We’ve had an update from Dynamic Dunure.
It appeared on the Dunure Facebook page on Monday (9th March).
It’s quite hard to read it there, so we’ve printed the text below.
This isn’t an updated Business Plan, which we were hoping for.
We ran the current business plan through an AI to see how it stands up: here is a summary of its conclusions.
- Estimated Year 1 financial shortfall once errors and questionable assumptions are corrected: up to £103,000. The true figure may be larger once insurance costs and realistic staffing rates are also applied.
- When the four arithmetical errors are aggregated, the total financial misstatement reaches approximately £60,793.
- The Venue Manager salary of £32,000 is likely to be insufficient to attract a candidate with the combined wedding coordination, events management, marketing, and commercial operations experience the role genuinely requires. The true market rate for this role is£35,000–£45,000. The plan should be remodelled with a realistic salary, which will further reduce the already narrow Year 1 surplus.
- The £12.00/hr rate used in the business plan is already below the National Living Wage (from April 2025: £12.21/hr). By the planned opening date of Spring 2027, the actual minimum wage is likely to be £12.60–£13.00/hr. This affects four posts (2 cleaners and 2 casual staff). The understatement of wage costs across these posts adds a further estimated £1,500–£2,700 per annum to projected operating costs, on top of the other errors already identified.
- The plan contains no insurance budget. The combined annual cost is likely to be in the range of £3,000–£6,000. This must be added to the operating budget as a fixed overhead, further eroding the already fragile Year 1 surplus.
We cordially offer an opportunity to Dynamic Dunure to answer these points, and we offer to print their response on these pages.
Given that South Ayrshire Council are on record saying that they cannot afford to subsidise community centres, it is alarmingly likely that after the first year the Helm will either be closed or sold to the private sector.
The village would then have no community centre at all.
This is an important development for our village, and it needs frank and open debate both for and against.
AI Evaluation
Dynamic Dunure Update
p.s. The figure given by Dynamic Dunure for the contribution of South Ayrshire Council of £2 million is incorrect.
The correct figure is in fact nearer to £3 million (Community Council minutes of November 2025).