It’s simply not worth the hassle - it doesn’t change anything, it just looks bad, puts noses out of joint, and getting nearby Sqn OC’s to take them on is the work of Sysiphus.
So it’s just let go - and, one could argue, when the ACO was cruising along with 40k cadets, a bottom line of 30 for a Sqn was legitimate, but when it’s pushing 25k…
100% yes.
Sqn Ldr Paracetamol desires?
Given you have a good team then my guess would be to look at the buildings, what their capacity is, can it be flexed in any way. Can some activities be outdoors and if so what is the Op Noah / poor weather plan.
The other issue is command and control, a unit of 30-50 cadets can get by with a simpler structure than one in the 80-100 range.
For example the OC might need 2 deputies, there’s likely to be more work for the trg off scheduling lessons and resources etc. All doable but mates who run big Sqns say their Sqn officers/snr SNCOs are critical. And they see less of the Cadets than ideally they would.
Post pandemic we had gone from 90 to 53 cadets. With two intakes per year of 26 we are backup to 90’s again. A fair few now parade one night per week so, although we see all the cadets, we don’t get them all down at once.
Our building capacity is 95 but that would be an impossible dream to function with that many so a lot happens outside. We ran a staff recruitment campaigne that got us 5 new CIs but we are right at the beginning if their journey.
We have made the decision to reduce our next intake to 15. This will keep us at a managable level.
Until we get a more appropriate building we remain oversubscribed each year. I could bring in another 40 in March and we have 15 ready for September. Recruiting is not the issue for us.
To function with over 80 cadets requires a good staff team and no micro management by the OC!
That’s really useful thank you. I can already see that I’ve got less facetime with cadets than is ideal, but unavoidable sadly. I do run some specific courses with them fortunately and always make time to speak to cadet NCOs and wonder around the Sqn during a parade night.
The building is definitely a challenge, especially in the winter. If we keep high numbers for winter 2023/24, then we will need an extra room somewhere. During the summer we can usually run lots of outside activities and so can spread the cadets around. Op Noah (love the name!) needs more thought though.
We’re thinking of a more structured training programme than we’ve had before, with a staff member overseeing the recruit/First Class and another overseeing the Leading group of cadets. That should reduce workload for the training officer.
We might also need more support for the Adj, especially preparing for each intake, with all the 3822As etc. Depends how they want to divide up the work.
It sounds like you’re similar to our Sqn, although slightly larger already, and with the same building issues.
Are you getting a more appropriate building? How and when? Our building is definitely a limitation during the winter.
Fortuately, I’ve got a brilliant staff team and I usually avoid any micro-management 
Delegation is the key to engaging other staff and not having a nervous breakdown as an OC!
For the Adj, or whoever handles new joiners, MS Forms (inc with Bader) does help, though sometimes the spreadsheet outputs need a bit of reformatting.
It doesn’t really sort out the 3822A but makes light work of uniform orders, NOK details and the like.
We have a waiting list of 50+
Adj has set up an MS Form and SharePoint list and everything is done via Power Automate.
That sounds like something that would be very useful to copy!
What is this magic of which you speak?
Power Automate and link to SharePoint sounds really good, gets around the limitations of OneDrive
Can you share your knowledge?
Unfortunately nothing has even started. Our very large plot of land with 4 huts was downsized and sold off and they built a two story brick building in a small compound. At the time it was probably designed for 45 cadets and wasn’t “designed” very well. There are no options to add space as they cut back the ground so much. We use a local Sea Cadet centre when we need more space and pre covid we rented space at the local St Johns ambulance as that was only 50m up the road.
We continue in the hope that someone will recognise a Squadron that feeds from 22 schools needs more space…
Another missed opportunity by a RFCA. Again 
We had a similar move from large but run down buildings to a new build. Much smaller and badly designed too. Irritatingly, Wg HQ and RFCA turned down the offer of a free piece of land next to the Sqn. So now we have no easy options to expand. 