In December 2017, Breech Birth Network was incorporated as a Community Interest Company. This means the company is a not-for-profit, constituted to benefit the community and is asset-locked. Profits are channelled back into the activities in the community interest. The Intellectual Property, such as teaching presentations and videos created from those donated by women and practitioners, belongs to the CIC, and if the company dissolves must be donated to one of two designated charities.

This month, Breech Birth Network, Community Interest Company, submitted its first accounts to Companies House, via our accountant. In the interests of transparency, we are sharing our accounting reports here, along with the description of CIC activities we have provided to Companies House. Thank you to those who have paid to attend our study days during this period. As you can see, sharing these skills and information requires substantial funding. You enable us to do what we do.

Trading and Profit and Loss Account for the Period 1 December 2017 to 31 December 2018

Shawn Walker was the only named Director of the CIC during this period. Emma Spillane was appointed a Director in May 2019.

Sales £19,361

Cost of sales £8,115

Purchases £2,252 — This includes purchases of teaching equipment and printing of training manuals.

Sub contractors £1,563 — This includes fees paid to collaborators, such as consultant obstetricians who teach on our study days, and illustrators.

Teaching fees £4,300 — This includes a set daily rate paid to Shawn Walker and Emma Spillane for each complete day of teaching. A total of 35 complete days and many more shorter conference presentations were delivered by Shawn and Emma during this accounting period.

GROSS PROFIT £11,246

Expenditure (£9,528)

Insurance £373 — We are required to have insurance to meet NMC requirements while teaching in a professional capacity.

Conference costs £99

Post and stationery £25

Travelling £5,870 — This includes expenses related to travel for Shawn, Emma, collaborators and clinical skills trainers who are developing their skills to disseminate training locally.

Repairs and maintenance £149

Training £363

Research £303 — This includes fees paid to Research Assistants to help with the before-and-after study of the Physiological Breech Birth Training Package.

Computer costs £894 — This includes IT fees related to maintaining the Vimeo site where our teaching resource videos are shared, this blog and other software required to create the resources we use.

Sundry expenses £62

Accountancy £493 — We felt this needed to be done properly now that the company is registered as a CIC, to ensure we are not in breach of any legal standards. We are midwives, not accountants.

Depreciation of tangible fixed assets

Plant and machinery £92

Computer equipment £386 — Shawn and Emma both carry an encrypted laptop to transport the sensitive birth videos we use to teach. Our presentations are too large to transport on a data stick because of the number of images and videos.

Entertainment £419 — When we meet in the evening for a planning meeting or after a training day with guests.

SUBTOTAL £1,718

Finance costs

Bank charges £852

NET PROFIT £866

 

FORM CIC34

PART 1 – GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE COMPANY’S ACTIVITIES AND IMPACT

In the space provided below, please insert a general account of the company’s activities in the financial year to which the report relates, including a description of how they have benefited the community. 

Breech Birth Network, Community Interest Company, was incorporated as a CIC on 1 December 2017. During the period from 1/12/17 to 31/12/18, Breech Birth Network provided 35 days of physiological breech birth training, within the UK and other parts of Europe. This enabled the training to reach approximately 1500 health care professionals. We provided printed training manuals and an on-line video database containing breech birth videos and recorded training presentations, made available for on-going revision to each of these health care professionals. We reimbursed travel expenses for 19 different clinical skills trainers, to enable them to gain confidence teaching alongside the Director, Shawn Walker, and Training Co-ordinator, Emma Spillane, in order to disseminate the training in their local settings. We donated two doll and pelvis models to the Fernandez Institute in Hyderabad, India, to support their efforts to develop a breech birth service. We funded a before-and-after evaluation of the breech training package, which is currently being analysed, and other small research-related expenses. And we provided free advice and support to women seeking support for a vaginal breech birth and health services seeking to provide better support, including reflective supervision of other health care professionals attending vaginal breech births.

PART 2 – CONSULTATION WITH STAKEHOLDERS

Please indicate who the company’s stakeholders are; how the stakeholders have been consulted and what action, if any, has the company taken in response to feedback from its consultations? If there has been no consultation, this should be made clear.

Our stakeholders include service user advocates, such as women who have experienced a breech pregnancy, and health care professionals who may attend vaginal breech births. Health care professionals complete a feedback form following each training day, and results are incorporated into on-going iterations of the training package. The Director, Shawn Walker, and the Training Co-ordinator, Emma Spillane, have both undertaken PPI (Patient and Public Involvement) activities concerning their breech-related research projects.

PART 3 – DIRECTORS’ REMUNERATION 

The accounts indicate that £4300 was paid in teaching fees for the provision of 35 days of teaching. The Director, Shawn Walker, was paid £3200 of this amount, in addition to travel expenses. There were no other transactions or arrangements in connection with the remunerations of directors, or compensation for director’s loss of office, which require to be disclosed.

PART 4 – TRANSFERS OF ASSETS OTHER THAN FOR FULL CONSIDERATION

No transfer of assets other than for full consideration has been made.