ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
WEDNESDAY 22 JUNE 2022
AT THE GEORGIAN HOUSE AT 6PM
Present
| COUNCIL
Andrew Eggleston – President Nigel Lawrence – Vice-President Holly Chandler Ian Corder Brendan Noone Ilona Soane-Sands Tony Haywood – Treasurer Lesley Chapman – Secretary
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MEMBERS
Chris Blythe Ian Carter Tom Chapman Peter Chlubek Iryna Chlubek Nigel Clarke Jo Corder Janet Eggleston Tracey Farquhar-Beck Annabel Finding Alistair Forrest Jill Guille Lisa Kendall Andrew Kissick Gill Lowe David Nash Colin Perry Agnes Perry Hillius Pretorius Jnr Hillius Pretorius Snr Patrick Puddle Nigel Roberts Roger Saunt James Speers Richard Ward Mark Williams Wendy Wilson
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Apologies
Apologies for absence had been received from the following:
Celine Findlay Ingrid Murdoch Malcolm Matthews Mort Birch Helen Ackrill
Approval of the Minutes of the 2021 Annual General Meeting
Mr A Kissick said that he did not believe that the minutes, as circulated, were a true representation of the previous Annual General Meeting. He said that he recalled that it had been a disturbed meeting which had focussed on the Constitution of the Chamber. The President said that he did not recall this and asked those present if anyone else had a recollection of this happening at the previous meeting. The meeting did not concur with Mr Kissick’s view and the President asked for the minutes of the meeting, as circulated, to be approved. This was proposed by Gill Lowe, seconded by Janet Eggleston and approved by the meeting.
Matters Arising
The President noted that Charmaine Johnson had spoken at the previous meeting about the lack of child care available during the day. It was noted that this had now been rectified with the opening of a day nursery during the previous year.
Presidents Report
The President opened with the shock news from the previous week that Lloyds Bank plc is to close its branch in Alderney at the end of the year. He informed the meeting that Chamber had contacted the bank to ensure that they were aware that Alderney was not a physical part of Guernsey but a separate Island and to stress the effect that this closure would have on the Island.
He confirmed that Chamber continue to work closely with the States of Alderney and with Guernsey’s Policy and Resources Committee both of which they have a positive working relationship with. He commented that the majority of the discussions they have with them tend to be long term subjects such as housing, a marina, a swimming pool and transport to name but a view. He suggested that a move away from the current committee style of government, where there remains a lack of individual accountability and responsibility, would maybe help move things forward at a faster pace.
On the subject of air transport, he said that Chamber were of the opinion that no one knows where aviation will be in 20 or 30 years’ time but what is certain is that Alderney must not be left behind. This is the main reason that Chamber are in favour of a longer runway as, to keep it at its present length, firstly means no possibility of having a professional medevac service which is enjoyed by both Guernsey and Jersey which given the demographic of Alderney would make much more sense and secondly to ensure that Alderney keeps its direct link to the UK.
He noted that there had been good news with regard to sea transport which hopefully will benefit tourists and residents alike together with general economy.
On the subject of media releases, news and surveys, he said that Chamber forwarded these on to Members as they are released and thanked Ilona Soane-Sands for all of the time that she spends on this. He also said that consideration was being given to create an internal Chamber forum whereby Members could put forward their ideas for topics to be discussed.
He noted that Starlink has applied to Guernsey to run a telecommunications network through its satellite technology and Chamber have indicated their support for the project. Chamber will be kept informed as to progress.
He confirmed that Chamber had had a meeting that day with the CEO of Aurigny to request that both Dornier aircraft are used during the summer months to ensure that additional flights can be put on. Indeed, Aurigny had confirmed that afternoon, via social media, that additional flights would be available during a period in July and August. This will be subject to any medevacs that may be required which will require the use of one of the aircraft. They had also discussed whether it would be possible to level out the prices so that it would not be so important when a flight was booked ie early bookings attract a much lower cost than later bookings at present.
He informed the meeting that Chamber were forging a positive relationship with the Economic and Development Committee and continue with monthly meetings with the Policy and Finance Committee.
Finally, he thanked the members of the Council, who are all volunteers, for putting in so much time to Chamber matters and for their dedication to the cause.
Treasurers Report
The treasurer invited the meeting to collect a copy of the accounts which were available in the room. He commented that the expenditure for the year ended 31 December 2021 was very much on a par with 2020 being £1,800 for 2021 as opposed to £2,300 for 2020. He pointed out that the income was entirely made up of the subscriptions received during the year and in 2020 these had totalled £2,300 whilst in 2021 they had totalled £3,100. The result was that the accounts were showing a surplus of £1,300 for the year. It was noted that Chamber had paid the annual golf trophy fee of £100. It was further noted that Chamber support the fly in by sponsoring the connections from the airport to town. It is intended to invite the newly appointed president of the Guernsey Chamber of Commerce to Alderney and Chamber will cover these expenses. It was also mentioned that a new Christmas Tree is required.
There were no questions on the accounts and the meeting approved their adoption a motion which was proposed by Mr R Saunt and seconded by Mr P Puddle.
Election of the Treasurer
There being no other nominations, Mr T Haywood agreed to continue to act as treasurer for a further term.
Election of the Council
The President advised the meeting that four nominations had been received for the three available seats. The nominees were as follows:
Nigel Lawrence – Proposed by Quay FM and Seconded by Ms S Fisher
Brendan Noone – Proposed by Mr N Roberts and Seconded by Mr D White
Richard Ward – Proposed by Mr A Kissick and Seconded by Mr C Blythe
Andrew Eggleston – Proposed by Mr Nigel Lawrence and seconded by Alderney Shipping
It was asked why the four proposed nominees might not all be elected, however, it was pointed out that the current Constitution stipulates the number of members that the Council must be composed of and an Extra-Ordinary General Meeting of Chamber, in which any proposed changes to the Constitution would be considered, would be required in order for this to be amended. It was further noted that members had three votes, however, were not required to use all three if they did not wish to do so.
The vote was taken and Mr I Corder and Mr I Carter left the room to count the votes. Upon their return Mr Corder announced the results as follows:
Nigel Lawrence – 23 votes
Andrew Eggleston – 26 votes
Brendan Noone – 26 votes
Richard Ward – 15 votes
The meeting was then adjourned at 6.35pm for the newly elected council to retire to elect the new President and Vice President.
The meeting reconvened at 6.41pm and it was announced that Andrew Eggleston and Nigel Lawrence had been re-elected as President and Vice-President respectively.
Any Other Business
The President reminded members that the Economic Activity Return, which is required to be completed by businesses for the States of Guernsey, has to be returned by the 5 August 2022
He noted that introduction of the Secondary Pensions legislation had been delayed by the States of Guernsey due to current economic indicators. Mr R Saunt asked whether anyone in Chamber was responsible for this. It was noted that Chamber will be attending meetings with regard to this.
Mr R Ward asked whether the Alderney Chamber of Commerce was registered in Guernsey as he had been unable to locate confirmation of this. His understanding was that the Registry was responsible for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) legislation.
He continued to say that he was disappointed that the candidates nominated for Council had not been given an opportunity to speak to the meeting prior to the vote being taken.
Finally, he asked why meetings of the Chamber were not open to all members to attend? The President reiterated that Chamber were looking for new ways to include Members in their discussions and cited the suggestion of breakfast meetings being held for Members which had been met with enthusiasm.
Mr Nigel Roberts said that he had been heavily involved with the establishment of Non-Profit Organisation’s (NPO’s) through the Guernsey Registry but he did not believe that the Registry were responsible for GDPR. He did say that The Charities etc. (Guernsey and Alderney) Ordinance, 2021 which came into force on in April 2022 was going to provide a lot more scrutiny of NPO’s going forwards.
Mr David Nash spoke about the issue of commemorative coins by Alderney and the lack of transparency from the States of Alderney over the financing of the same. He said that he had asked questions of the States members involved and had not been provided with any satisfactory answers. He asked whether Chamber would be able to take up this matter with the States of Alderney. The President acknowledged that Mr Nash had provided him with documentation regarding this matter which would be reviewed by Chamber and that they would revert to him following their discussions.
The being no further business the meeting closed at 6.55pm.
SIGNED ANDREW EGGLESTON
President
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Annual General Meeting 22 June 2022