Remakery Brixton Limited

Annual Report: 2015 - 2016

Remakery Brixton Limited

51 Lilford Road London SE5 9HY

Registered number IP031891 (FCA 31891R)

facebook.com/remakery

@remakery

INTRODUCTION: aims of the Remakery

Remakery Brixton Limited (or the Remakery for short) is a Community Benefit Society that is registered under the Industrial & Provident Societies Act and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (‘FCA’). The objects of the society, as stated in our Rules, are:

(a) providing workspace and support networks for re-use and upcycling enterprises and initiatives;

(b) making re-use an accessible and attractive option for our local community;

(d) and similar activities to promote and develop resourcefulness and resilience, contributing towards a zero waste Brixton.

The “Theory of Change” diagram shown below outlines how weaim to make an impact within our community:

Period and topics covered by this Report

This Annual Report coincides with our third Annual General Meeting (AGM), held on 17 June 2016. The preceding financial year ran from 1 January – 31 December 2015 and this report will focus primarily on that year. It also includes some more recent information covering developments in the spring-summer of 2016.

The Report covers four main topics: 1. THE PLACE: developing our physical space and resources; 2. THE PEOPLE: developing our community and connections; 3. THE PROJECTS: enabling new initiatives and opportunities; and 4. FINANCIAL REPORT.

1. THE PLACE: developing our physical space and resources

Operating on a tight budget and with no paid staff we continued the remaining stages of construction work one step at a time. Directors Colin Rose, Andrea Naef and Andy Lockwood played key roles as skilled volunteers to plan and implement various stages of the work, in partnership with paid contractors and volunteers from our community.

Major elements of the construction work that took place during 2015 included:

Glazing of the Lilford Road entrance (with Richard Kelly as building contractor): Jan-Feb 2015.
Completion and commissioning of ventilation system (with Delta T): May 2015
Plumbing of toilets, shower, sinks, and tiling of toilet floors (with Richard Kelly): May-June 2015
Manhole cover replacements (with Debbie Evershed as carpentry contractor): June 2015

Our Week Of Wonder - WOW

This started one week in November 2015 where we focused on completingas many of the remaining tasks as possible, with follow-up WOWs straight after and then again in early 2016.

We achieved the following: installing firedoors, sealing to the floor in public area, tiling in the toilets and kitchen, papering toilet walls, fire alarm installation, drywall and plastering around the front windows and kitchen ceiling (where a leak had been repaired), painting plastered areas, boxing in pipework, organising workshop areas, disposing of non-reusable materials, plumbing installation.

It was a major step forward and WOW could only have been achieved with the help of a large talented crew of volunteers. The Directors would like to thank everyone who contributed to WOW and the construction.

2. THE PEOPLE:developing our community and connections

People involved in making the Remakery during this period have included:

12 Directors who served during the course of 2015-16:

Six remained on the board throughout this period – Mark Johnson, Hannah Lewis, Andy Lockwood, Mark Ovenden, Angela Rouse, and Carole Stagg.
Four resigned during the year to focus on other commitments – Andrea Naef in June 2015, as her work as a furniture maker and upcycler both within the Remakery and elsewhere increased; Colin Rose in December 2015, to focus on his PhD in the reuse of construction materials; Nicki Bailey in February 2016, due to increasing work commitments; and Anna Lowe in March 2016, moving to Ghana to co-found a makerspace. We thank them for their very valuable contributions and wish them all the best in their next steps.
OrsettaHosquet and Stephney Bentwere elected at the 2015 AGM (26 June 2016) and remain as directors. Anna Lowe was co-opted shortly after the AGM and served until March 2016.
Of the eight directors serving at the time of the 2016 AGM, Andy Lockwood and Hannah Lewis will step down by rotation. Andy stands for re-appointment, while Hannah takes maternity leave but will remain involved as a volunteer. We cannot thank Hannah enough for her huge contribution to the Remakery as the founder, initial fund raiser, project manager and director from the start.

225 community shareholders(as of 13June 2016), who for £1 each own a share of the Remakery, expressing their support for the organisation’s Objects and having the right to vote at general meetings and to stand for election as directors. Many shareholders are also involved as volunteers, Remakers, directors or staff of the Remakery.

Volunteers:We are very grateful to all those who contributed time to the Remakery on a voluntary basis this year. We would especially like to acknowledge all those who took part in the WOW (Week(s) of Wonder): Alasdair, Alejandro, Ally, Andrea, Ben, Bua, Chloe, Habib, Harriet, Harry, Helena, Javier, Joyce, Kristina, Neil, Richard and Taus; and those made a regular commitment to help complete construction work and organise the space, particularly Emmanuel and Kostas.

Space users: We are thankful to everyone who chose to use the Remakery’s space as a base for their work this year. Special mentions go to:

People Empowering People whose bike repair and training workshop at the Remakery hascreated opportunities for local young people and adults to learn bike maintenance skills and catch the cycling bug;

Centric Learning Tree, whose workshop here is a base for making fantastic props and musical instruments for storytelling workshops in schools and with different age groups;

Twist, who support people on disability benefits to gain work experience and to start their own projects and businesses. Twist rent office space at the Remakery, and provide crucial support in filling the Remakery's hosting rota, which will soon enable us to open full-time for members to drop in and use ourspace. Twist's clients include a group of furniture upcyclers who plan to use the workshops to develop their business.

Green Engineers, who build green roofs for community projects, using reclaimed wood and other materials that they store in one of the Remakery'sgarage units.

Comm-Tech, who repair and reuse second-hand IT equipment (again, using a Remakery garage as a storage unit) and supply it at affordable prices to community groups and individuals in need, as well as providing IT support services.

Materials donors: We are grateful to businesses and residents who contributed useful materials to the Remakery’s materials stores this year, preventing many tonnes of wood, boards, furniture, paints, textiles and more from becoming waste. Special thanks go to our neighbours Cover It Up for their substantial contribution of fabrics for upholstery, Keepmoat for their donation of heavy duty plywood, and Crisis for allowing us access to a wide range of supplies as they vacated their premises in Bermondsey.

3. THE PROJECTS:enabling new initiatives and opportunities

Projects based at the Remakeryin 2015-16 have included:

Lambeth Council Desk Remodelling:in early 2015, following a successful pilot of 64 desks during 2014, the Remakery was commissioned to remodel a further 40 desks for Lambeth's parking department. The desks were reduced in size to accommodate more staff in a reduced space. The project offered good value in comparison to buying brand new furniture, while avoiding the disposal of over 3 tonnes of waste.

CamberwellFair signage: in July 2015, a group of makers created signage and site decorations for Camberwell Fair at the Remakery, using scrap wood and fabrics sourced from our supplies.

Cabana, a Brazilian restaurant chain, commissioned the Remakery in autumn 2015 to create furniture for their Brixton branch, including chandeliers made from scrap wood, and upholstered chairs with bases made from plastic crates or from metal oil drums. Positive feedback from this project led to further commissions for the Manchester and Newcastle branches in spring-summer 2016. The Cabana project was the Remakery'slargest source of income in 2015, and created work for a team of 6 makers.

TEDx Brixton, held on 10 October 2015, made their stage set decorations at the Remakery using our tools and supplies to create large colourful pieces representing their year's theme of Kaleidoscopes.

Smile Plastics built a coffee cart here in 2015 and returned to build a bar for a contract catering firmin spring 2016, with the surface made from recycled plastic bottles, and the face and sides made from a sheet material manufactured from recycled coffee grounds.

People Empowering People held their #fixyabikecourse here in early 2016, equipping a mixed age group of local kids and adults with the confidence to tackle a wide range of bike maintenance issues.

4. FINANCIAL REPORT

The financial report is for the period from 1 January to 31 December 2015.
This year marked the Remakery's transition from a grant-dependent project into a business reliant mainly on trading income. No grant funding was received during this financial year, although part of the previous year's capital grant from the City Bridge Trust remained to be spent on construction work.

Trade continued to increaseduring this period, with a totaltrading income of £36,575 (up from£10,307 the previous year).The majority of this came from project commissions (£27,826, mainly from making furniture for Cabana Brixton and Manchester, as well as the Lambeth Council desk remodelling project). Most of the remainder came from space rental / hire (£4,628 for workspace and £3,089 for storage) with a smaller amount from sales of materials (£839).

After factoring in the cost of sales (mainly paying makers as sub-contractors, as well as payments to Lambeth council for extra garages as storage), and operating expenses (rent, bills and office costs) we made a loss of £3,086 for the period. The Remakery had £14,446in the bank and in hand at year end.

Our Full Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2015are available to download from our website.

The directors would like to again thank everyone who has been involved in the Remakery over the last year – we rely on our partners, shareholders, remakers, volunteers and users and we look forward to the year ahead with confidence.

Thank you!

For and on behalf of the Board;

Mark Johnson

Director and Secretary

17 June 2016