The Motions Explained
Even for our humble islands, the world of commerce is always moving and always changing.
Like any business, we welcome feedback from our members and customers as an opportunity to progress and move forward as a Society.
Following on from communication of proposed changes to our Rules, which we believe to be in the best interests of the Society and our members, we received a request from two members that voting on these motions be discussed outside of the upcoming Special Meeting of Members (SMM).
So, we've made a change to the motions up for vote at this year's SMM . Let's take a look:
New motion 1: Delay voting on Motions 2, 4, 5 and 6
Peter Roffey and June Le Feuvre asked members to vote in favour of deferring consideration of the Rule changes now set out in Motion 2,4,5 and 6.
Peter Roffey's reasons for bringing this new Motion 1 are available on our page displaying notice of SMM 2021. To view this page, please click here.
These Motions are:
- Motion 2 - Appointment of Chair and Vice Chair
- Motion 4 - How the Board of Directors are made up
- Motion 5 - How long a Director can serve
- Motion 6 - Removing members from the Society
A vote in favour of new Motion 1 will result in the Rule changes being deferred for an uncertain amount of time.
The Society’s Directors believe that the proposed Rule changes are in the Society’s and the members’ best interests. They do not support new Motion 1.
Motion 2: Board Leadership – Appointment of Chair and Vice-Chair
A vote on this motion is about replacing the role of President with two roles, a Chair and a Vice-Chair on the Board of Directors.
The Chair will be an elected Director wherever possible, or Vice-Chair if it isn’t appropriate.
This change will ensure that the right leadership skills are in place, while continuing to represent the Society’s members.
Motion 3: Attendance
Motion Three is looking at who should be attending Board meetings.
Currently, the Society’s CEO is part of the Board and required to attend every meeting, so we’re proposing to delete the rule that says the CEO has to attend, as the CEO has to attend Board meetings anyway.
We want our Board of Directors to be independent and objective, so we want to make sure the CEO can never chair a Board meeting.
Motion 4: Changes to how the Board of Directors are made up
This motion looks to increase our number of Directors from 9 up to 11.
Although, it isn’t necessary to have the maximum number of Directors on the Board, this allows the Society to have the capacity to welcome new and different perspectives on a range of business areas, both by election and appointment.
Motion 5: Term times
Motion Five is proposing that the length of time a Director can serve on the Board be reduced, to help the business stay fresh with new vigour and insights
As it stands, Directors can serve up to 12 years (should they be re-elected at each AMM vote every three years). Although continuity is good, this motion suggests that our Directors should serve for a maximum of nine years, allowing the development of new views and ideas.
Motion 6: Society Membership rules
We are proud of our reputation as a local, responsible community retailer in our islands.
We hope that our members share the same honest values and vision as we do. This is why this motion gives us more authority to remove any member who abuses or acts unlawfully against the Society or its interests.
It not only protects us as a Society, but also you as our members.
Motion 7: Dormant accounts
We perform regular checks of our dormant (inactive) accounts and if we find an account to have not been active for more than three years, we will try to reach out to the account holder.
If we get no reply after a number of attempts at contacting, we transfer the value to a dormant account fund.
This rule change would allow us to re-invest the funds and use it towards community or environment initiatives locally, meaning that we can do more in and for our community. We will always use these funds towards charitable causes, not business.
Motion 8: Information at your fingertips
Our last motion looks to again bring us up to our modern technological age.
How easy it is now with a few clicks to check your bank balance, insurance, pensions – you can even check your dividend online.
To those who like to study our annual statements, we think that you should be able to do so easily and at your own convenience. We have brought this motion to say rather than only displaying our accounts at our Head Office, we’ll also publish them online (which we already do).
Now, over to you
We believe that Motions 2 to 8 are in the best interests of the Society and its Members as a whole and we recommend that you use your chance to have your vote counted in favour of these changes.
Taking part in our SMM and getting your voice heard is simple. Visit our page on Special Meeting of Members 2021 and follow the link to register your attendance.
