Following the Trust statement (HERE) on Tuesday 10th December acknowledging a Trust member and shareholder’s emailed concerns over the timings of the club AGM we promised that we would seek clarification from the Club board and report back promptly
Below, we publish the response from Jamie Willoughby, Director of the Club Board, which we received today as it will also be of interest to other member/fan shareholders who may have had similar concerns.
Response From Jamie Willoughby.
Thank you for raising the question this morning regarding the AGM.
Firstly, as a board, we would acknowledge that the situation with the AGM is not ideal.
We had a difficult decision to make once we learned the Leamington match had been called off and rescheduled for the night of the AGM. Moving the AGM was not something we wanted to do but we didn’t feel it was appropriate to hold an AGM on the evening of an away game. Moreover, our club secretary would not have been present as he is required to attend the Leamington match.
We were then faced with finding a time to reschedule the AGM during the period between Christmas and New Year. During that time there was only one day when the Chairman, Club Secretary and the director responsible for finance (Adam Saul) were all available and even then, they were only available as a group during the morning of that day as they had evening commitments. Given that the most substantive piece of business being considered at the AGM is the presentation of the accounts we felt it was necessary for Adam to be able to attend (as he is best place to answer any shareholder queries over the financial statements) and so our choices were very limited. We would not normally have chosen that date or time (and we won’t in future), but we have to hold the AGM before the year end and that was the date and time that worked in the circumstances. We understand that it is not the most convenient time for shareholders to attend but there is no deliberate intention to exclude people.
In terms of a Q&A – in the notice of the revised date for the AGM we clarified that shareholders will have the ability to ask questions under the ‘AOB’ section of the meeting. There is no restriction on shareholders’ ability to raise questions.
All the best
Jamie
Jamie Willoughby
The Trust are grateful to Jamie for the quick response to our concerns raised.