Y

es however a Full

Cost Recovery

model will need to

be developed if

HLF are to be

applied to.

Trustees may need

training/refresher

on this.

Yes, but need to

consider

succession

strategies so that

gaps don’t

emerge at crucial

times.

There are

many strongly

motivated

leaders/potenti

al leaders.

Need to ensure

that they are all

aligned to the

new Business

Plan.

Consider

limited

company or

similar status to

protect Trustees

from most (not

all) personal

liability risks.

Ensure

safeguarding

policies are in

place and in

practice.

Consider for all

partnerships the

level and type

of partnership

agreement

needed.

Governance

review to

consider some

form of

charitable

limited

company or

otherwise

achieve limited

liability.

A Full Cost

Recovery

model

Ensure that

structure

enables the

social business

to be well run

without losing

the community

charitable

ethos.

Ensure that the

whole

organisation has

bought into the

new plan and

each group

understands its

role.

Ensure that all

activities are in

pursuit of

charitable

objectives.

For building

opening ensure

that the Trustees

are prepared -

may well need

training and may

need to co-opt

people?

Suite of

partnership


agreement

documentation.

Theme Current

Governance

Skills

Needed/Available

Capacity/Time

Available


Address


Review Tasks

Mentoring for

the Trustees

n/a No, needs to be

independent

No, needs to be

independent

n/a Supporting

strategic

leadership

HLF Resilient

Funding would

provide this

Identify key

leaders

Sustainability of

the Charity and

its Activities.

Sustainability

group

Yes

There is an online

Resilient Heritage

strength checker

that can be used.

3 potential new

volunteers would

like to do

fundraising.

As above, there

are a lot of good

people serving –

need to plan their

roles into the

future.

As above – no

shortage of

motivation but

may need to

balance

breadth/freque

ncy of

activities/event

s against

freeing up

existing

volunteer

resource /

influx of

potential new

(events)

volunteers.

Fundraising is

still time

intensive and

some external

support may be

needed for

Meetings with

this group and

evidence of

experience

suggest that this

is a strong

group but is all

voluntary work

Online Resilient

Heritage

strength checker

Capacity to

support

sustainability

work e.g.

fundraising.

Formal record

to be kept of all

voluntary

efforts for

match funding

purposes

Prepare a

fundraising

strategy.

Start a formal

process of

considering the

longer term

questions of

managing park

and windmill.

Identify/strengthe

n both existing

and new

partnerships with

BGRMO, LBL,

HMP Brixton and

others to support

this.


immediate

needs.

Theme Current

Governance

Skills

Needed/Available

Capacity/Time

Available


Address


Review Tasks

Social Impact

Analysis

n/a No Needs time

bought in from

specialists

Yes, within the

Sustainability

Group

Need to be able

to demonstrate

Social Return

on Investment

in the language

that funders

speak.

This could be

funded by the

HF Resilient

Fund.

Need firm targets

and monitoring of

SROI (social

return on

investment) and

an Evaluation

policy.

Financial and

Data

Management

and

Accountability –

Business

Management

and

Development

Executive

Group

Partly

The current

Treasurer is

upskilling and

more of the FoWG

may need to

deploy or learn

skills around

business

accounting/invoici

ng etc.

3 potential new

volunteers would

like to do this

and this should

be a priority to

engage and

retain these if

they are suitable.

As business

increases

capacity and

capabilities will

need to be

increased.

External

support to

realise the

business

development

will be needed.

Buying in

professional

accountancy

support on a

part-time basis

to be considered

Governance

review to

consider if right

mix of skills

for an emerging

significant

social business.

Professional

book-keeping

capacity will

almost

certainly be

needed.

Reserves policy

Clear and

auditable

protocols for Gift

Aid

Business

development plan

to align with

marketing

strategy.

Risk management

and insurance

policy

Cash handling

and security


Data Protection

policy

Customer

complaint

handling process

Theme Current

Governance

Skills

Needed/Available

Capacity/Time

Available


Address


Review Tasks

Staffing, Paid

and Voluntary

The previous

Education

Development

Officer was

managed by

Lambeth

Council but

worked in

collaboration

with the FoWG

Executive

A volunteer

strategy is in the

pipeline.

Areas where some

paid part-time

resource has been

identified include

Education

Development

Officer,

professional

accountancy

support, cleaner

for the building.

These might be

contract-

based/self-

employed roles to

help contain costs

and/or ‘bought-in’

resource which

may be needed to

support particular

activity (e.g. end

of year accounts).

Ensuring that both

Capacity is

available to

manage part-time

staff but a clear

policy/ practice

note will be

needed as to

managing the

staff over the

working week.

While the Chair

will remain the

key anchor

person of the

organization, it

may be that

responsibility for

day-to-day line

management

shifts to another

member of the

team with a

wider remit for

There is a high

level of

motivation on

the Executive

and with other

volunteers for

the Education

worker who

will

undoubtedly

receive strong

support as

previously.

The

Sustainability

group is

motivated

towards having

a business

development

worker and

will no doubt

work well with

The FoWG will

also need to

build into their

thinking the

roles of cleaner

and bookkeeper

ensuring that

the roles can be

deployed well

without

resultant

diminishing of

the voluntary

efforts.

Personnel

policies need to

be developed

and a training

needs

assessment

should include

consideration

of personnel

management.

HR policies

needed e.g.

Living Wage;

Health and

Safety; Lone

working; Manual

handling; Display

Screen.

Equalities policy.

Volunteer

strategy may need

reviewing

Policy on

training.


paid and volunteer

workers have

clearly defined

roles with clear

lines of decision

making

(empowerment)

and accountability

and will be

important to

facilitate

operational

efficiency as well

as personal

motivation.

In addition,

consideration will

be needed as to the

ongoing

management of

trading activity

and overall

business

development. It

may be that in

early start-up

years, this resource

is best ‘bought-in’

to focus on

creating a joined-

up business

managing

voluntary/paid-

for staff.

This could be as

the result of

upskilling

existing

volunteer Exec

members or via

creation of a new

post as part of

combined

Trading

Operations

management

that post-

holder.


development and

wider resourcing

pool; this resource

might be funded

through HLF

Resilient funding.

While some

thought has been

given to an initial

governance

structure, there is a

marked step

change required in

operational

working and

current reporting

timescales have

been somewhat

prohibitive in

allowing for more

detailed

development of

this with wider

Friends Group.

Much closer

working with the

existing Exec as to

best method for

integration of

commercial


expertise into

governance model

and how this

would best work

alongside

volunteer decision

makers is yet to be

fully agreed at

time of report

submission.

Theme Current

Governance

Skills

Needed/Available

Capacity/Time

Available


Address


Review Tasks

Education Work Previously

Executive

Excellent current

level of research

and understanding.

6 potential new

volunteers would

like to do this but

still there is an

absolute

requirement for

at least a part-

time paid

education

worker.

Strong

motivation

needs to

include all the

back-up

systems to

administer an

increasing

workload.

This does not

mean simply

loading

existing

volunteers with

‘more work’;

while there has

been some

commitment

given by

Prepare for

increased admin

requirement

ensuring that

income is

collected in a

timely manner,

records need to

be accurate and

updated on a

regular basis,

and feedback

(positive/ other)

kept to inform

ongoing

developments

Worker should

be self-

administering

but

voluntary or

paid admin

capacity would

allow for

further growth.

Policies on

charging and on

safeguarding.

Strategy for

Education market

development

(inside and

outside Borough)


existing

volunteers

towards

increasing the

frequency/volu

me of time

spent

volunteering

(online

survey),

emphasis will

be placed on

the need to

recruit a paid

for Education

worker and a

wider

volunteer pool

to help service

increased

requirements

elsewhere such

as week day

tours and

additional

milling activity


Theme Current

Governance

Skills

Needed/Available

Capacity/Time

Available


Address


Review Tasks

Heritage The windmill is

the

responsibility of

LBL

Experienced

technicians are

brought in by LBL

There is a good

supply of trained

tour guides and an

ongoing

programme of

training.

10 potential new

volunteers would

like to do either

local history or

mill tour guiding.

The windmill

itself is the

motivation for

the FoWG

work but there

is limited

motivation for

being

responsible for

it at this stage.

Clarity around

LBL rental

position (e.g.

possible offset

of peppercorn

rental against

FoWG taking

on windmill

maintenance

from 2020

could be

financially

beneficial to

FoWG while

returning

added value to

LBL)

A feasibility

study would be

needed on any

proposal to

transfer

responsibility

for the windmill

to the FoWG.

A service level

agreement

(SLA) would

need to be put

in place

between LBL

and FoWG if

FoWG were to

take on future

windmill

maintenance

The building

will open up

many

opportunities

for heritage

talks and

activities.

Visual access

for those with

disabilities e.g.

CCTV cameras

could be

considered.

A project plan,

conservation plan

and an

Audience

Development

Plan may be

needed for HLF

funding.


Theme Current

Governance

Skills

Needed/Available

Capacity/Time

Available


Address


Review Tasks

Events The Events

Group

Group contains

highly skilled,

networked and

motivated

organisers

12 potential new

volunteers would

like to help with

these as well as

the dozen or so

who already help

run events

There is strong

motivation

through FoWG

that events are

important and

must be

successful.

Events are a

key channel

for raising

awareness,

securing new

membership

and donations

and generally

effecting wider

community

engagement

The events do

require “all

hands on deck”

which can cause

stress

The new

building will

reduce the

reliance on

events to some

extent as there

will be a

permanent

presence within

the park

Fewer events

may be needed

as the FoWG is

established

with regular

opening and

wider trading

etc.

Strategic

review of

which events

prove to be

more

successful in

terms of

community

engagement

(attendance),

growing brand

reach (new

membership

sign up, new

volunteers

added etc.)

and/or

profitability/

income

generation

(donations,

Events strategy

Tighter

measurement and

tracking of

income

generated/cost of

event, sales and

merchandising

stock control,

audience

participation


flour/other

merchandising

sales)

Vital not to

overstress

volunteers.

Theme Current

Governance

Skills

Needed/Available

Capacity/Time

Available


Address


Review Tasks

Trading

Including

Milling Flour

Executive Excellent ideas,

enthusiasm and

work

4 potential new

volunteers would

like to train as

millers

Caution needs to

be applied to any

business

assumptions

about the growth

of milling and

other trading as

maintaining the

quality of flour

produced will be

critical and will

need to ensure a

regular milling

resource is

possible to

achieve desired

quantity levels.

There is a high

motivation

among the

friends to

undertake

milling as a

heritage/

education and

revenue raising

activity

Will need

trading systems

and protocols

(e.g. agreeing

profit margins).

May need

trading

subsidiary?

Governance

review to

consider if a

trading

subsidiary is

needed both for

focus and to

meet Charity

Commission

guidance.

Physical shop

in Education

Centre will

afford wider

access to

Friends

merchandise

and support

brand extension

Online shop

will increase

Review needed

for separate

trading

subsidiary, set

clear ethical

trading policies.

Ensure all

legislation

including food

hygiene policy

includes all

aspects as well as

home produce.

Need stock-

keeping policy

including any

‘sell by’

requirements for

flour and any

other perishable

sales goods


reach and sales

opportunity

when

Education

Centre closed

System

capability

required to

better manage

sales recording

and inventory

stock control

Theme Current

Governance

Skills

Needed/Available

Capacity/Time

Available


Address


Review Tasks

Facilities

Management

(FM) and

General

Administration

Currently ad hoc

arrangements

are made by the

Chair or

different

organisers to use

the windmill

and one o’clock

club (Stay and

Play)

Systematic

approach to FM

for new building

will be required.

A wide range of

skills is available

both from within

the group and

BGRMO and these

need to be

documented.

For some grant

funders such as

HLF there are

procurement

requirements that

4 potential

volunteers are

interested in

doing

administrative

work.

The capacity and

time should be

available for the

voluntary roles

and the budget

should be

available for the

paid roles.

The Executive

and

Sustainability

Groups are

strongly

motivated to

the building as

an essential

element of

growth and

sustainability.

There is a

strong

motivation to

use and

A regime of

management

needs to be put

in place and

owned at a high

level.

Building hires

will need to be

proactively

marketed and

managed as it is

one of the main

sources of

regular

discretionary

income.

In the

governance

review, a

building

management

group should

be considered

and both

finance and

volunteer time

budgeted for

the medium

and long term.

FM manuals for

staff and hirers

will be needed.

A building hire

and charging

policy will be

needed with a

scale of charges

for community

and other use.

Policies on use

and terms needed

e.g. for alcohol

consumption;

opening and


need to be

understood and

met

support local

providers.

closing times,

cleaning charges,

religious/ political

uses

Theme Current

Governance

Skills

Needed/Available

Capacity/Time

Available


Address


Review Tasks

Communications

Consultation and

Marketing

Communication

s Group meets

regularly to plan

and implement a

wide range of

successful

communications

Surveys of users

have been

conducted by

the FoWG

The group

continues to

increase its skills -

for example 2

members attended

archive training in

2015.

The work on the

Brixton Windmill

brand shows that

the group is skilled

for the new

business but may

need to consider

streamlining core

activity to avoid

brand dilution.

10 potential new

volunteers would

like to help with

this in addition to

the active and

successful

volunteers

currently

covering many

aspects of this

well.

Discussions

indicate a great

enthusiasm and

commitment to

developing the

range of

communicatio

ns including

the Brixton

Windmill

brand.

Internal

communications

plan to engage

existing

volunteers and

to secure buy-in

to new business

approach will

be critical to

success of

business

venture.

Communication

s with members

could be

improved to

increase

sustainable

income.

Data held on

various

different

databases leads

to duplication

Crowdfunding

and similar

popular appeals

may be the way

forward and

this would

revolve around

how the

Friends

communicate

the cause.

Development

of the FoWG/

Windmill

‘story’ needs to

be crafted for

inclusion on

promotional

material and on

flour packaging

to reinforce the

brand.

Current CMS,

while adequate

Reports of all

consultations and

surveys should be

kept with

evidence of how

they have

influenced plans

or service

provision.

Overarching

marketing

strategy will be

needed including

brand

development/

growth policy


and inefficient

contacts

management.

Ongoing user

feedback

systems should

be developed

as a website, is

stubbornly

inflexible. A

different

system e.g.

Wordpress

would allow

integration of

mailing records

with a mailing

system such as

Mailchimp as

well as

allowing a

much more

flexible

website.

Centralised

CRM system

would enable

enhanced

audience

segmentation to

support more

targeted

communication

s and facilitate

better records

management


Theme Current

Governance

Skills

Needed/Available

Capacity/Time

Available


Address


Review Tasks

Environmental

Impact

n/a Yes, principally No, bringing in

independent

expertise may

ensure a system

is set up which

can then be kept

running,

n/a n/a Most

significant

funders will

want to see

measurable

outcomes in

place.

A Transport

policy (for the

planning

application) and

an environmental

policy will be

needed.

Park, Gardening

etc.

Park Group This will need to

be reviewed if

ultimately there

may be the

prospect of the

FoWG taking

responsibility for

the Park upkeep.

(NB. This has not

yet been agreed at

time of report

submission)

Depends what is

proposed;

outsourcing to

BGRMO may be

one way forward

if this were to

happen.

Utilisation of

‘free’ resource

e.g. HMP

Brixton Day

Release and/or

increased

volunteer

resource

Well motivated

growing fruit

and wheat as

well as

organizing jam

making

workshops.

8 potential

volunteers

have indicated

that they

would like to

do gardening.

Park upkeep

should not be

confused with

the current

exercise.

n/a at this

stage; To be

revisited within

3 years once

building in

place.

Agreed SLA

(service level

agreement)

needed if to be

adopted.

n/a at this stage

Membership Executive The skills are

available but the

focus has been on

inclusion rather

than integrating it

into the overall

Membership

review is needed

to explore

income

generating

potential.

Membership

has not been

regarded as a

core business

element to

date.

Need a

membership

strategy to meet

business plan

targets as well

as inclusion.

Membership

admin system

which supports

renewals;

introduction of

direct debit

Payments

Membership

strategy and

policy on fees and

membership rules

Direct Debit

policy


development of

FoWG.

Membership

benefits review

Theme Current

Governance

Skills

Needed/Available

Capacity/Time

Available


Address


Review Tasks

Legal Issues Executive Limited More legal

support needed

n/a - Lease Terms

- Consumer

Law

- Health &

Safety

- Safeguarding

- Contracts

Could apply for

pro bono

support

Need external

advice and

support


11.3.2.3 Key Skill Groups Matrix

Key Skills matrix Management, Leadership

and Quality Systems

Implementation

People Skills, with

Colleagues and with the

Users and Public

Community Activism,

Social Entrepreneurship,

Attracting Support

including Funding

Necessary Task Skills e.g.

Café Management,

Communication, IT,

Fundraising and Office

Management Skills

Current Assessment Strong, multiple leadership

figures exist leading to

current high levels of

success.

The FoWG are very

successful at attracting both

volunteers and members.

There are however the usual

tensions and personality

difficulties that all such

groups face. Some of this is

attributable to there being so

many different activity

streams all run by

volunteers.

There clearly are Trustees

with experience of both

business and fundraising and

with a social emphasis.

The FoWG does achieve a

remarkable amount with few

resources at present.

However, this needs further

development as current

limited number of people

with these skills places

undue pressure on a few;

clear succession planning

important to ensure

continuity and continued

strong leadership for the

future.

Development of enhanced

administrative systems will

be needed to enable greater

efficiencies of working and

optimization of available

resource.



and Quality Systems

Implementation

People Skills, with


Users and Public

Community Activism,


Attracting Support

including Funding


Café Management,

Communication, IT,


Management Skills

Future Needs Trustees will need to

increase emphasis on

systems as workload grows.

The business plan is a

chance to rally around the

core activities and take stock

of how all the different

energies can be best

deployed.

A Trading Group is

recommended to focus on

the social business with the

twin aims of delivering a

social return and raising

funds for the charity’s

activities.

The building and social

business require a new order

of accounting, reporting and

forecasting (though in some

respects they will make the

tasks more manageable).

Actions Needed to Meet

Future Needs

Ensure systems are designed

and operated to ensure that

business plan targets are

met.

Trustees should visit

successful social businesses

to learn about leadership and

management in a social

business context.

Mentoring support would

help the Trustees embrace

the changes needed.

There is a need to ensure a

much needed balance is

sought between maintaining

the charitable, community

focused ethos versus ability

to operate a business in a

financially sustainable way.

Need to review the make-up

and responsibilities of

Executive Group to ensure

correct level of decision

making; may require a core

group to include key

individuals who “own” the

building issues and who run

the trading operations,

supported by a range of

operational working groups

as at present

Further review

recommended for FoWG of

this area working with

external mentors and

specialist business

development expertise



and Quality Systems

Implementation

People Skills, with


Users and Public

Community Activism,


Attracting Support

including Funding


Café Management,

Communication, IT,


Management Skills

Risks Too many competing

activities when

implementing new building

business plan;

training/upskilling of

existing volunteers and

injection of new resource

with specialist expertise will

be key to successful business

plan implementation.

Succession planning for all

key posts will be needed for

this crucial period of change.

Our surveys show that there

is huge support for the

Windmill and proposed new

activity

The FoWG need to set aside

the time and ensure the

systems in place to support

the successful introduction

of new/ongoing activity as

the building offers great

opportunity for engagement.

However, it is suggested that

the FoWG introduce a

phased approach to the

introduction of new activity,

allowing time to build skills

and resource needed; initial

focus on ensuring essentials

needed are in place while

also allowing some spare

capacity to prepare for the

next challenge/s will be

critical to success.

A key risk is losing the

FoWGs’ strong community

activism in a drive to

becomes a “safe” business.

This can be mitigated by

having a strong Executive

group with clear Social

Return on Investment targets

alongside focus on ensuring

robust finances; business

commercial activity should

underpin charitable aims

Must avoid drifting into the

new roles without adequate

preparation and thinking

about how these crucial

elements are planned and

how they need to interrelate.

Mitigation: Ensure clearly

defined business roles are

identified early on in

business development

process and steps taken to

introduce necessary resource

and/or upskilling of existing

resource as needed.



and Quality Systems

Implementation

People Skills, with


Users and Public

Community Activism,


Attracting Support

including Funding

Necessary Task Skills

e.g.Café Management,

Communication, IT,


Management Skills

Likelihood of Success The new building and

business plan are key to

what the FoWG have been

working towards for a

decade. The facilities will

make operations much

easier.

There is a very high chance

that the building and FoWG

generally will succeed.

The new building and

business plan offer the

solutions to many of the

difficulties that the FoWG

already face and currently

overcome with some

difficulty.

The building will become a

central ‘hub’ enabling

enhanced interaction with

the community and wider

partners and stakeholder

groups.

Given the background and

experience of those involved

it is likely that the FoWG

will succeed.

Care will need to be taken

that they do this is in a

proactive and structured way

and avoid constant tension

between objectives

(common in these

situations).

FoWG early engagement

and involvement in co-

developing the proposed

business approach will be

vital to securing wider buy-

in across the FoWG group

Provided there is a

structured approach to these

tasks there is the capacity

and capability to do this.

A strong Executive must

make this a priority both

before the building opens

and thereafter.

External business mentoring

may be needed.


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11.4 Conclusions

Conclusions drawn from the survey and from the business planning work in consultation with

the Sustainability and Executive groups indicates as follows:

There is a strong and competent volunteer force at present including leadership, however they

are stretched by having an intensive activity programme and lack of a proper base where

things can be stored, organized and run from.

More volunteers will be needed for the building and a growing work programme and there is

firm evidence that this can be forthcoming. However, to avoid the risks of over-extending the

capacity to govern, manage and run the proposed programme, consideration may be needed to

temporarily reduce the number of volunteer intensive and time consuming events so that there

is headroom to focus on quality and core business.

Alternatively, given the importance to the FoWG of community events – and given the

indicated interest of ‘new’ volunteers in contributing to events’ delivery - it could be that

some responsibility for these passes to new volunteer resource, which would support the

continuation of certain key events, freeing up established volunteer resource to focus on wider

strategic planning as needed.

There is a heroic approach to volunteering, keeping some remarkable things going against all

the odds. This should be balanced with an emphasis on the importance of the mundane day to

day tasks that a trading charity with a building will need to prioritise.

There has been remarkable longevity of the key figures’ involvement. However, times of

step-changes in activity such as will be needed for the next phase of development for the

FoWG may also see some key people choosing to move on so succession planning for key

posts will therefore be vital.

Volunteers should be valued and also value each other – this does not come naturally and

support needs to be sought for preparing a volunteer strategy which should include proactive

efforts to ensure that volunteers feel rewarded and support each other with positive messages

and actions.

The overall conclusion is that there can be a high level of assurance to LBL that the FoWG

can have the capacity, capability and motivation for their new business plan and the education

building.

However, this will require turning the potential into actuality and this will require a series of

detailed actions (please refer to Section 11.3 for recommendations for actions to be

undertaken).

The best assurance comes from the fact that the new building enables easier delivery of a

sustainable programme and a much more rewarding volunteering experience than current

shared facilities allow and which is cumbersome in terms of further growth plans.

The building will also be the centre of the business plan, trading, events, education and

fundraising so there is an imperative on the FoWG to make it work.


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11.4.1 Governance Structure

As part of ‘Next Steps’ development, a more detailed governance review needs to be

undertaken with the FoWG to agree the appropriate governance structure as part of an

integrated work programme addressing all of the areas raised.

As a starting point, the following diagram sets out the possible principals that may emerge.

Please note that this is indicative only at this stage; a new structure should emerge from

the work that needs to follow.


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Stage 3: Develop Financial

Model(s) and Risk Assessment


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12.0 Funding Support

12.1 Funding Review Aims

The aims of the funding review undertaken is to feed into the options analysis, design and

business planning work. It informs the options appraisal and business planning aspects of the

Education Centre work

At the time of writing, the viable building options have been narrowed down to a single

building (subject to affordability and planning permission). This is undoubtedly better in

fundraising terms than a shared building as funders will be able to see clearly that any

investment that they make is going entirely to the work of the Windmill/FoWG. However, it

does mean that the FoWG will be liable for all the costs of the building.

There is also the question that funders will not all wish to fund a building that is to be owned

by the local authority. However, setting aside the capital funding for constructing the building

(which LBL have provisionally set aside funds to cover) the funding prospects for the FoWG

with their new building are reasonably good.

12.2 Results

Following research into more than 160 potential funders, 140 were investigated further of

which 85 were found to have some potential for the Windmill Gardens Education Centre and

activities.

There is sufficient information at this stage to give some confidence to the following:

Fundraising for capital build is not recommended mainly due to timescales, but

funding for fitting out/equipment etc. is possible

HLF Transition or Resilient funding should be sought after taking advice from the

HLF

Small grants funding applications should continue to be successful to new funders

and previous funders (when allowed)

There are sources of thematic revenue funding that the FoWG would have a good

chance of accessing with the new building coming into place. These are particularly

on themes such as food growing, heritage education (all ages) and engagement work

with young people. This is likely to be a fairly convoluted process of applying to a

mix of larger and small grant funding. The key to this will be the strategy and

capacity to make and follow through the applications. This should be applied for in

the HLF application

Community shares and/or crowd funding opportunities should not be pursued at this

stage

The building design, costs and capabilities and the emerging Business Plan are needed to

apply these results. The information gleaned is being fed into the iterative process throughout

to help assess the feasibility of different options. This funding work will then be able to give a

level of assurance to the FoWG Business Plan and London Borough of Lambeth.


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12.3 Conclusions

Funding will be available for ongoing revenue activities within and from the building for 1-3

year project work periods. This can include core/overhead costs in some cases. However, a

regular stream of funding applications to support activities over 10 years and more would be

beneficial. The FoWG are more than capable of this but most likely will need capacity

support if a concerted drive is required over a fixed period. Once the building design is

finalised and the FoWG business plan is finalised then a strategy for fundraising needs to be

developed. There is a great range of choices and possibilities and the most important things

will be to prioritise the activities to fundraise for and to identify the capacity to fundraise.

Capital funding for the Education Centre is possible from a very limited pool and accessing it

could add up to 6 months to the build timetable with no guarantee of success. This is because

no funder will fund the building if it has been approved already by London Borough of

Lambeth. If there is to be a shortfall, it may be better to fundraise for specific fit-out,

furniture, equipment, landscaping elements which can be developed after the main building

has been approved (with some limitations).

Small grants funding which the FoWG have been excellent at should continue with every

possibility of success both with new funders and with going back to former funders (where

this allowed).

Funding for the windmill maintenance will be difficult as no funder wants to just pay for

regular maintenance. However, there are some funders who will pay for one-off investments

in conservation and it may be possible to use these one-off grants to continually improve the

windmill over time. Annual maintenance money will need to be earned by the FoWG and/or

paid by Lambeth.

It is understood that, as part of the Education Centre building provision by Lambeth, the

FoWG may be asked to take on the annual maintenance costs of the windmill once the current

maintenance contract expires in 2020. In this eventuality, it may be possible to treat the

windmill and building costs together as core costs and include some of these costs in project

funding applications.

Project development funding is likely to be available from intermittent sources – on the

themes of social enterprise /governance etc. but not immediately easily available – joining a

support organisation such as Locality http://locality.org.uk/ would give access to support and

grants. However, the Resilient Fund application will be critical in this process and has

potential to attract up to £250,000.

Community shares/crowdfunding and other alternative sources of funds will be available,

however the capacity needed and the extra risks and burdens involved mean that this needs to

be taken forward only as part of a well thought through business strategy probably once the

building has settled in. It is possible that expanding the milling business (or an expansion of

it) would be successful as a crowd-funding campaign not least because there is a product that

can be offered as a thank you.

There are a number of major funders (such as the Linbury Trust) which don’t accept

unsolicited applications – consideration needs to be given to all the partners to helping

fundraising by making contacts/introductions with some of the major private funders who are

usually involved with the Borough in other ways (e.g. on the South Bank).

In summary, raising capital funds to build the building in the time desired would need to be

carefully planned probably to raise funds for items such as equipment, fittings and furniture

http://locality.org.uk/


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that could be seen to be “owned” by the FoWG and were less time critical. There is likely to

be resistance from charitable bodies to give grants to fund a Lambeth building unless there

was some clear assurance of use by the FoWG for some period.

There is every expectation that the FoWG can raise funds to keep a good programme of short

and medium term activities going once the building is in place. This will require a lot of work

in preparing and submitting funding applications and dealing with all the follow up with

funders that is needed. However, this will not be able to fully underpin the Education Centre’s

operations. An estimate (subject to further work and discussion) is that fundraising may be

able to contribute towards some core costs in the business plan.

Some of the identified gaps will be able to be met by match in kind from the FoWG or

earned income for flour sales/classes etc.

12.4 Recommendations for Business Plan

An annual sum of £35-40K for funds raised could realistically be included in the business

plan and if this is backed up with a fundraising budget there could be a fair certainty that

these funds could be raised each year. It is likely that this figure could even be exceeded.

However, a cautious approach is being taken by Clearview in this current exercise and a

lower amount had been included at this time.

Please refer to Appendix E for details of full Funding Study


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13.0 Cash Flow and Financials

13.1 Conclusions

Early conclusion is that the FoWG have basis for a robust business plan which

indicates operational sustainability

Management and running of the building is not reliant on fundraising

Recommendation is for FoWG to apply for HLF Resilient Grant funding to support

the necessary upskilling and new business development expertise required to make

step-change from existing to new business model; this application has not yet been

submitted so is excluded from financial forecast

Business Plan recommendations have been made based on the level of service review

and income stream analysis possible within the time frame available for this work.

Initial feedback from FoWG has been received but further testing of assumptions is

suggested and more detailed implementation plans will need to be developed in

conjunction with wider Action Plan recommended (see Section 15) and more detailed

actions listed as part of Capability and Capacity review (see Section 11)

13.2 Business Journey

This diagram shows the potential future journey the FoWG may go through between current

and future operation subject to the level of financial success they may achieve.

Please see over page for Overall Financial Summary and refer to Appendix F for

detailed breakdown of FoWG 10 year Cash Flow Forecast


13.3 FoWG 10 Year Financial Forecast: Overall Summary

SUMMARY - ALL ACTIVITIES

2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25 2025/26 2026/27

TOTAL Yr1 Yr 2 Yr 3 Yr 4 Yr 5 Yr 6 Yr 7 Yr 8 Yr 9 Yr 10

£ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £

Capital Costs

Building construction costs ( inc F&F, VAT & fees) - - - - - - - - - - -

Commercial standard kitchen 15,000.00 15,000.00 - - - - - - -

Purchase of a modular mill - - - - - - - - - - -

15,000.00

Revenue - Expenditure

WINDMILL BUILDING COSTS 53,700.00 - - - 6,600.00 7,000.00 7,200.00 7,500.00 8,000.00 8,400.00 9,000.00

-

EDUCATION BUILDING COSTS ( less staffing -cleaner) 94,750.00 3,600.00 5,200.00 10,200.00 10,400.00 10,550.00 10,750.00 10,750.00 11,100.00 11,100.00 11,100.00 Education Building costs are covered by income generated by other income streams such as Building Hire.

Park & Gardens - - - - - - - - - - - Assumes maintenance costs are zero and work done in kind via partnerships

-

STAFFING - Staffing has been shown separately to show the size of the commitment needed to be covered by income.

Development Officer 50% of £32pa 1FTE 140,800.00 12,800.00 16,000.00 16,000.00 16,000.00 16,000.00 16,000.00 16,000.00 16,000.00 16,000.00

Education Centre Officer 50% of £32k pa 172,800.00 12,800.00 12,800.00 16,000.00 16,000.00 19,200.00 19,200.00 19,200.00 19,200.00 19,200.00 19,200.00

Fundraising capability ( time bought) 50,000.00 10,000.00 10,000.00 10,000.00 10,000.00 10,000.00

Cleaner / cleaning services 12,750.00 600.00 1,200.00 1,200.00 1,200.00 1,350.00 1,350.00 1,350.00 1,500.00 1,500.00 1,500.00

Development upskilling capability -

-

EDUCATION CENTRE COSTS ( less staff costs shown seperately above)18,500.00 1,850.00 1,850.00 1,850.00 1,850.00 1,850.00 1,850.00 1,850.00 1,850.00 1,850.00 1,850.00

-

MILLING COSTS 66,104.00 5,300.00 5,900.00 6,200.00 6,900.00 7,100.00 7,100.00 6,900.00 6,900.00 6,902.00 6,902.00

-

MEMBERSHIP COSTS 2,050.00 160.00 170.00 180.00 190.00 200.00 210.00 220.00 230.00 240.00 250.00

-

EVENTS & TOURS COSTS 146,500.00 11,150.00 11,150.00 11,150.00 16,150.00 16,150.00 16,150.00 16,150.00 16,150.00 16,150.00 16,150.00

-

MERCHANDISING COSTS 27,000.00 1,500.00 2,000.00 2,500.00 3,000.00 3,000.00 3,000.00 3,000.00 3,000.00 3,000.00 3,000.00

-

BUILDING HIRE COSTS 22,500.00 2,250.00 2,250.00 2,250.00 2,250.00 2,250.00 2,250.00 2,250.00 2,250.00 2,250.00 2,250.00

-

OTHER EXPENDITURE ( less staff costs) 135,855.00 19,755.00 27,255.00 15,755.00 5,325.00 6,845.00 15,545.00 5,775.00 17,700.00 5,950.00 15,950.00

-

943,309.00 -

Net cash outflow 958,309.00 83,965.00 92,575.00 83,285.00 85,865.00 91,495.00 110,605.00 90,945.00 113,880.00 92,542.00 113,152.00

Income

EDUCATION CENTRE SALES 188,550.00 5,010.00 10,090.00 12,420.00 17,680.00 20,160.00 23,050.00 24,010.00 24,610.00 25,460.00 26,060.00

-

MILLING ENTERPRISE 205,478.00 6,478.00 13,594.00 17,322.00 19,322.00 19,322.00 25,888.00 25,888.00 25,888.00 25,888.00 25,888.00

-

MEMBERSHIP ( INCL MEMBERSHIP DONATIONS) 41,260.00 1,690.00 2,490.00 2,950.00 3,405.00 4,420.00 4,695.00 4,980.00 5,255.00 5,550.00 5,825.00

-

EVENTS & TOURS SALES 383,500.00 23,950.00 34,450.00 34,450.00 35,950.00 41,700.00 42,200.00 42,700.00 42,700.00 42,700.00 42,700.00

-

MERCHANDISING SALES 54,000.00 3,000.00 4,000.00 5,000.00 6,000.00 6,000.00 6,000.00 6,000.00 6,000.00 6,000.00 6,000.00

-

BUILDING HIRE INCOME 232,900.00 15,600.00 20,600.00 21,200.00 23,100.00 24,600.00 24,600.00 25,800.00 25,800.00 25,800.00 25,800.00

-

OTHER INCOME STREAMS ( excl grants itemised as a subset separately below)167,250.00 9,050.00 34,050.00 14,050.00 15,050.00 15,300.00 15,550.00 16,050.00 16,050.00 16,050.00 16,050.00

General Fundraising 110,000.00 - 30,000.00 10,000.00 10,000.00 10,000.00 10,000.00 10,000.00 10,000.00 10,000.00 10,000.00

1,382,938.00 -

Capital investment from LBL - - - - - - - - - - -

Kitchen sponsorship 15,000.00 15,000.00

15,000.00 -

Net cash inflow 1,397,938.00 79,778.00 149,274.00 117,392.00 130,507.00 141,502.00 151,983.00 155,428.00 156,303.00 157,448.00 158,323.00

Cash inflow/outflow 439,629.00 4,187.00- 56,699.00 34,107.00 44,642.00 50,007.00 41,378.00 64,483.00 42,423.00 64,906.00 45,171.00


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14.0 Risks

The following indicates a summary of risks against which contingency planning should be put

in place to mitigate should they occur.

Other risks relating to specific operational constraints are also referenced in relevant sections.

RISK Likelihood Impact MITIGATION

H M L H M L

BUSINESS RISKS

FoWG charity remains dependent

on the support of LBL for its

survival due to lack of income

generation

Ensure Education Centre is future-proofed

to allow the flexibility the FoWG need to

test and refine income streams over time so

that they can optimise income generation

opportunities.

Develop a clear business route map for

FoWG development which robustly

supports financial sustainability over time.

FoWG and LBL continue to nurture their

working relationship in ways which are

mutually beneficial to both parties e.g. LBL

support FoWG fundraising activities and

organisational development (e.g. through

allocation of support resource to FoWG);

FoWG remains open and receptive to

exploring ways in which they might

contribute to services which LBL would

find useful e.g. FoWG taking on the

maintenance of the Windmill

Insufficient sustainable income is

received in early years (1-3) to

cover the operational costs of

running the Education Centre and

windmill.

Focus on growth and delivery of the higher

return income streams.

Slow growth down initially to ensure

associated expenditure can be supported by

revenue.

Lambeth review and rescind their

agreement to provide a rent and

rate free building.

The forecast demonstrates that FoWG can

meet its outgoings by income generated

without cross subsidy from grants.

Should this risk arise, Lambeth would need

to continue/revert to taking on the cost of

maintaining the windmill and park upkeep

Capability to run the charity on

more commercial lines is lacking,

albeit the charitable intent is

serviced well

Strengthen the governing team with

additional / alternative members with

strong relevant business skills.

Strengthen governance processes and

accountability

Capability or capacity of

volunteer resource is insufficient

Consider a mix of paid expertise and

volunteer resource and the value add they

bring.


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to manage and run all income

streams in the portfolio

Consider up-skilling training (HLF) and

other available ‘free’ resource to increase

capacity economically.

Consider prioritisation.

Insufficient fundraising capability

in initial stages of the charity’s

development

Lambeth provides fundraising support

whilst building is being built.

Up-skilling in specialist expertise via

mentoring and training paid for by

transitional grant funding.

Insufficient capability to replace

key roles on retirement from duty.

Start succession planning by up-skilling

capability within current roles and

providing ’shadowing’ opportunities where

helpful

Seek external mentoring

Encourage new membership with desired

skills to join.

Park upkeep maintenance

agreement with partner (e.g.

Blenheim Gardens RMO) expires

upon appointment of a new

service provider.

Seek an alternative viable agreement.

Use volunteers and other social enterprise

help in the interim.

Explore the possibility of ‘free’ gardening

resource via HMP Brixton ROTL* Day

Release (Released in Temporary Licence)

Appropriate grant funding streams

dwindle after years of successful

annual grant applications

Seek more diverse streams of relevant

funding.

Reduce further the need for regular funding

by increasing revenue in more successful

areas.

Education centre bookings

dwindle and the need for new

courses and / or interactive

technology grows to remain

competitive and interesting.

Refresh courses and education sector

relationships regularly.

Broaden market reach.

Build a technology reserve fund for

interactive learning and displays.

RISK Likelihood Impact MITIGATION

H M L H M L

OPERATIONAL RISKS

The windmill stops working and

is out of action for a significant

period of time whilst waiting for

repairs/treatment.

Ensure 1 month’s reserve flour products are

available for sale.

In medium to longer term put in place a

contingency plan to buy or hire a modular

mill or partner with another mill.

Milling business grows rapidly

and supply cannot meet demand

Should demand outstrip supply, consider a

modular mill to grow the revenue stream, or

re-packaging and raising prices to manage

supply.

Education Centre income streams

grow rapidly and supply cannot

meet demand

If demand outstrips supply, consider adding

more days and delivery support staff.

Raise prices to manage supply.


P a g e

Flour milling using the Windmill

reaches capacity at 3 years.

Evaluate whether supply is increased by a

supporting modular mill, or price point

raised

The FoWG commercial activities

are successful, with full time

working 5-6 days a week, but are

now seen by residents as

detrimental to the local

environment

Evaluate the portfolio of activity against

delivering the charitable intent, and ensure

the benefits to the local community can

justify the work

Building is a target for theft and

vandalism

Architects to design security features such

as shutters, into the design.

Operational costs of running the

building are higher than predicted

As revenue grows, allow for a small reserve

contingency fund to meet unexpected costs.

Review energy systems set up and use to

optimise space.

Pace of change and/or lack of

clarity in new job roles leads to

volunteer demotivation and

potential loss of volunteer

resource

Ensure clarity of roles is established plus

sufficient training to upskill volunteers as

required

Manage pace of change, ensuring

volunteers are properly informed of what’s

happening/when

Build in sufficient feedback mechanisms to

allow volunteers a ‘voice’ in order to

capture/acknowledge any concerns and act

upon feedback received appropriately

H M L H M L

MARKETING RISKS

The website crashes and people

cannot access

Ensure processes in place to post a ‘holding

message’ if people try to access

Conduct regular site maintenance checks

Local/Other concerns about new

Education Centre/related activity

attracts adverse publicity

Ensure agreed lines of response

communicated and designated

spokesperson available to speak with press

if/when required

Proactively manage any complaints in a

timely and sensitive manner

Brand positioning is weakened by

unclear brand strategy

Develop agreed brand development plan

and put in place brand guidelines to ensure

consistency of brand representation

Develop integrated marketing and business

development strategy with clear brand

consideration given to all aspects of

Education Centre visitor/wider customer

experience


P a g e

15.0 Next Steps

15.1 Action Plan

The Actions below are considered priority actions to move the FoWG quickly towards

a sustainable business footing and reduce current business risks. It is not exhaustive

and the section on Governance, Capability and Capacity Planning (Section 11)

contains more detailed actions and observations.

NB. It is recognised that these timings are ambitious and capacity/capability may in

some respect be dependent upon receiving external support in the next few months

from London Borough of Lambeth and possibly bought in development resource.

They are indicative only and subject to change in accordance with ongoing

planning discussions with FoWG.

A successful HLF Resilient funding application could fund support for much of the

new training and upskilling of existing volunteers as well as realise revenue to cover

such things as systems development and improvement.

Action By When Benefit Priority

Yr 0: Q1= Apr-Jun 2016, Q2=Jul-Sep 2016, Q3=Oct-Dec 2016, Q4=Jan-Mar 2017

Yr 1: Q1=Apr-Jun 2017, Q2=Jul-Sep 2017, Q3=Oct-Dec 2017, Q4=Jan-Mar 2018

Governance and Business Management

Ensure whole organisation

has bought into the new

business plan

Q3 2016 Maintaining

volunteers’ motivation

and commitment to

successful

development

HIGH

(Critical to

business

success)

Review governance

structure to ensure the right

level of decision-making,

accountability and

responsibility

Q3 2016 Balance of workload

and clearer

accountability

HIGH

Revisit chart of accounts,

cost codes and sub-codes to

gain visibility on

segmentation

Q3-Q4

2016

Financial management

Transparency of data

HIGH

Invest in financial and

database software

Q4 2016 Data management HIGH

Prepare for building

opening

- Health & safety

- Fire safety

- Risk management

- Insurance

Q4 2016 Ensure operationally

ready for new centre

launch

HIGH


P a g e

Review the charity’s

operational status and

limited liability

Q4 2016 -

Q1 2017

Way to reduce

personal liabilities of

Trustees

HIGH

Merge all data lists and

review what reports wish to

draw off for different areas

of work

Q1 2017 Data management and

analytics

Audience

segmentation

(Comms/Membership)

MED

Rewrite terms of reference

for each governance

meeting to meet objectives

and management for the

future business model

Q1 2017 Clear accountability MED

Review and work out what

management reports are

needed and frequency for

different parts of the

business

Q1 2017 Know what you need

and produce reports

that support your

needs

MED

Put in place a weekly/

monthly update regime for

all activities of the business

Q1 2017 Operational discipline

and transparency

MED

Business Strategy and Planning

Prepare an Events strategy Q3 2016 Targets, resourcing HIGH

Prepare a Fundraising

strategy

Q4 2016 Targets, resourcing HIGH

Prepare a Flour Sales

strategy


Prepare an Education

strategy


Prepare a Membership

strategy


Create an integrated Data

Analytics strategy

Q2 2017 Targets & growth MED

Prepare a Merchandising

strategy

Q2 2017 Targets, resourcing MED

Prepare a Venue Hire

strategy

Q2 2017 Targets, resourcing MED

Commercial Arrangements

Focus on recouping

outstanding invoices and

high value fundraising and

income generation in short

term to fund parts of the

building and the education

officer’s immediate work

Q3-Q4

2016

Enables Education

work to start asap

Supports key building

fit-out requirements

not covered by LBL

budget

HIGH


P a g e

Negotiate 1st wholesale

flour sales with local

bakeries and HMP Brixton

Q3 2016 Sizable income stream

waiting to be tapped

HIGH

Develop partnership

arrangements and source

additional milling resource

to mill additional flour

Q4 2016 Additional resource HIGH

Negotiate SLA agreement

with London Borough of

Lambeth for use of

Education Centre

Q4 2016 Purpose built building

to support FoWG

growth and expansion

of educational

programmes

HIGH

Negotiate SLA agreement

with London Borough of

Lambeth regarding

Windmill maintenance

from 2020

Q2 2017

(in

principle,

actual

SLA may

not be

required

until later)

Interdependency on

peppercorn rent for

building

MED

Negotiate agreement with

partners to maintain the

park and gardens *(not yet

agreed with Friends)

(within

first 3

years of

trading)

*subject to

Friends

agreement

Additional resource LOW

Marketing

Develop a Brand strategy

and Prepare set of

promotional Brand

Guidelines

Q4 2016 -

Q1 2017

Organisational

Positioning and

Promotion

HIGH

Develop overarching

Marketing and

Communications strategy

Q1-Q2

2017

Integrated approach to

optimise all

HIGH

Establish market appetite

and price points for

education, flour, building

hire and baking

Q1-Q2

2017

Competitive position HIGH

Continue to build local

relationships and potential

pipeline for flour sales -

retail & wholesale

Q1 2017

(ongoing)

Sales pipeline HIGH

Develop tactical

communications plans to

support events and

initiatives

Q1 2017

(ongoing)

Leveraging news,

local reach and

campaigns

MED


P a g e

Develop set of brand

guidelines (build on

existing)

Q2 2017 Brand integrity MED

Fundraising

Create priority grant

applications list and plan

for remainder to ensure a

constant stream of income

for FoWG calendar of

Events

Q3 2016 Income generation to

cover core charitable

aims

HIGH

Develop HLF Resilient

Grant funding application

Q3 2016 Substantial support for

transitioning to a

sustainable business;

could include

mentoring and

upskilling of FoWG

volunteers as well as

support some paid for

resource e.g. building

management and

business development

HIGH

Agree annual fundraising

strategy with LBL

Q3-Q4

2016

Will help inform the

SLA

LBL providing

fundraising resource

support

HIGH

FoWG to explore

opportunities for

fundraising income for

Education Development

Officer (once building in

place)

Q1-Q2

2017

Ongoing delivery of

Education workshops

(NB. Not reliant on

fundraising)

Increases profit

capability

MED

Training

Training in fundraising and

campaigns

Q4 2016 Competence MED

Training in book-keeping,

financial records


Training in data and

database management


Trustee training – refresher

ahead of opening

Q4 2016 -

Q1 2017

Competence MED

Training in facilities

management & H&S



P a g e

Training in Human

Resource Management


Training in business

continuity


Recruit additional capability

Recruit Education

Development Officer -

contract

Q3 2016 Competence HIGH

Recruit ongoing

fundraising capability

Q3-Q4

2016

Competence HIGH

Recruit Business

Development resource –

contract

Q4 2016 -

Q1 2017

Competence HIGH

Capability to write the fire

management strategy

Q1-Q2

2017

Competence LOWER

Develop policy writing

capability

Q1-Q2

2017

Competence LOWER

Please refer to Appendix G for high level programme schedule.

(NB. This is subject to change in accordance with ongoing planning discussions with FoWG

and LBL).


P a g e

Appendices


P a g e

Appendix A: Building Options Appraisal 1-4 Detailed Review

Option 1 Build a new building near the Windmill and separate from the Stay and

Play Building

Built within budget and

capital cost provided Order of cost: £360,000. With some adjustments, it will be possible to

build a new separate building within the capital budget on offer by

London Borough of Lambeth

Suitability for proposed

FoWG activities A separate building provides FoWG with full operational freedom to

pursue activities to create a sustainable business

A multipurpose building that supports the FoWG’s primary aim to create

a permanent education centre, as well as providing supplementary

income from milling flour, pop-up café, room hire and other partnerships

will be possible

Size will be key. The original size of approximately 132m2 may be too

small to provide some medium term activities, such as a training kitchen.

If 150m2 or 180m2 is possible, there are more options available

Should FoWG apply for a Community Asset Transfer at a later date, a

separate building is likely to be easier to transfer

Suitability for

Holmewood Construction would present minimal negative impact on Holmewood’s

current operation

The separate building allows Holmewood Stay and Play to continue its

operations and grow capacity at its own building unencumbered

The new separate FoWG building could increase revenue for the Stay

and Play by enabling additional compatible services to be offered from

the new building at specific times

Business Sustainability Depending on the size of the building, some activities that are synergistic

ways for FoWG to produce a sustainable income may not be possible

Hire of adjacent space can mutually benefit both business operations and

provide regular income streams as a consequence

Environmental / Building

Sustainability The building will be a new build and will be compliant with BREEAM

and other eco policies that Lambeth adhere to. As such, it is likely to

require little maintenance in the short to medium term

It is more likely that a traditional build will achieve eco standards over a

prefabricated modular build

Planning risk The pre-application has come back with a positive statement subject to

satisfactory details on activities to be undertaken and their impact and

benefit on the community

The reduction in open space presents the greatest risk to success and is

dependent on a clear understanding of how the local community can

access and directly benefit from the new facility

Time to construct Choice of building method will be important to maximise funds

available. There are trade-offs between time and cost, or time and size.

Traditional form of contract and construction will bring the costs per m2

down from £3000m2 to £2000m2.

Provides new and

additional amenities to

the community

The new building can provide WC facilities for the park whilst open

The new building can provide the community with a local pop-up café

It can more easily manage the regular heritage and public events and

activities it holds monthly in the park gardens from a permanent base

Potential undertaking to manage and maintain the gardening of park at

Windmill Gardens supports the council and community

The education centre can support all ages of the community with its

offering.


P a g e

Option 2 Demolish the existing Stay and Play building and rebuild a new

building that houses both FoWG and Holmewood Nursery

Capital Cost It was not possible to do this within the budget of £360,000.


FoWG activities FoWG would gain a space of their own to undertake the activities they

need to become a sustainable business but is unlikely to have 100%

autonomy over what they can do at the site

Depending on the design of the shared building, there is most likely to

still be a dependency between FoWG and Holmewood Stay and Play

when planning revenue streams and growth activities so as not to

conflict with their neighbour

Some new revenue streams may not work well from a shared building,

such as milling and training kitchen.

Suitability for

Holmewood Holmewood would have a space of their own to continue their stay and

play activities

Depending on how the building and play area is designed, the

entrance(s) and services and connections between the two buildings

may present possible safeguarding issues for the young children

attending the stay and play groups

Demolishing the existing building could put current income and the

local stay and play target market at risk should Holmewood need to

move away from the area into decanting accommodation during

construction

Business Sustainability A shared building could present some limitations to the development of

other income streams should the target audiences and markets be very

different from educational products

A shared building could present some synergies for hiring shared space

from the other party


Sustainability The building will be a new build and to meet planning will need to be

built to comply with Lambeth’s policies and BREEAM and other

environmental policies.

Timber construction may be ruled out as a material because of a risk of

vandalism and arson.

Planning risk The protection of open spaces is a key development policy for Lambeth.

The larger the building footprint, albeit partly on the site of an existing

building, presents a greater risk to planning success than a smaller

separate building, especially if community parameters cannot be met

Time to construct Demolition and then new construction, plus decanting plans for

Holmewood Stay and Play and FoWG are likely to take longer than the

construction of a separate new build or simple extension to the existing

Stay and Play building

The form of contract is likely to be traditional or design and build,

ruling out modular prefabricated buildings

Modular buildings are more costly to purchase even though they may

be quicker to install

Provides new and

additional amenities to the

community

New amenities will be provided by this option in the form of an

education centre for local schools and a pop up café for the community.

The upkeep of the gardens and creation of windmill related park events

will also be available to the community


P a g e

Option 3 Extend the Holmewood Nursery building to create a

larger building with a separate space for FoWG

Capital Cost The cost of undertaking this option was over budget.

Shared facilities have not reduced the cost of building


FoWG activities FoWG would gain a space of their own to undertake their

current activities and growth towards becoming a

sustainable business but will not have 100% autonomy

over what they do at the site

Depending on the design of the shared building, there is

most likely to still be a dependency between FoWG and

Holmewood Stay and Play when planning revenue

streams and growth activities so as not to conflict with

their neighbour

Some new revenue streams may not work from a shared

building, such as milling and training kitchen

Suitability for

Holmewood Holmewood would have a space of their own to continue

their Stay and Play activities.

Depending on how the building and play area is designed,

the entrance(s) and services and connections between the

two buildings may present possible safeguarding issues

for young children attending the Stay and Play groups

Business Sustainability A shared building could present some limitations to the

development of other income streams for both

organisations should the target audiences and markets be

very different from educational products

A shared building could present some synergies for hiring

shared space from the other party


Sustainability The existing nursery building is not new and is in need of

maintenance and some infrastructure replacement.

The current building is unlikely to be designed to or meet

BREEAM

The new extension will need to be designed to meet

current environmental and eco standards of Lambeth

council

Planning risk The planning risk could be lower than that of a new

shared building on the same site, because it is only an

extension that is being added to the footprint. However,

the larger footprint in one location may not be deemed

appropriate to the setting and context of the building

Justification for loss of open space and value add to the

community will be paramount to get right

Time to construct Depending on the structure and condition of the current

building, time to construct could be faster or slower.

More work would be required to make an assessment

Provides new and

additional amenities to the

community

New amenities will be provided by this option in the form

of an education centre for local schools and a pop up café

for the community.

The upkeep of the gardens and creation of windmill

related park events will also be available to the

community


P a g e

Option 4 New building on Alternative site

Capital Cost Unknown

To build a new building on another location may produce

construction costs similar to option 1

To lease or purchase an existing building and refurbish to suit FoWG

activities is likely to be above budget


FoWG activities As neither a building nor site has been found that is deemed

acceptable, this objective cannot be assessed

FoWG cannot develop or grow their income streams effectively in

current accommodation

Suitability for Holmewood Without a site, FoWG are likely to remain renting within the current

Stay and Play space. This impacts on Holmewood’s ability to grow

and be sustainable

Business Sustainability Without the ability to grow a number of synergistic and varied

revenue streams, FoWG cannot become a sustainable business


Sustainability Unknown

Planning risk Unknown

Time to construct Unknown

Provides new and additional

amenities to the community Unknown


P a g e

Appendix D: Sample Baking Courses: Product/Pricing

The Learning Loaf http://www.thelearningloaf.com/baking-classes.html

Full Day Bread Making Classes From techniques and tips, to making and baking - during our hands-on courses you will

explore the journey from flour to finished loaf and create your own bread to take home.

Held on Saturday’s, from 10am to 4pm in Charlton Manor Primary School, Indus Road,

London SE7 - our workshops can accommodate up to 10 people and include light

refreshments and lunch. Ingredients, equipment and recipes are provided.

These workshops are suitable for all levels of experience. Age 16 and over. Children are

welcome but must be accompanied by an adult.

16 July: Advanced Sourdough Bread Making - £125 This workshop is designed for people who have been baking sourdough for a while. We

will use slightly more complex techniques such as adding a seed soaker and fruit plus

working with heritage, wholemeal and sprouted grains. You will leave with your loaves to

bake off at home and a lot of new and improved skills.

22 October: Introduction to Sourdough Bread - £125 We will show you how to achieve the crust and crumb you’ve always aspired to. This

includes creating and keeping a healthy leaven, mixing, kneading, shaping and baking the

perfect loaf. You will leave with your loaf, a pot of leaven and a lot of new skills.

3 September: Introduction to English Bread Making

- £125 During this full day hands-on workshop run by Graham, you will learn how to make soda

bread, a white country loaf, and wholesome wholemeal rolls. This includes using different

organic flours, mixing, kneading, shaping, and baking the perfect loaves and rolls to take

home with you.

Evening Bread Making Classes If you are pushed for time, then these are the courses for you.

Held on Wednesday’s, from 6:30pm to 9:30pm in Bentham House, 2-4 Station Way, Royal

Arsenal, London SE18. Our workshops can accommodate six people. Ingredients,

equipment and recipes are provided including refreshments.

These workshops are suitable for all levels of experience. Age 16 and over. Children are

welcome but must be accompanied by an adult.


P a g e

Corporate/Team Building Events

Looking to develop your team? Want to learn new and develop existing skills?

Then why not hold your team building event with us with a tailored corporate day. On

corporate days, we can accommodate up to 12 people. Please contact us to discuss

further.

13 July: Gluten free baking - £65 We take everything we know about baking bread to a gluten-free setting. You’ll create a

versatile everyday gluten free loaf and a zesty lemon polenta cake, all free of gluten-

containing ingredients.

29 July: Pizza dough - £65 You will learn how to make the perfect pizza dough. This includes mixing, kneading,

shaping, and baking - techniques that form this cornerstone of Italian cuisine.

(Continued Over Page)


P a g e

Ma Baker’s -COURSES http://www.mabaker.london/courses

All classes are held in my Fulham kitchen, and are for a maximum of four participants. They

assume no prior cooking/baking experience and are taught in a friendly, informal atmosphere with

plenty of time for practice and individual guidance. Each class includes morning or afternoon tea,

home baked treats, lots of bread tastings, recipes to take home, all equipment and ingredients. You

will have plenty of your own handmade bread to take home with you as well. If you do not see a

class or time that suits, let me know and we can arrange one that does.

As well as the schedule of classes listed, Ma Baker can offer bespoke baking classes on other

dates for a private group wishing to book together, corporate groups or special occasions. Contact

me direct on [email protected], with details, and I will get back to you as soon as

possible.

INTRODUCTION TO BREAD - LONDON

Come and learn how to bake real bread in a small, personalised friendly class in a home kitchen.

You will have fun baking and shaping a variety of loaves and...

SEE DETAILS

INTRODUCTION TO BREAD - HOLYPORT

Come and learn how to bake real bread in a small, personalised friendly class in a home kitchen.

You will have fun baking and shaping a variety of loaves and...

SEE DETAILS

http://www.mabaker.london/courses

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.mabaker.london/courses/introduction-to-bread-london


http://www.mabaker.london/courses/introduction-to-bread-holyport




P a g e

INTRODUCTION TO SOURDOUGH

Sourdough bread, made with a ‘wild’ yeast culture instead of commercial yeast, is delicious, has a

distinctive taste and is easier to digest than many other breads because of its...

SEE DETAILS

ARTISAN BREADS

During this class you will learn different shaping techniques, how to use a banneton (or proving

basket) how to plait a loaf and how to shape freeform loaves. We will...

SEE DETAILS

http://www.mabaker.london/courses/10-02-introduction-to-sourdough


http://www.mabaker.london/courses/10-27-artisan-breads






P a g e

ITALIAN BREADS

Bring the taste of the Mediterranean into your home! During this hands-on class, we’ll make some

classic Italian breads including focaccia and ciabatta, so come prepared to get your hands...

SEE DETAILS

HOW TO SET UP YOUR OWN MICRO-

BAKERY

This is a hands on weekend course. On it, we teach people how to start their own micro bakery. In

addition to baking a lot of different kinds of bread,...

SEE DETAILS

http://www.mabaker.london/courses/10-27-italian-breads


http://www.mabaker.london/courses/10-27-how-to-set-up-your-own-micro-bakery





Documents

Clearview Consulting September 2016 - Lambeth...Education Centre Feasibility Study Clearview Consulting September 2016 4 | P a g e 1.0 Background and Objectives 1.1 Context The Brixton