Scottish Rugby set to slash 35 jobs to balance books after £10m loss

Scottish Rugby have announced plans to cut up to 35 jobs as part of a major financial restructure over the next two years.

The Union have been trying to balance the books after posting a loss of £10.5million in their last annual accounts for the year 2022-23.

Further losses are expected for the year 2023-24, with the World Cup campaign in France as well as a severance package for former chief executive Mark Dodson to be factored in.

Scotland also had only two home games in this year’s Six Nations, and no autumn Tests, with the lack of ticket money having a major impact on revenue streams.

While stressing that nothing has yet been finalised, it is understood that SRU staff have been told the ‘financial reset programme’ will put 35 jobs at risk of redundancy.

Recruitment within the Union has been paused, with the exception of vacancies for a new chief executive and performance director. Player recruitment for Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh will be unaffected for the forthcoming season.

As they seek to minimise losses over the next two years, the Union hope to be in a position to break even again by 2025-26.

They have also pledged that ‘significant funds’ will be made available for the redevelopment of Murrayfield.

Plans have been reviewed by independent financial experts, with Scottish Rugby chairman John McGuigan insisting any job cuts will be handled with ‘care and compassion’.

He said: ‘The financial sustainability of Scottish Rugby is our absolute priority as it enables all the other things we aspire to do to work.

‘We have taken proactive steps to achieve this and the Scottish Rugby Limited Board will continue to keep our financial position at the forefront of its decision-making.

‘We tasked our executive team to reprioritise resources, so we can follow our planned strategy for future investment and growth.

‘This will be challenging in the short-term, but necessary. For our sport and business to grow, we have taken the difficult — but we believe the right and responsible — approach to secure the longer-term future of our game.

‘It has been an incredibly difficult decision to propose that a number of our people might have to leave the business.

‘I’d like to acknowledge and thank everyone for their contribution to Scottish Rugby to date, and reassure those whose roles may be affected that we will manage this process with care and compassion.’