Kent members have been warned that tough times still lay ahead as the county try and battle their way back into the black.

Chief executive Jamie Clifford (pictured) told the annual meeting at Canterbury on Tuesday that the building of a new hotel at the St Lawrence Ground remains "a critical part" of the whole redevelopment project while chairman George Kennedy admitted the club "have cutback as far as we dare" and the onus now is on "income generation."

Mr Clifford stressed that lack of finance wasn’t just a problem for Kent, with 15 of the 18 first class counties posting operating losses in the last financial year totalling more than £9m.

And it seems the members – at least the 250 who filled the Harris Room – got the message with few questions asked of the county’s top brass, contributing to one of the quickest meetings in recent years, with all business concluded in just over 90 minutes.

It included overwhelming votes on three resolutions, appointing Reeves as the new auditors and changes in club rules.

Mr Clifford said: "The bad news last year and the most dramatic was the loss of £400,000 in commercial revenues, gate receipts, catering and retail and is a big area where we have taken steps to ensure they don’t happen again.

"Had we not taken the steps we did in terms of cost savings which were quite considerable, painful and personal in that we lost some members of staff as well.

"If we hadn’t undertaken saving of £300,000 we would have had a difficult problem.

"We have sharpened our commercial focus over the last six months. We set a target of £170,000 to generate revenue from commercial partners and it currently stands at £296,000, so the indications are that we have made huge strides in that area.

"There are going to be challenges because the game is under considerable stress and we need to be mindful of that as we move forward. Survival is important but that is not enough.

"The reason we want a successful and viable business is so we can continue to invest in cricket and ensure we maintain our on-field dominance."

Mr Kennedy added: "Our problem is that we have now cut as far as we dare and can’t go any further as regards playing staff, facilities or anything else.

"Now it is all about income generation and we need more people at matches, which was one of the reasons I was so disappointed that the ECB decided on cutting back T20 cricket next year."

Updating members about the redevelopment Mr Clifford said:"When to start work on the new new administration block is a big decision because it means funds gained from the sale of land and the loan from Canterbury City Council would be zero.

"We are doing everything we can to market the hotel site, and Strutt and Parker have been engaged to undertake that excercise on our behalf. There is no diminished desire from the committee and the executives to see the hotel on the ground as soon as possible."

He also told the meeting that the opening of the new refurbished pavilion will be delayed by "five or six weeks."

He said "We were heading for a similar finish to the Harris Room, functional and contemporary but probably not in keeping with a building first erected in 1900.

"We engaged an interior designer who has been working on creating our version of the Long Room at Lord’s. It will have the same flooring, wall colouring, same type of chandeliers, a two-way sightscreen which allows viewing matches inside.

"The building hasn’t been refubished since 1970, I was mindful that for the sake of a few weeks delay, we could have a facility that we would be truly proud off and would last beyond the next 40 years."

He also says there are plans to plant 100 trees in the autumn to "return the ground to the rural aspect we know and love."

Meanwhile, Chairman of Cricket Graham Johnson asked members to be patient with the Kent squad this season. He said "They could do very well but there are a lot of young guys setting out on careers in the squad and we shouldn’t get too upset if they have a bad day at the office.

John Shepherd was officially installed as the new president while a presentation was also made to the chief executive’s PA Carolyn Prosser who is leaving the county at the end of the month.

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