Précis Minutes of the Fifth Meeting (2006 Session) of the Board of Directors of
ACU Ltd at the Offices of the Company held on Thursday 31st August at 10.30am
Present: Jim Parker (Chairman)
Peter Beardmore
Brian Bonny (Financial Director)
Roger Brown
John Collins
Roy Hanks
Roy Humphrey
Tony Noel
Gary Thompson MBE BEM (General Secretary)
Apologies were received from Mr Carter, Mr Bellars and Mr Hillaby.
Item 2: Confirmation of Minutes of the Fourth meeting (2006 session) of the Board held on
Thursday 27th July 2006
The minutes of the fourth meeting of the Board of Directors held on Thursday 27th July were accepted as read.
Item 3: Matters Arising
Rates for ‘One Event’ RTA Cover. This issue still remained unclear. The Chairman asked the General Secretary to write to Mr Kevin Davies at Alexander Forbes and invite him to the next meeting of the Board to clarify the situation regarding ‘One Event’ RTA Cover.
Action: Mr Thompson
Motocross Open Forum. Mr Humphrey explained the BYMX Conference of Clubs to be held on 7th October would now become a Motocross Open Forum for all Motocross Clubs running Adult and Youth events. He was asked to finally confirm all the details and to circulate the information widely as soon as possible.
Action: Mr Thompson
Supermoto Des Nations. The Chairman spoke about the Supermoto Des Nations event being staged in Northern Ireland. He stated that KTM had approached the ACU to ask if they could send a team, financed by KTM, to represent Great Britain. He stated this had been agreed and the ACU would provide administrative support where necessary.
ACU Handbook. The Chairman and General Secretary had drafted revised versions of Articles 4.04, 7.02 and 7.03 which had been distributed to the Board for their approval. The Directors agreed to the revised versions and the General Secretary was to ensure these were placed on the agenda for approval and subsequent adoption at the next meeting of the National Council.
Action: Mr Thompson
Motocross Des Nations. Mr Thompson stated that invitations had been sent to various guests inviting them to join the ACU in the hospitality suite at the event. Mr Brown (AF CEO), Mr Banks (Bickers) and Mr Watkin (Clarke-Willmot) had replied to say they would be attending as had Messrs Moram, Mr R Collins (Southern Centre), Mr Bussell and Mr Slaughter. The ACU were waiting for confirmation of attendance from The Rt Hon Richard Caborn MP, Lord Jopling, Mr Hall (BSMA), Mr Green (AMCA), Mr Waterer (MCIA) and Mr Picker (Target Consulting Ltd). Unfortunately, Mr Baddeley (CEO Sport England), Sir Robin Miller and Mr McMartin (Bickers) are unable to attend.
Mr Humphrey explained that appropriate arrangements will also be made in respect of the delegates from other federations.
Item 4: Finance Matters
4.1 Income & Expenditure Comparisons
The I & E Comparisons were distributed to the Directors. There were no comments.
Target Consulting Limited. Mr Bonny made the Board aware that Mr M Shave had left the practice at Target Consulting Limited. Mr Andrew Picker would now take the lead on the ACU account and Mr Frank Tan would continue to do the audit.
4.2 Budget Submissions for 2007
Mr Bonny stated that he had not yet received budget submissions from the Motocross Committee, Road Race, Drag and Sprint Committee, Environmental Panel or Training. The first Screening of the Budget submissions would be held on Wednesday 4th October. The Screening Committee would comprise of Mr F Carter (Chairman), Mr Bonny, Mr Parker, Mr Brown and Mr Thompson. Mr Thompson was asked to draft a timetable for the attendance of each Committee Chairman.
Action: Mr Thompson
4.3 Quotation for Fencing to Perimeter of ACU House
The Board accepted and agreed the quote provided from Briton Security for a security fence to be erected around the perimeter of ACU House and the car park at the rear of the premises. Mr Thompson was to write to Briton Security and inform them of the Board’s decision and liaise a suitable date for work to commence.
Action: Mr Thompson
4.4 Insurance Commission – Forestry Events
Mr Collins spoke about concerns within the Centres regarding the loss of Insurance Commission now that all Permits for Forestry Events are issued from ACU Headquarters. It was agreed that the Insurance Commission for these events would now be sent to the Centre in which the event was taking place. Mr Thompson was asked to write to the Centres and notify them of this decision.
Action: Mr Thompson
LARA
The Directors read the reports received from Mr Luscombe, Mr King and Mr Burk regarding the recent LARA meeting held on Tuesday 29th August to discuss the future of the organisation. It was agreed that a formal meeting should be arranged with the MSA, AMCA and the MCIA to plan a common strategy for all our activities. Mr Burk would be tasked in conjunction with Mr Luscombe to arrange this meeting and take the matter forward.
Mr Carter would be asked to speak to Mr Kersey, Mr Stevens and Mr Kind to investigate the possibility of one of the individuals providing a consultancy type service to the ACU regarding Land issues.
Action: Mr Carter
A letter from the SACU regarding Licensing and Insurance matters was considered. It was agreed that a meeting should be held with the SACU to discuss these matters further. Mr Thompson was asked to write to Mr Jones to arrange. Mr Jones would also be asked to clarify the status of the Pre 65 Scottish Two Day Trial.
Action: Mr Thompson
The Chairman and General Secretary updated the Board on the progress of the legal action currently being taken against Mr Hockey and RHL Activities. Judgement had now been served on Mr Hockey and all his associated companies for the monies owed to the ACU as a result of the Weston Beach Race 2005. In the event that payment is not received by the date given on the Judgement, then a Winding Up Order is to be issued. Should the debt not be cleared by this action the ACU have an option to recover the debt via Mr Hockey’s property.
The Chairman regretted the length of time the judicial process had taken. During this meeting, Mr Thompson had emailed Freethcartwright solicitors expressing this view and the disappointment that information to update the Board had not been forthcoming. As a result of this, copies of the Judgement Order and confirmation that progress was being made to amend the details on the Companies House website regarding the ownership of ACU Events Limited and ACU Promotions Limited had been received.
Requests to speak as Expert Witnesses. Mr Humphrey highlighted a recent request from HSE for the ACU to speak as an expert witness at a forthcoming Court case. It was agreed that any such request should in future be directed to ACU Headquarters for the attention of Mr Luscombe and that he would take appropriate action. There would be a charge for this service. The General Secretary was asked to seek legal opinion regarding the position of Sporting Committee members asked to carry out such a request.
Action: Mr Thompson
Nominations for Elections. The General Secretary briefed the Board on nominations received regarding the forthcoming annual elections to be held at the next meeting of the National Council on Saturday 4th November.
New Electronic Entry System for Rugby HQ. The Board agreed that a new Electronic Entry System should be installed as part of the Reception area improvement scheme.
The Chairman thanked everyone for their attendance and closed the meeting at 4.45pm. The next meeting of the Board will take place on Thursday 5th October 2006.