Lively meeting in store for wool marketing board

Delegates will be debating whether the British Wool Marketing Board (BWMB) has a future at its annual conference and meeting in Bradford next Wednesday.

The format of the annual accounts for the ailing organisation have been altered this year, and in the absence of the usual explanatory notes are confusing and conceal more than they reveal.

For instance, the cash-strapped group moved from a deficit of £1.627m for the year ended April 30, 2006, to a net surplus of £1.163m for the year ended April 30, 2007, largely as a result of a £901,000 profit on disposal of fixed assets.

advertisementWhat the accounts do not explain is that that profit was generated as a result of the sale of the North of England Wool grading depot in Bradford, reputedly for some £1.7m, in a sale-and-leaseback deal. Many are now asking how long the BWMB can continue its policy of asset stripping to meet its out-of-control costs, currently nearly £1m a month. Against that background, others are asking how the group can justify increasing its fleet of cars, valued at £315,000 in 2006, to £479,000 last year.