IT HAS been a time of significant change at Gloucester Rugby in the past few months, but in the midst of all the activity, the club has been driving a strong performance off the pitch and have declared another year of impressive growth.

The club filed its latest set of accounts this week, revealing a turnover of £12m, up 3.7 per cent on the previous year, whilst returning a pre-tax profit of £512,000 – up nearly 68 per cent on the previous year.

Despite an ever competitive business environment, these results will be the best recorded in the club's history.

This strong set of results has been achieved whilst investing record levels in the coaching, playing and support staff, as well as developing the rugby environment at the Hartpury Training Centre and investing in a number of projects at Kingsholm.

The ground, set to host four games at Rugby World Cup 2015, has also seen investment in infrastructure to ensure the club is ready for the world's eyes to turn to Gloucester next year and that investment is set to continue.

CEO Stephen Vaughan said: "It has, of course, been a challenging 12 months. There has been a significant amount of movement in playing department personnel and that naturally can cause unrest.

However, under (director of rugby) David Humphreys' guidance, I believe we are putting in the right foundations to deliver success in the long term.

"From a business perspective, the economy has shown signs of improving but we have had to continue to work hard to remain competitive on and off the field.

"These results have been achieved despite what was a tough season on the field of play.

"For the club to increase turnover and profit reflects the hard work of everyone at the club, and is also thanks to the continued magnificent support of our sponsors and supporters who have been first class in every respect.

"Success on the pitch is what drives us and is why we are here. So it is crucial that we continue to compete financially with the richest clubs in England when it comes to the playing and support personnel, so we will be working even harder to ensure we can generate the revenues to do just that moving forward.

"With Rugby World Cup 2015 on the horizon, and Kingsholm hosting four matches, rugby union is on the verge of a very exciting time and we hope that Gloucester Rugby will continue to be at the very heart of it.”

Chairman Ryan Walkinshaw was quick to praise the efforts of everyone at the club.

He said: "I'm delighted that we've been able to deliver another set of positive financial results.

"Once again, we've shown that you can compete at the highest level of club rugby and still deliver a profitable business.

"Despite finishing below where we would expect to last season, we have shown that a good business model and strong leadership, allied with great support from fans and sponsors, allows us to sustain our solid footing as a truly self-sustainable club."