The Queen's College Record 2020

Reports and College Activities
FROM THE BURSAR
Andrew Timms
It has been quite a year. In the space of a few weeks
in March, the values of the College’s investment assets
fell by a significant amount and many of its commercial
tenants began to ask for deferrals or waivers of their
obligations. At the same time, it became clear that we
would earn relatively little student rent in Trinity term, as
a result of the closure of the College’s main site during
the lockdown, and also that our commercial conference
and summer school revenues would most likely be
wiped out in not just the Easter vacation but also the
summer. The College thus faced simultaneous financial
challenges from almost every conceivable angle; it
seemed to be the wrong year to be a Bursar.
At the time we estimated that income for the year (which ends in July for financial
purposes) would be perhaps 11% less than the budgeted figure of £5.7 million, and
this turned out to be nearly correct. At the end of the year, student residence income
was more than £650k less than budgeted; conference income was around £400k
lower. However, tuition income was not significantly affected by the crisis, and the
College received nearly £375k from the government’s Job Retention Scheme (in
respect of the nearly 100 staff who were furloughed). Moreover, the reduction in the
level of College activity meant that considerable savings were made in expenditure.
In the meantime, the College’s equity investments recovered a large proportion of
their (unrealised) losses, and it became clear that the College’s relatively cautious
approach to spending had protected it from the need to make redundancies or
significant and painful cuts. So – for the College – what began as a shock did not
turn into a disaster, but we are of course very mindful of the fact that many other
individuals and businesses (including some other colleges in Oxford) are suffering to
a much greater extent.
The outlook is one of cautious confidence. The experience of Michaelmas term 2020
suggests that demand for residential education has not been significantly impaired
(or impaired at all, indeed), and it does not seem improbable that elite institutions
offering good facilities and face-to-face contact with experts will continue to thrive.
The alternative view would present a fundamental challenge to the College’s financial
model (and indeed its existence in another sense). On the assumption that the College
will emerge reasonably strongly from this period, we have decided to press ahead
with various capital projects, including most notably the construction of a new porters’
lodge which will offer, for the first time, level-access to the College from the High
Street, and thus significantly improve the physical accessibility of the site to those with
disabilities. Further projects on a similar theme are expected to follow.
36 The Queen’s College | College Record 2020