Précis of the Minutes of the Second Meeting (2007 Session) of the Board of Directors of

ACU Ltd at the Offices of the Company held on Tuesday &  Wednesday 3/4^th April 2007

                                                Present:            Jim Parker (Chairman)

Frank Carter                                                                 

Brian Bonny (Financial Director)

                                                                        Peter Beardmore

                                                                        Eddie Bellars

                                                                        Roger Brown

                                                                        John Collins

                                                                        Roy Hanks

                                                                        Roy Humphrey

                                                                        Tony Noel

                                                                        Gary Thompson MBE BEM (General Secretary)

                                                In attendance:    Mr Picker          Target Consulting Limited) item 7 only

                                                                        Mr Jennings       Target Consulting Limited) item 7 only

                                                                        Mrs Luby           Lockton’s                             item 8 only

Item 1:             Apologies for Absence 

Apologies were received from Mr Hillaby.  Mr Bellars was unable to attend the first part of the Board meeting held on 3^rd April and joined the Directors for the rest of the meeting held the next day.   

Item 2:             Confirmation of Minutes of the First meeting (2007 session) of the Board held on

                        Tuesday 23^rd January 2007

The minutes of the first meeting (2007 session) of the Board of Directors held on Tuesday 23^rd January were accepted as read.

Item 3:             Matters Arising

BSMC.  The Chairman and Mr Carter updated the Board regarding the British Supermoto Championships. The Chairman stated that Mr King, Chairman AMCA had suggested that ACU/AMCA appoint Stewards to the various rounds and commented that the ACU had been doing this for the rounds held this year thus far.  The BSMC logo, provided by the ACU, was now being used on all correspondence pertaining to the Championships and not the ACU and AMCA logos as was the case previously. 

ACU Handbook.  Mr Thompson stated that the 2007 Handbook had cost more to produce this year as there had been an increase in the number of pages, this was done to make the Handbook easier to read and look more professional. The Chairman commented that the new Handbook was the best produced so far and may well increase in size again and cost more next year, however, the ACU now had a publication that people would read and use.

LARA.  Mr Carter explained that Mr Kind was already carrying out some work for the ACU.  A Contract for Services was being despatched to Mr Kind for his consideration during the next couple of days.

Parental Agreement.  A company called Rev and Go wanted to use a blanket authorisation in terms of Parental Agreements at events.  The paperwork received was being forwarded to Bretherton’s solicitors along with current ACU practice to seek legal opinion.

ACU Awards.  The Directors agreed that the ACU Awards this year had been the best yet and a vote of thanks was recorded for Tania Baker, who organised the Youth and Adult Presentations. The Chairman stated that he was of the opinion that the Award winners would much prefer to receive their Award and have their photograph taken with a famous rider and that the Chairman of each Committee should announce each Award winner within their discipline.  The Committee Chairmen were asked to give this some thought as to whom they might consider to present the Awards at next year’s event. 

Motocross GP.  The Chairman reported on a recent meeting with the new Donington management and stated that the new team had recently been engaged in the organisation of the extremely successful third round of the World Superbikes.

FIM Events.  Mr Collins raised his concerns that World Championship events were still being allocated direct to Clubs without the prior knowledge or consent of the ACU.  His worry was the financial exposure this placed on the ACU and that the Clubs being allocated the event might not have the infrastructure to hold the event in the first place.  The Chairman stated that if this was the case, the Trials and Enduro Committee should have a meeting with the Organising Club to discuss what was involved in organising a World Championship event and ensure the Club knew what they were getting involved in.   He also stated that the Board must take a hard-nosed commercial view on all Committee’s aspirations and enthusiasms in the future.

Item 4 and Item 8:        Insurance Matters  

At recent meetings held between the Directors of the Insurance Sub-Committee and Mrs Luby, the details of a new reduced insurance cover to be made available for Off-Road Events (excluding Trials) below National Status were agreed and made available for discussion by the Board for their approval.

After considerable debate, the Board agreed that there should be two types of reduced cover to be made available to Organising Clubs – Basic and Basic Plus.  The new cover would consist of the following:

·                     A new flat rate Insurance fee per event payable in advance with the Permit Application to ACU Head Office in Rugby.

·                     A Public Liability Insurance with a limit of indemnity of either £5,000,000 or £10,000,000 depending whether “Basic” or “Basic Plus” cover is required.  Both figures include Medical Malpractice cover for voluntary Paramedics etc.

·                     Personal Accident Insurance for Officials which includes:

-    Death and permanent Disablement     £65,000 (£7,500 for youth)

-    Temporary Total Disablement £150.00 per week (nil excess)

As with the current “Premier” Insurance cover, this Personal Accident Insurance also covers Officials travelling to and from an ACU permitted event and makes provision for setting up and dismantling the event.

·                     NO Personal Accident Insurance for Competitors.

The most important thing to note under the new “Basic” and “Basic Plus” cover is that there is NO Personal Accident Insurance for Competitors.  It is important that, in the future,  Competitors are made aware of this through the Supplementary Regulations and are  strongly advised to arrange their own Personal Accident cover when taking part in events where the Organisers have arranged only the “Basic” insurance.

The Supplementary Regulations and the Entry Form for every event will be clearly marked to advise the Competitor as to which Insurance has been arranged.    Competitors can arrange such insurance through the Lockton’s or the ACU website.

The event insurance will be a flat rate premium per day and will need to be paid for on application with the Permit Fee prior to the event taking place.  After the event, the Event Declaration Form will be completed and monies sent to ACU House in respect of the Uninsured Claims Contingency Fund.   The Flat Rate Premiums to be paid with the Permit Application are as follows:

In seeking reductions in premiums with Insurers it was necessary to agree that any new scheme be managed centrally and that all Permits for events opting for the “Basic” or “Basic Plus” Cover will be issued from ACU Head Office.  In future each Main Committee Secretary will be responsible for ensuring that the Supplementary Regulations and Entry Forms for “Basic” events comply with the new conditions.

The reasons for introducing this new insurance package as an option is to encourage new Clubs and Promoters to affiliate and organise their events with the ACU.  It has also been designed to encourage the Clubs which have left the ACU to re-affiliate and once again organise their events through our organisation – and finally, to offer a new alternative Insurance package to our existing Clubs as part of the ongoing process of streamlining our administration to make it generally early and more straight forward for Clubs.

The Directors are aware that there may be some financial implications for Centres arising from the new scheme. These are obviously unknown at the outset but will become apparent after a few months of operation. The Board are anxious to minimise these effects and intend to hold a meeting with our Centre Chairmen and Treasurers in the near future to establish the way forward.

It must also be emphasised that Trials, the core sport of any Centre, will not be affected by the new optional Insurance cover and as such will continue to be organised and Permitted in the current manner either through the Centre or ACU Head Office dependent upon the status of the event. 

Regarding the mechanics of the issue of Permits from Head Office, Supplementary Regulations will be required with each Permit Application, as is currently the case and the permit fee for all Permits being issued under this new scheme will be £50.00.  To ensure there is no ambiguity in the future as to what insurance cover is being applied to an event (Motocross, Grass Track, Enduro, Hare n’ Hounds), new Permit Application forms and other event forms have been amended to reflect the new Insurance levels, indicating the reduced Public Liability limit available and the withdrawal of the competitors PA cover.

The product will be available from 1^st May.   However, it will be appreciated that it can only be implemented when it is possible to be absolutely sure that all the necessary paperwork has been completed and that every competitor involved has filled in one of the new entry forms.  Thus the process will take time and a great deal of care on the part of the Office to ensure that everything is in order.    We must avoid any possibility of doubt on the part of any Rider or Official as to what scheme the meeting is being held under.

Although not strictly part of this scheme – the 50p levy is to be continued and should be paid as part of the Event Statement after each event in the usual way.   This return provides an extremely valuable and simple means of establishing the number of riders taking part in each discipline during the year.

The Board agreed that there might be a need to employ extra staff within ACU Head Office should the need arise dependent on the take up of the optional new Insurance Cover by Clubs.    

Claims Review.  Mr Collins stated that he would like to be made aware of ongoing claims that had been received, particularly those that involved his discipline.  It was agreed that the Directors would be given a Summary of Claims in the future.    The Chairman felt that this task was a primary function of the Insurance Sub-Committee.

Item 4.1:           Price of Permits issued from ACU Head Office

The price of Permits was discussed and the Board agreed that no changes were necessary.

Item 5:             Motocross Manager

Mr Thompson informed the Board that the closing date for applications for the position of  Motocross Manager had now passed and that 19 applications had been received.   A date would be arranged shortly to interview those of the 19 considered suitable for the post.  The Interview Panel would consist of The Chairman, Mr Carter, Mr Humphrey, Mr Higgins and Mr Thompson.

Item 6:             Regional Clerk of the Course and Steward Seminars

This matter was raised at the recent meeting of the Centre Chairmen and Secretaries.  After some discussion, it was agreed by the Board that each Sport Committee will continue to be responsible for the training of their Officials as is currently the case.

Item 7:             Finance Matters

The Board welcomed Mr Picker and Mr Jennings from Target Consulting Limited to the meeting.  Mr Picker gave a formal presentation of the Annual Accounts for 2006. The Directors approved the Accounts and they were duly signed by the Chairman.  Mr Jennings spoke on some matters regarding VAT. The Chairman thanked both Mr Picker and Mr Jennings for the time and effort they had put into producing the accounts for 2006 and for their presentation during the meeting.  Mr Picker thanked Mr Bonny and the Accounts staff for their co-operation throughout the audit period. 

Item 8.2            Recent Correspondence with ORPA

The Chairman noted his recent correspondence with ORPA Clubs following incorrect statements regarding Insurance which had been distributed by ORPA.

Item 9:             Elections to the Road Race Committee

                        The revised election process to the Road Race Committee as discussed at the recent meeting of the Chairmen and Secretaries will be put forward at the next meeting of the National Council for consideration.

Item 10:            Rules Revision – NSC 3.16

                        The Directors approved the draft of NSC 3.16 proposed and this will now be submitted to the National Council for consideration and, if approved will be published in the 2008 Handbook.

10.1                                    Honorary Members

A suggestion to introduce the concept of Honorary Members of the Board and Sport Committees was not accepted by the Board.

Item 11:            Recognised Promoters

                        The Directors approved the following affiliations of Promoters to the ACU:

11.1                                    MBP Powersports

11.2                                    Fast Eddy Racing Ltd

11.3                                    East West Off Road Events

Item 12:            Any Other Business

RHL Activities Ltd.  Mr Thompson updated the Board on the current situation regarding the legal action against Mr Hockey and RHL Activities Limited.  Some discussion arose from this and Mr Thompson was asked to speak to the Solicitors and explain the ACU wanted closure on this issue as soon as possible.    

            Action: Mr Thompson

ACU MAXXIS British Motocross Championships.  Mr Humphrey updated the Board on the 2007 season after two rounds which was progressing very well. The Series was now in its’ final year of the current contract with MAXXIS and discussions to renew for 2008 and beyond are currently underway.  Discussions then took place regarding the future long term management of the Championships.

Item 13:            Date of Next Meeting

There being no further business, the Chairman closed the meeting at 3.30pm.  He thanked the Directors for a very productive two days.  The next meeting will be held at ACU House on Friday 18^th May commencing at 10.30 am.