Minutes of 17thAnnual General Meeting
Present:
Directors: Terry Collin (Chair), Brian Goodwin (Honorary Treasurer), Steve Carey, Rob EverittandAnn Nutt
16 Full Members, 1 Associate Member and 6 others were present: a full list of attendees is kept at Ivan Peck House, 1 Russell Way, Widford Industrial Estate, Chelmsford CM1 3AA.
In attendance:Mike Adams (Chief Executive Officer); William Snagge (Director of Policy & Development); Martin Collier (Director of Corporate Systems & Services); Emma Daniels (Corporate Finance Executive); Laura May (Communications Executive Manager); Kristine Alderman (Executive Assistant to Chief Executive Officer), Martin Smith (Corporate Adminstrative Assistant) and Martyn Woodward (Companies and Charity Secretary).
Meeting commenced at 1.35 pm
- Welcome and introduction
The Chair of ecdp, Terry Collin, welcomed everyone to ecdp’s 17th Annual General Meeting (AGM).
The Chair noted that a quorum was present and declared the AGM open. He confirmed that all eligible members had been given notice of the meeting and asked permission to take the notice as read. There were no objections.
The Chair explained that the format for this year’s AGM was a departure from previous AGMs, in that it would deal only with the legal requirements of an AGM, such as the presentation of the company accounts, rather than follow the tradition of being a consultation event for members.
He said that, as a result, it would mean a much shorter AGM meeting, while assuring Members that there would be other opportunities for them to be engaged with ecdp in the year ahead. He then advised that the Board would be holding a full Board meeting at 2.30pm and introduced Martyn Woodward, ecdp’s new Companies and Charity Secretary, to the meeting.
He next reminded Members that they could to claim reasonable expenses for attending the AGM.
Moving on to the formal business of the meeting, the Chair reminded those present that only full members were entitled to vote.
- Apologies
Apologies had been received from Pat Gaudin (Vice-Chair), Marilyn Williams (Senior Independent Director) andTony Cox (all Company Directors), Edwin Godrey (Chair of edcp Ventures), Andrew Chuter (Director of ecdp Ventures) and 27 others: a full list of these apologies is kept at Ivan Peck House, 1 Russell Way, Widford Industrial Estate, Chelmsford CM1 3AA.
3.Minutes of 2012/13 AGM – held on 6 November 2013
The minutes of the last AGM were agreed by Members to be an accurate record and were adopted unanimouslyand signed by the Chair.
Minutes of the Class Meeting of Full Members held after the AGM on 6 November 2013
The Chair proposed taking the minutes of the Full Members’ Class Meeting at this point. The minutes of this meeting were agreed by Members to be an accurate record and were adopted unanimouslyand signed by the Chair.
4.Matters arising from the minutes
There were no matters arising from any of the above minutes.
Resolutions
5. 2013/2014Annual Report and Accounts
The Chair drew Members’ attention to the commentary contained in the Annual Report and Accounts as evidence of what edcp had been doing in the preceding twelve months. In particular, he referred to edcp’s Strategic Plan, how it was being implemented and edcp’s plans for the future. He then highlighted the fact that edcp had secured its future in its existing premises for the foreseeable future, having taken out a new lease on Ivan Peck House.
The Honorary Treasurer reported that edcp had continued to make significant
progress in 2013/14, which had seen a significant increase in turnover and
further investment in taking the organisation forward. In addition to closely
monitoring the budget, the Finance Committee had formalised a number of
aspects of ecdp’s financial operation, refined the allocation of overheads and
now had a draft three-year financial plan. He thanked Edwin Godfrey and
Andrew Chuter, in particular, for their contributions towards achieving these
important steps.
Looking ahead, the Treasurer noted that there was a particular challenge in managing the growth of the organisation and maintaining financial prudence. He was confident, however, that edcp had achieved a sound financial springboard from which it could develop and grow. He then thanked Emma Daniels, edcp’s Corporate Finance Executive, and her team, for their hard work in the year gone by. With this, he commended the 2013/14 Annual Report and Accounts to the meeting on behalf of the Board and invited questions from Members.
Nathan Kemp thanked the Treasurer for his report and commented on the clarity with which the information had been presented and the confidence it gave him in the organisation. The Chair responded by underlining that edcp maintained a good level of reserves and was therefore ‘very solvent’.
The Chair then asked members to vote on the proposed resolution and it was unanimously resolved that the annual report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2014 be received and adopted.
6.Appoint Scrutton Bland as auditors for the coming year
The Chair asked members to vote on the proposed resolution and it was unanimously resolved that Scrutton Bland be appointed as ecdp’s auditors for the year ending 31 March 2015.
7.Authorise the Directors to agree the auditors’ remuneration
The Chair asked members to vote on the proposed resolution and it was unanimously resolved that the Directors be authorised to determine the auditors’ remuneration for the year ending 31 March 2015.
8.Election of Directors
The Chair reported that no nominations for election as Director, other than those recommended by the Board and named on the notice sent to members, had been received. Election addresses had been included in the pack given to members when they registered.
(a)The Vice-Chair had proposed the re-election as Director of Terry Collin. The proposal was seconded by Ann Nutt and it was unanimously resolved that Terry Collin be re-elected a Director.
(b)The Chair proposed the re-election as Director of Brian Goodwin. The proposal was seconded by Steve Carey and it was unanimously resolved that Brian Goodwin be re-elected a Director.
(c)The Chair introduced Rob Everitt to the meeting, explaining that Rob had been co-opted as a Director during the course of the preceding twelve months and was now standing for formal election to the Board. The Chair then invited rob to say a little about his background. Rob Everitt gave a brief summery of his career and why he felt that he could make a positive contribution as a Director of ecdp. The Chair then proposed the election as Director of Rob Everitt. The proposal was seconded by Brian Goodwin and it was unanimously resolved that Rob Everitt be elected a Director.
9.Election of Honorary Officers
The Chair said that those standing for election to the Honorary Officer roles had been named in the notice sent to members and their election addresses had been included in the pack given to members when they registered. As the Chair was himself standing for Honorary Office, he handed over to the Companies and Charity Secretary to conduct the election for the role of ecdp Chair.
(a)The Vice-Chair had proposed the election of Terry Collin as Chair. This was seconded by Brian Goodwin and it was unanimously resolved that Terry Collin be elected to the Honorary Office of Chair.
The Companies and Charity Secretary handed back to the Chair.
(b)The Chair thanked members for their support. He proposed the election of Pat Gaudin as Vice-Chair. This was seconded by Brian Goodwinand it was unanimously resolved that Pat Gaudin be elected to the Honorary Office of Vice-Chair.
(c)The Chair proposed the election of Brian Goodwin as Treasurer. This was seconded by Emma Daniels and it was unanimously resolved that Brian Goodwin be elected to the Honorary Office of Treasurer.
(d)The Chair proposed the election of Marilyn Williams as Senior Independent Director. This was seconded by Ann Nutt. The meeting indicated that there was not unanimous support for the election of Marilyn Williams and, as a result, the Chair determined to take a vote on the proposal. Fourteen members voted for the proposal; two, against. It was therefore resolved that Marilyn Williams be elected to the Honorary Office of Senior Independent Director.
11.Any Other Business
The Chair invited Mike Adams, Chief Executive Officer, to talk about
communicating with Members and to offer some thoughts on the way ahead.
Mike touched on ongoing contact with Members, both face-to-face and
through social media, and highlighted that there would be further opportunities
for Members to get involved with ecdp. He reflected that ecdp was seen as
a credible voice for disabled people in Essex and that more and more
organisations were becoming aware of ecdp thanks to the hard work of
ecdp’s Communications Executive Manager.
In the year ahead, Mike looked forward to ecdp:
- focussing young disabled people
- working across the public, private and voluntary sectors to help more organisations to become disability confident
- continuing to be a pan-disabled organisation by, for example, running an edcp Works programme for people with learning disabilities
Mike echoed the sentiments of the Chair in that he was delighted to see a
number of Members who had made the effort to come to the AGM. He
assured Members that many organisations in Essex who haven’t previously
done so are now starting to engage with edcp and ‘talk disabilities’.
Following the CEO’s contribution, the Chair invited questions and comments
from Members. In response to a request from Lloyd Hastings-Dasent, the
CEO promised that they would be contacted by the Manager of Insight to talk
about furthering the Colchester Gateway project.
David Crawford, who represents the Essex Blue Badge Network, sought
assistance with finding out about what had happened to the Network, which
appeared to have ceased without any forewarning. Mike Adams agreed to
speak with David after the meeting to see how ecdp might be able to help
him.
12.Concluding comments and close of formal AGM
The Chair thanked everyone for attending once more. He gave his thanks too to the Board, the Board of ecdp Ventures, the management and the staff of ecdp for another excellent year.
He also encouraged Members to visit ecdp in the High Chelmer Shopping Centre on 3 December, as part of the International Day for People with Disabilities events taking place in the city.
The AGM closed at 2.15 pm.
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Chair
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