A crisis meeting to decide the future of Alton Conservative Club will be held there tonight at 7.30pm.

The Special General Meeting at the Butts Road venue will give members a chance to vote on whether to endorse a majority vote by the committee to cease trading on March 1.

In an email to members on Tuesday evening, the committee explained that the meeting had been convened to present a “transparent account” of the club’s position after several years in which it had faced “significant financial headwinds”.

The committee will present the club’s 2025 full annual accounts, which show a £62,000 loss for the year.

It said its decision to move towards closure was based on these figures, adding: “We invite members to reflect on the long-term sustainability of the club and the significant length of time since the club last operated at a profit.

“We encourage all members to attend this meeting to view the facts first hand. It is vital that the membership understands the challenges we face so that we can collectively decide the best path forward for the Alton Conservative Club.”

After meeting Alton Conservative Club officials in London, Charles Littlewood - secretary of The Association of Conservative Clubs Ltd - said: “There is a clear opportunity for members to prevent the proposed cease-trading date and for a new committee to assume control. The present committee would not stand in the way of such a decision being made by the members.

“The club’s financial difficulties are significant and long-standing, largely driven by low membership numbers and modest bar income, making any turnaround particularly challenging. In this context, it is unlikely that the losses can be attributed to any single individual or decision, as they reflect an ongoing pattern of trading losses rather than isolated issues.

“Having reviewed the 2025 profit and loss accounts, we consider the club’s expenditure over this period to be low when compared with similar clubs. It is therefore unclear what further meaningful reductions in expenditure could realistically be achieved.

“The only remaining route to a profit-making position would be a substantial increase in revenue. By way of illustration, with annual losses of around £60,000, bar takings would need to increase by approximately £120,000 for the club to be in a position to seriously consider achieving break-even.

“In 2025 bar sales were roughly £64,000, meaning that an increase of £120,000 would represent a 187.5 per cent rise in this revenue stream. Any new committee should therefore be realistic about the scale of the challenge before agreeing to take on the running of the club.

“The club has been loss-making for many years and in our view the present position is not the result of any particular decision or the actions of any one committee, but rather a reflection of the reality that a business which incurs losses over a sustained period will eventually be unable to continue trading.

“This conclusion is not necessarily a criticism of the committee in place at the time, but an acknowledgement that prolonged trading losses will ultimately become unsustainable.”

There will be a vote of confidence in the committee and secretary. In the event of a vote of ‘no confidence’ the committee would resign immediately, but for the club to remain operational at least seven members would have to step forward at the meeting to form a new committee.

Any new leadership would immediately assume legal and financial responsibilities for the club, including current losses and supplier debts. The handover would have to be on the night to pass on logins to its email accounts and members’ database.

If members vote for closure there will be a discussion regarding liquidation of assets and prioritisation of debt payments to suppliers.

Refunds of membership fees would only be considered if surplus funds remained after the club’s liabilities were cleared.

The committee added: “The Association remains open to viable, guaranteed proposals for the rebranding or repurposing of the building, provided they address the current deficit.”

The Herald has approached Alton Conservative Club for comment but none has yet been received.