Preserving
field sports
for future
generations.
Sports Mutual exists to make shooting affordable for member guns — and to become the largest charitable donor in the sport by 2028.
A not-for-profit Club, in service of the countryside.
Sports Mutual is a not-for-profit organisation existing solely to provide benefits to its members enjoying Field Sports. Initially the sport covered will be shooting, followed in due course by fishing and stalking.
Any surplus funds which arise will be used to make donations to relevant charities or expenditure on worthy research projects relating to the sporting activities — gamebird welfare, rural employment, habitat science, and the long-term sustainability of the British countryside.
The VAT sporting exemption, properly applied.
As with private golf clubs and similar bodies, members of Sports Mutual should not be liable to VAT on the cost of participating in their sport — by virtue of the sporting exemption pursuant to European Law.
Shoots sign up with Sports Mutual; the existing shoot organisation at that location transfers into a special-purpose subsidiary of Sports Mutual.
Directors are chosen, and the subsidiary then oversees the management of the shoot at that location, paying rent to the estate or leaseholder. TUPE will apply for any staff that move across. Very little changes in the way the shoot operates day to day.
Sports Mutual is designed to be a not-for-profit members' Club; consequently sporting supplies made to its members become VAT exempt.
Individuals booked to shoot at a Sports Mutual location become members of Sports Mutual upon registration. Guns are not liable for the success of Sports Mutual or any shoot within the Club, and because of our approach to privacy, names of guns are not required.
Member guns are not liable to VAT on the cost to them of participating — the same principle long applied to golf and tennis clubs.
The benefit of VAT-exempt shooting extends to all members of Sports Mutual, including an estate's own shooting.
Any surplus arising is directed to charities and research advancing field sports, conservation and rural communities.
47 shoots, 23 counties.
From the Cairngorms to the Cornish coast, member shoots span the UK. Hover the atlas to see each estate.
“If shoots fit within the rules and can be exempt from the payment of VAT, then there is absolutely no reason why they should not benefit just as other clubs and societies have done. This would be recognition of the enormous benefits that shoots bring to rural communities, the environment and local economies.”
Operators & stewards of the sport.
The Club is led by an experienced team drawn from tax chambers, the City, and the field — each with a stake in the long-term health of British shooting.
On structure, tax & the rural good.
Where Counsel, Club & shoot keep in step.
The Portal is the single, secure place for every communication between Sports Mutual, our suppliers, and the directors and employees of your shoot. It is how the shoot is professionally managed and the Club's rules are properly adhered to — without any of it falling to your keeper.
Begin the conversation.
Our team will sit down with you, and your advisers, if appropriate. There is no commitment in a first conversation — only a careful read of whether the Club is the right structure for your shoot.