The S & P Sephardi Community is reducing its head office staff as its leaders aim to put the country’s oldest synagogue community on a sound financial footing.

Daniel Sacerdoti, who became parnas president (head of its trustee board), told members that it was implementing a “raft of cost-cutting measures” of around £250,000 with “a goal to get to a balanced budget for next year”.

As a result, a number of positions had been made redundant including marketing and communications co-ordinator, head of wellbeing and community engagement co-ordinator, he said, while there were plans to reduce the financial team from four to two.

The decisions had been “very difficult to make and in no way reflect the excellent work of each one of them,” he said. “[The redundancies] have been made to ensure the survival of the Kahal [Community] and we wish all the exiting staff the very best for the future.”

He also thanked Ian Stewart, who will be leaving in October after five years as chief operating officer.

He added that cost-cutting alone “would not have got us far enough” and several generous donations had been made “to assist us in our plans to put the organisation on a better footing over the coming years”.

According to its last published accounts at the Charity Commission, for the year ending October 2021, the organisation made a loss of nearly £18,000 on an expenditure of just over £2,258,000.

Income from FINTA - membership subscriptions - amounted to £486,000 and from charitable activities, including the burial society, around £805,000.

Meanwhile, a source in the community said that the head office, which had been relocated to Hendon, would be moved back to the Lauderdale Road Synagogue site in Maida Vale.