RNLI 2013 accounts : highlights

[dogleg]

But watch out for Hastings . . .

don't really count as the Normans were really Viking occupiers of Normandy, add Crecy, Poitiers, Plassey and Quebec to our score

 

[Sybarite]

don't really count as the Normans were really Viking occupiers of Normandy, add Crecy, Poitiers, Plassey and Quebec to our score

But Rollo, the first Norman, was the son of the King of the Orkneys which belongs to Scotland which, as everybody knows, was named after the Irish so we finally are the ones who colonized England.

 

[MrB]

I think Sybarite has a point. The obvious comparator with the RNLI is the UK's land-based Fire & Rescue Service. Those of you who think the RNLI is best served by voluntary donations, do you think our Fire Service should be financed in the same way (as it is in some countries)? If not, why the distinction?

No brainer, if a few people die at sea because we don't have the RNLI the country will carry on with little effect, however if we didn't have a fire service and a city burned down......... The RNLI is great to have but not essential, the Fire service IS essential hence state funded.

Both do an outstanding job regardless of how they are funded and we should be proud of that. :encouragement:

 

[Sybarite]

For those who would like a little more info fwiw (I'm not translating - ):

http://www.snsmdelegationvendee.com/medias/files/dossier-de-presse-2013-pour-station-fromentine.pdf

 

[Rigger Mortice]

I'm not translating

Neither am I.

 

[dogleg]

But Rollo, the first Norman, was the son of the King of the Orkneys which belongs to Scotland which, as everybody knows, was named after the Irish so we finally are the ones who colonized England.

did a passage to Alesund a few years ago, they claim that Rollo came from a small island off that part of the coast according anyway to the local guide, cant remember name of island this is apparently disputed by the Danes who also claim him

 

[jordanbasset]

For those who would like a little more info fwiw (I'm not translating - ):

http://www.snsmdelegationvendee.com/medias/files/dossier-de-presse-2013-pour-station-fromentine.pdf

Thanks, could not find the accounts in that, can you direct us to where they are published

 

[dogleg]

For those who would like a little more info fwiw (I'm not translating - ):

http://www.snsmdelegationvendee.com/medias/files/dossier-de-presse-2013-pour-station-fromentine.pdf

why does the French service accept a government grant? Is this historical or what and what is their fund raising organisation in inland areas such as Lyon if any?

 

[JumbleDuck]

In that case we'll probably be told that the French have better/cheaper/more efficient launch sites.

 

[Searush]

We'll have to stick with 3:1 for the Brits, and 1:nil for the Yanks then.

They can't even win the Tour de France these days. Damned Brits.

Some of the French won their revolution though. Maybe we can let them have that as a draw. Or was it a home goal?

I think we may have had a better government if we had managed a revolution too.

 

[Sybarite]

Thanks, could not find the accounts in that, can you direct us to where they are published

http://www.snsm.org/page/transparence-financiere

These are the 2012 accounts in both summary and detailed form, the latter being audited by PWC.

Their AGM was held a week or so ago and the 2013 accounts are not yet on line.

 

[Sybarite]

why does the French service accept a government grant? Is this historical or what and what is their fund raising organisation in inland areas such as Lyon if any?

See post #171. Detailed public contributions are in the accounts at the bottom of the page.

There are 3 main sources of finance :

The State including local councils. This part is reducing each year and is currently around 25% - but 25% of around €30m.
Corporate donors - often insurance companies for obvious reasons.
The Public - about 70000 donors annually. A big drive is on to increase this number.

 

[JumbleDuck]

I think we may have had a better government if we had managed a revolution too.

Indeed. Waterloo and Trafalgar aren't really anything to be proud off; we kept our military hegemony over half the world and destroyed the most advanced, enlightened system of government in Europe. The world would have been very, very much better off had Napoleon won.

 

[dogleg]

See post #171. Detailed public contributions are in the accounts at the bottom of the page.

There are 3 main sources of finance :

The State including local councils. This part is reducing each year and is currently around 25% - but 25% of around €30m.
Corporate donors - often insurance companies for obvious reasons.
The Public - about 70000 donors annually. A big drive is on to increase this number.

but why state contribution?

 

[Tranona]

Wow: only a brave man (or...) would manage an organisation on that basis.

We ie the Brits still have a mountain of debt
House prices in London are fast heading towards the next bubble : +17% in 2013.
Many economists are predicting major crises on the dollar and the yen;
What will be the impact of yes (withdrawal) votes winning the proposed referenda ?
What will be the impact of organisations which will take damage limitation measures in anticipation of yes votes?
Cyberspace attacks causing disruption.
How will the Ukrainian crisis pan out?
Did Baring Brothers see it coming?
etc etc

http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GlobalRisks_Report_2014.pdf



But if it does? Good governance requires contingency plans. If I were at the reins I certainly wouldn’t be looking around to see if I could redeploy 150000 excess man-hours (cost : approx £3m pa) nor would there be an additional 71 persons on the payroll in the present climate. No matter how much money I had behind me.




I do listen but I also am capable of reasoning too. Experience tells me that trying to do everything yourself is often not the right answer. In difficult times it's surprising how many corporations come to the same conclusion. When you have replaced your fleet : 50 Shannons - what then? As you risk having redundant workers, somebody will decide that the boats should be replaced more quickly?



This risks becoming a mantra...

Every year for the last how ever many years the doom and gloom merchants have trotted out dire predictions - but life goes on. UK car production has increased, exports have expanded, number of people employed has increased, people are flocking to live in this country etc etc - somewhat different from your adopted country.

How do you know they have not got a contingency plan? Think you will find they have - it requires reducing dependency on outside sources - not one you might approve of, but the one they have chosen.

Unbelievable arrogance to say that doing things yourself is not the right answer - just based on your "experience". They have deliberately chosen to go this way - because for many relying on outside resources is too limiting. I have tried to explain that just because one organisation adopts a particular strategy, it does not mean it is the right one for others. If you have a look round industry now you will find many organisations bringing work and expertise back in house, often after suffering the known downsides of outsourcing. There is always a risk you will have redundant workers - RNLI has just had a round of redundancies as it re-configures the organisation to implement the new strategy.

I have been tempted to suggest you buy yourself a simple basic book on Strategic Management such as Johnson & Scholes then perhaps you might discover there is more about developing and implementing a strategy then just proposing something that you have found works in other contexts - but I guess its probably too late for that. You need to go through the first 75% of the book before you can even think about what decisions you might take - you seem to have only looked at what might be in the last 10% of such a book.

Just as an aside my personal experience from working in two organisations that have both failed - one completely and the other partially. Both were as the result of an outsider coming in with his "answer" and not making any attempt to understand the organisation and its environment. Both were "cook book recipes" such as you advocate. Interestingly one said of course his strategy would work - it worked in his last company and the other said it would work because it was the opposite of what the (reasonably successful) organisation was doing. Went through all the usual falsification of evidence to fit his answer - and of course it failed. His successors have a 10 year job to clear up the mess from his 4 year tenure. Nice material to add to the many similar examples you can find in the literature. So you will excuse me if I have an aversion to such an approach.

 

[BelleSerene]

Reserves have increased by £49 million to £661 million.

Income for the year £191m
Total resources expended £153m
Net incoming resources for the year £38m


Lifeboat additions in the year £11.6 million (less disposals £4.5 million).
Lifeboat depreciaton in the year £11.7m

Pension fund liabilities to :

• employees : £281m
• dependents £ 6m
• Total up £16.5m in the year.

Market value of investments £279m.

What is your point please?

 

[Grumpybear]

Indeed. Waterloo and Trafalgar aren't really anything to be proud off; we kept our military hegemony over half the world and destroyed the most advanced, enlightened system of government in Europe. The world would have been very, very much better off had Napoleon won.

No it wouldn't. His power base being the army and his national finances dire, his only strategy was to keep invading other countries so their agriculture could feed his troops, their people provide him with replacement soldiers, loot and comfort women, and him with works of art, most of which are now the jewels in Paris's cultural crown. Had somebody or something not stopped him, he would have reduced the world to a wasteland.

I do agree that the judicial system he set up has many merits, and that the French system of government and administration does at least breed the most able and best educated leaders. Whether they have done any better over all than our more eclectic combinations of bumbling aristos, well meaning middle class lefties and trade union hacks I take leave to doubt.

 

[Rigger Mortice]

In reality Napolean only came about because of the gap following the Revolution. Not that dissimilar to Hitler's rise after WWI.

 

[JumbleDuck]

No it wouldn't. His power base being the army and his national finances dire, his only strategy was to keep invading other countries so their agriculture could feed his troops, their people provide him with replacement soldiers, loot and comfort women, and him with works of art, most of which are now the jewels in Paris's cultural crown. Had somebody or something not stopped him, he would have reduced the world to a wasteland.

To be fair, though, you've just described British economic and foreign policy for about three hundred years. We didn't object to what Napoleon was doing, we just wanted to do it more.

 

[Grumpybear]

In reality Napolean only came about because of the gap following the Revolution. Not that dissimilar to Hitler's rise after WWI.

He joined the revolution, rode it to command of an army through sheer military ability, then mounted a military coup. You could say he created the gap, or at least spotted it before anyone else, including some rather more gifted generals. He was a Corsican bandit who thought big, and had a large extended family so needed a large trough for all those snouts.