Surrey County Cricket Club has reported £2.7m (€3.1m/$3.5m) in pre-tax profits in 2018 driven by conferences and events at the Kia Oval and its biggest membership in the modern era.
The member-owned club saw a total turnover of £31.7m, down £2.2m from 2017, which included revenue from the ICC Champions Trophy, with non-matchday revenue making up half of its revenue.
Surrey achieved its highest pre-tax profits in 2018 outside of a season that contained either an Ashes Test or an ICC tournament.
The club’s chief executive Richard Gould highlighted two projects in the annual report to members, One Oval Square and Oval House Theatre, as two of the biggest developments in the club’s 174-year history.
In addition, the report noted that work on a new Lock Laker Stand will begin in October 2019, increasing capacity at the ground to 28,000 and providing additional conference and membership facilities.
Surrey has also acquired planning permission to develop a hotel over the road from the ground on the site of the Ovalhouse Theatre and the adjoining White House will be used by the Club for offices and accommodation.
Club chairman Richard Thompson said: “We have the highest number of members in the modern era, T20 tickets are continuing to sell at a market-leading rate and more and more people are choosing the Kia Oval as the venue for their corporate entertainment.
“The club’s conference and events business has maintained the impressive growth it has seen in recent years. We have established our proposition in this area to become a destination venue.
“The purpose of Surrey CCC is to win trophies and success on the field…the success we have seen on the field and the success we have enjoyed commercially are inextricably linked”.
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