Abta chief Mark Tanzer has defended an increase in members’ subscriptions averaging 8% from July, insisting the association has “the balance right” between managing costs and maintaining services.
Members were notified of the increase earlier this month.
Tanzer said: “I’m sensitive to the fact that Abta members are still suffering the effects of Covid and not by any means back to the sort of trading before Covid. The Abta board is very aware of that.
“We were keen to keep costs as low as possible for smaller, independent members as we build back towards more normal trading.
“The challenge is that, on the one hand, we want to keep costs and subscriptions down. On the other hand, members and customers value the services we provide – bonding, legal advice, dispute resolution, all the things Abta does.
“How do we deliver those services without putting unnecessary burdens on members? We have about 95 people [working at Abta], all pretty much frontline. We don’t have a lot of layers. If we reduce costs, which services are we not going to provide?”
He insisted: “I think we’ve got the balance right. No increase is welcome, but for about 75% of members it’s an increase of 4% or less – a long way below inflation.”
Beyond the next 12 months, Abta aims to keep going “on a break-even basis” he said.
The letter notifying members of the increased subscriptions for the next 12 months, from Abta head of membership Danny Waine, also warned of above‑inflation increases next year and the year after.
Tanzer said: “Danny wanted to flag that the board is looking at a recovery to normal trading over two to three years and, rather than put subscriptions up in one jump, we’ll do it as gradually as possible as the industry recovers.
“Subscriptions haven’t moved at all through Covid, but costs have continued to increase and, although we’ve had a salary freeze, running costs continue to increase. We have to close the gap.”
Abta has not decided on the base year for revenue on which subscriptions will be based next year.
Tanzer said: “We’ll have to see. We base our calculations on members’ last financial statements. Even though people are trading more normally, their historical accounts will be based on low turnover.”