OUR BLOG

At Norfolk Snowsports Club, we are always looking for ways to enhance your experience while ensuring the long-term sustainability of the Club.

Often, change is necessary but not comfortable. The decision to bring in The Feed to run the Club’s bar and catering operations has not been taken lightly. It has involved a great deal of deliberation and work. It carries many benefits but also means there will be changes that, for some, may be unwelcome. These changes are unavoidable (at least for the time being) although we will keep things under review and remain open to your feedback and suggestions.  To provide further insight into these changes, both General Manager Hannah, and Club Chairman Nick have shared their perspectives, outlining the reasoning behind these decisions and how they will support the Club’s long-term success.

A word from Hannah Gook, Club General Manager…

I want to take a moment to personally address the changes we’re making at the Club. I know that any adjustment can be difficult; especially one that affects our tradition and routine. I completely understand the concerns some of you may have, however I also want to be completely clear – these changes are necessary for the long-term success of our Club.

We are fortunate to have a thriving Club with a community of passionate members, but to keep it that way we need to adapt. The partnership with The Feed is a vital step toward ensuring the future financial stability of the Club. Likewise, the adjustment to our opening hours is a difficult but essential decision to help us operate more efficiently while continuing to provide the high-quality facilities and activities you love.

This is your Club, and we need your support. Change isn’t always easy, but if we embrace it together, I am confident we will all see the benefits in the long term. My door is always open for constructive discussions, and I welcome your feedback as we move forward.

Thank you for your continued passion for Norfolk Snowsports Club. I truly appreciate it, and I know that together, we can make these improvements a success.

A word from Nick Watson, Club Chairman…

I wish to make three points in support of Hannah’s remarks and to help elucidate these changes.

1. First, to set in context the imminent changes to our bar and catering offerings. 
2. Second, to describe the implications of those changes and how they correlate.
3. Third, to mention our culture.

As a matter of principle, you are entitled to be informed. As a matter of pragmatism and community engagement, I also think it is sensible for me to offer explanations so that we can all understand and, I hope, support this new model.  We have already communicated with members about these changes but we now have a clearer understanding of the practical implications. 

The main purpose of what I set out below is to ensure members have a good understating of “why?” and “what?”:

• Why are we doing this?
• What does it mean for us as members?

Context for the changes

The Club provides the bar and catering options primarily as a service to its members. However, they are expensive to run. Over the past two years (from May 2022-April 2024), the Club has lost over £80,000 through these operations.

Some members will understandably feel disappointed at the changes. They are not decisions that have been taken lightly. They are necessary actions as part of our continued efforts to place the Club in a position of financial stability for the long-term. As those of you who attended the AGM may recall, the Club made an overall loss in each of the accounting years ending 30 April 2023, 2022, 2021 and 2020. In 2024 it made a small profit of just under £9,000. That is not sustainable.

We must build a strong financial foundation so we can ensure our assets are well maintained and our members are best served over the long-term. Once those foundations have been laid, we will be in the luxurious position of being able to take decisions that focus ever more on supporting the social and community aspects of the Club – providing an environment where members can come, not only to ski and board, but simply to relax and enjoy each other’s company. To achieve those objectives, however, we need to retain a keen focus on the Club’s income and expenditure.

Impact of the changes

We have tried to strike a balance between commercial reality and creating and maintaining the sort of environment, a social hub, one might expect from a members’ club.

As the Context makes clear, we have not been successful in running a profitable bar and catering operation.  We do not need to make much profit.  But we do need to avoid making a loss, or at least to reduce our losses in that area to an acceptable level. That means a more efficient basis of operation, including changes to a professional provider (The Feed is an expert in this area), a streamlined menu (less waste, for example) and reduced hours of operation (it is not presently viable to continue staffing the bar and kitchen to the extent we have been doing – the figures speak for themselves: we spend more than we take).

The Club’s locking up procedures require two members of staff to be present.  Until now, this has generally been a member of reception staff and a member of staff from upstairs.  The reduced upstairs hours necessarily mean, therefore, that the Club will close earlier to align with the upstairs hours.

As we have said, change may not be comfortable, but it is necessary.  Please bear in mind some of these changes may be temporary (albeit not necessarily brief).

As noted above, we will keep this position under review – we want to strike a balance between commercial reality and member services.  But we are keeping a keen focus on sustainability over the long-term.  To do that, we need to (re)build a strong foundation.

Our culture

Last, please remember (as I will not cease to point out at each relevant opportunity) that everyone at the Club is doing their best – that goes for staff and volunteers alike.  It includes me and my fellow Executive Committee members. It’s not an easy job.

The Club remains a community and is a place for all of us. We use and experience it in different ways and not every evolution will affect everyone in the same way. These changes may impact you more than others.

If you don’t like what you see or experience, let us know (indeed I hope you will: moc.stropswonsklofronnull@kcabdeef). We are taking decisions that try to make the most sense for the membership.  Please try to keep that sense of perspective when responding to this message and please try to make your feedback constructive and not personal.

We appreciate your understanding and support as we make these improvements. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out at moc.stropswonsklofronnull@kcabdeef. We look forward to welcoming you to the club and seeing you enjoy both the slopes and the fantastic new menu on offer!