Abta reported a return to profit on its trade association activities for the 12 months to June last year, as members’ combined turnover rose to £40 billion, exceeding pre-pandemic levels.
The association reported a £344,000 profit on its activities, compared with a loss of £228,000 the previous year, despite an overall loss of 23 head office members.
This was on the back of an 8.5% rise in subscription rates, as the UK’s annual inflation rate peaked at 11.1% over the course of the 12 months.
The association’s latest accounts show a group profit of more than £3.4 million for the 12-month period, up from £2.1 million the previous year, with the addition of a £3.1 million profit on Abta’s insurance activities.
The surplus raised Abta’s net assets by almost £3.2 million to £32.2 million.
The number of head office members stood at 808 at the end of the year, down from 831 in 2023, after 18 joined but 41 left.
However, Abta welcomed an additional 318 ancillary office members, taking the total to 1,126.
No members failed in the year, after two ceased trading in 2022-23.
Abta changed the status of some managed branches to create a new tier of ‘ancillary office members’ last June, extending the right to stand for election to those operating under managed branch agreements with members.
The association confirmed it had 613 managed branches at the year end, up from 416 the previous year.
Legal affairs director Simon Bunce said: “A managed branch has always been a branch operated on behalf of a member by a non-member company. The new category, an ancillary office member, is a managed branch that has a direct contract with a member.”
An Abta spokesperson said: “In a changing market, [1,126 members] is a stable and strong figure, showing we represent the larger part of a changing industry.
“As has been the case over the past few years, some groups are consolidating and reorganising, bringing brands together. These companies are staying within Abta membership but are no longer listed as separate legal entities and, therefore, no longer described as ‘head office members’.
“While there were no member failures in the 2023-24 financial year, there will have been some planned closures and retirements.”
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