Scotland’s agricultural college edged into a financial deficit as it embarked on a significant restructuring which its leaders believe will make it fit for the 21st Century.
Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) had a 6% increase in income, including grants and donations, to £83.1 million for the group, which includes the SAC Commercial division as well as the charitable SAC Foundation.
An underlying operating surplus of £500,000 was “better than we had budgeted for”, according to the Principal’s report signed by Professor Wayne Powell.
However, £1.1m in severance costs paid out to redundant staff under the restructuring saw the college book a small deficit of £511,000, according to its report and financial statements to the end of March 2019. This compared to a surplus of £2.1m in 2018.
Professor Powell said the college has taken “bold – and not always easy – steps” toward its goal of achieving official university status and becoming a “rural enterprise university” that could deliver a £4.5billion boost to the Scottish economy. He said the majority of restructuring costs would be recognised in 2019/2020.
He added that SRUC was “ideally placed” to support the Scottish Government’s ambitious environmental targets in the wake of a declared climate emergency.
He said: “SRUC’s world-leading translational research, technology platforms such as the “green cow”, biological resources that include the Langhill dairy herd, and commitment to regional skills development will be pivotal to delivery of Scotland’s ambition to achieve net zero emissions of carbon by 2045.”
The report included mention of a number of milestones in the year, including the opening of the £5.6m Allermuir Avian Innovation and Skills Centre near Edinburgh and the new SRUC Veterinary and Analytical Laboratory at the Moredun Research Institute. SRUC operates six campuses in Scotland at Aberdeen, Ayr, Broxburn, Cupar, Dumfries and Edinburgh. It supports a further network of 24 farm and rural business services offices, eight veterinary disease surveillance centres, the Central Diagnostic Laboratory and operates six farms.
SRUC said Prof Powell received a remuneration package worth £238,000 in the year. This was 6.4 times the median salary of the college’s workforce, the report said. The number of staff reduced from 1,139 to 1,107 in the year.
