The British Olympic Association (BOA), the independent body responsible for the management of Team GB, made a loss of more than £1.5m for the year ending 31 December 2008.

It has also been revealed that the BOA required the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) to step in with a payment of £2m in December to improve cash flow after also posting a £1.3m loss during the previous 12 months. However, the BOA said that it was an advance payment relating to commercial rights sold to LOCOG as part of the Joint Marketing Programme Agreement.

A BOA spokesperson said: "The £2m payment received from LOCOG was an advance payment for the commercial rights that we sold to them as part of the Joint Marketing Programme Agreement. We approached LOCOG asking them to advance the date of the payment of this money to December 08 rather than July 09 to improve our cash flow. "This was nothing extraordinary - it was a sound commercial business decision. We are in a robust financial state for 2009 and completely comfortable with where we are at the moment."

In its annual report, the BOA said that 2008 had been a "challenging" year, with an increase in expenditure caused by the operational requirements relating to the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games, as well as a major restructuring of the association. Andy Hunt, BOA chief executive, said: "Work began in earnest as I tried to utilise the last six weeks of 2008 to design a far-reaching transformation programme, which would see the organisation through to 2012 and beyond.

"High on the list of priorities was to stabilise the BOA's financial position and expand our opportunities for revenue generation; a necessity if we are to maximise Team GB's medal opportunities and field teams at the six IOC-accredited events in the lead-up to 2012." The BOA has also announced that it plans to relocate to newly-refurbished offices in central London by the end of September along with the British Paralympic Association, also known as ParalympicsGB.

ParalympicsGB's chief executive, Phil Lane, said: "We will, of course, maintain our individual identities and there will be areas where we will be working separately. But we have shared values and beliefs, and in the lead up to 2012, we face similar challenges. "By being in the same building as the BOA, we can ensure we're working as effectively and efficiently as possible across those areas of joint interest."