Top brass take pay cuts and overall profits rocket at Williams
Williams Grand Prix Holdings’ board of directors has seen its overall pay cut by close to £2m as the company has struggled to come to grips with difficult environments on and off the track over the past two years. The decreases in pay have
come to light in the company’s recently released financial results for 2011, and it also seems that these cuts have gone some way to increasing the company’s profit margin last year. Williams made a headline profit of £7.8m in 2011. Under the heading of
‘Directors’ emoluments and compensation’, a total salary of £1,175,510 was listed for 2011, which contrasts starkly with £3,004,407 for the year before. The big losers seem to be Frank Williams himself – down from £1,002,581 in 2010 to £229,795 in 2011 – and Patrick
Head – down from £503,713 in 2010 to £111,447 in 2011. Both Williams and Head have stepped down from the board over the past year, and it’s interesting to note that they also waived their salary entitlements between April and December 2011. The overall group results
show a turnover increase of 14.8 per cent from £91m in 2010 to £104.5m in 2011. The EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) was £7.6m, up from £6.3m in 2010 (20.6 per cent) while net profit was up 30 per cent, from £6m to £7.8m. However, much of this increase is accounted for in the decrease in the salaries of the board members. The core business results – its
F1-related activities – showed an increase in turnover of 12.7 per cent – from £91m in 2010 to £104.5m in 2011 – and EBIT up by 19.5 per cent from £8.2m to
£9.8m. Net profit was £9.6m, up 24.7 per cent on 2010’s £7.7m Just before he left the
company, Williams’ chairman, Adam Parr, said: ‘The Group has enjoyed a strong performance over the last 12 months, in spite of continuing difficulties in the global economy. Our 2011 Annual Report shows strong results and our current cash position is excellent. At 29 February 2012, the Group held net cash of £29.2 million. We can therefore look ahead with confidence.’ Other figures worthy of
a second look in the report include an increased turnover for Williams Hybrid Power (WHP), up from £200,000 in 2010 to £2.1m in 2011, although WHP did make an expected loss of £1.9m (loss of £1.1m in 2010) ‘due to significant ongoing research and development investments’.
Historic site to become hub for historics
The area around the site of one of one of the most notable events in British history now looks set to become a centre for the historic motorsport community in the country. Marley Lane Business Park,
close to Battle in East Sussex (named for the famous 1066 arrow-fest) is being marketed as a centre of excellence for historic motorsport companies, and the people behind it hope to create a cluster of top-flight businesses in the sector at the site. Melvin Floyd, managing
director of CKL Developments, the historic racing company behind the initiative, told Racecar Engineering, ‘We want to develop the site into a historic motorsport techno-park, and try and encourage people directly related to this business on to the site. It’s not really about the companies working together, it’s more about creating a mini Coventry [the centre of the UK car industry].’ Jaguar specialist, CKL, already
trades from one of the buildings, and there is a paint and body
BRIEFLY
Korea move The usually reliable Korea Herald has reported that the Korean Grand Prix will save more than $20.5m in costs this year, after it reached a deal with FOM. The South Jeolla province government negotiated a deal in which it will no longer pay the annual TV licence fee to FOM – estimated to cost $15.6m – until the end of its contract, while the race commission fee will be cut by 10 per cent. The debt-ridden provincial government has been negotiating with FOM for a year, and is contracted to host the loss-making race until 2016. Last year, the race generated around $23m, but spent around $79m, and the organisers fully expect to lose more than $26m this year.
PURE power PURE, the engine maker set up by former BAR boss, Craig Pollock, to supply powerplants to F1 when the new V6 turbo engine formula comes in in 2014, is to move into the Toyota Motorsport facility in Cologne, the base from which the Japanese company’s F1 team operated. Pollock says he was attracted by the facilities, and particularly the quality of the test benches. He’s also insisted that the PURE engine’s development is already so far advanced that it could start competing next year, if the need arose.
Jaguar specialist, CKL Developments, is behind the initiative to attract more companies involved in historic motorsport to the south east coast of England
shop and vehicle storage – an integral part of the historic scene – already in operation, plus two vacant units and space for six more. The units will be competitively priced, says Floyd: ‘It’s the going rate for this sort of size of unit, and the actual quality of the units is going to be of a very, very good standard.’ Floyd says that while the
concept is new in historic motorsport, the area has always
been a hotbed for racing business and, latterly, historic motorsport activity: ‘Down in the south east there are probably four or five specialist companies that are all at the top of their game that we work with and we know very well. But when you look back on the history of this area, it’s always had this hive of motorsport industry. Maybe it’s because we’re close to Dover and it’s easier to get to Europe.’
Peru power Next year’s Dakar Rally – the 35th in total, the fifth in South America – will begin in Peru for the first time. The event will start on 5 January in Lima and finish in Santiago, Chile, on 20 January, after a rest day in San Miguel de Tucuman, Argentina. The well known Rally Raid was switched from its traditional Paris - Dakar route in 2009, due to security concerns.
May 2012 •
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