Minutes of the 2014 AGM of the Institute of Circuit Technology

Chimneys Hotel Sandbach, Tuesday 3rd March 2015

Present: Martin Goosey, Andy Cobley, Bill Wilkie, John Walker, Pete Starkey, Chris Wall, Lawson Lightfoot, Steve Payne, Francesca Stern and 15 members.

The meeting commenced at 4.35pm

Apologies for absence were received from Maurice Hubert, Tom Parker, Richard Wood-Roe and Bob Willis.

ICT Chairman, Martin Goosey, conducted the proceedings supported by the Hon Secretary, John Walker, and the Technical Director, William Wilkie.

1. MINUTES
The minutes of the previous AGM held on Thursday 6th March 2014 at the Chimneys Hotel, Sandbach, along with copies of the reports scheduled in the Agenda, had been previously circulated to the Membership by email. The acceptance of the Minutes was proposed by Pete Starkey, seconded by Dennis Price, approved by the floor and signed off by the Chairman.

2. CHAIRMAN'S REPORT
Martin Goosey summarised the events and activities of the past year. He noted the 40th anniversary of the Institute which was marked by an anniversary dinner in Swindon prior to the Annual Symposium at the Great Western Railway Museum. Also of note was the memorable evening seminar at Hayling Island and the tour of the Rolls Royce facility which was sponsored by Steve Driver of Spirit Circuits. Tom Jones received an award of £250 for the best student article written for the ICT Journal.
MG is now stepping down but will remain on the Council. He is leaving the ICT in good health with 328 members now and the number still growing. There was a record number of attendees, 29, at the Foundation Course in April and there will be a similar event in Loughborough this year during the Easter Break. The ICT Journal is going well and now in its 8th volume. Bruce Routledge was thanked for producing the Journal. The ICT is currently involved in two collaborative research projects, STOWURC and MACFEST. The ICT website has just been revamped (for pdas and mobiles). Martin Goosey thanked Richard Wood-Roe for his work on this.

Martin Goosey concluded by thanking all council members for their inputs and work behind the scenes.

The Chairman's Report was proposed for acceptance by Lawson Lightfoot, seconded by Andy Cobley and approved by the floor.

3. HONORARY SECRETARY'S REPORT
John Walker provided his annual status report on the state of the Institute in 2014. There are now 328 members of which 13 are Honorary Fellows. The report was adopted by meeting after having been proposed by Pete Starkey, seconded by Dennis Price and approved by the floor.

4. TREASURER'S REPORT
2014 was a reasonable year and the turnover was up on the previous year. The Institute ended up with surplus of £4.5k. Much of this was down to the success of the Foundation Course. The Institute is very dependent on number of attendees which can significantly impact the finances of the Institute. The treasurer noted that ICT is also receiving funding from MACFEST and STOWURC. For the last year the accounts showed a loss and the draft accounts have had to be readjusted due to the absence of returns on the gilts.
The accounts were proposed for adoption by Ian Mayoh, seconded by Andy Cobley and approved by the floor.

5. TECHNICAL DIRECTOR'S REPORT
The Technical Director's report summarized the events that he had organised in 2014. These included four evening seminars, the AGM, the Annual Symposium and the Foundation Course. Bill Wilkie noted that organizing the Anniversary Dinner in June had been one of the most challenging tasks he had undertaken. Adoption of Bill Wilkie's report was proposed by Dennis Price, seconded by Lawson Lightfoot and approved by the floor.

6. NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF A NEW COUNCIL
Martin Goosey stepped down as Chairman and Andy Cobley was nominated as new Chairman. Martin Goosey noted that there was an absence of PCB Fabricators on the council and hoped to see nominations from fabricators in future. Tom Parker of CCE has resigned. MG asked if the members were happy to re-elect the existing council. This was proposed by Geoff Layhe, seconded by Neil Chamberlain and approved by the floor.

7. RE-APPOINTMENT OF A DIRECTOR
As a mandatory requirement of the ICT's limited company status, a Director must be elected. Pete Starkey proposed, and Dennis Price seconded, the motion that Bill Wilkie should continue to serve as Director.

8. APPOINTMENT OF ACOUNTANTS AND AUDITORS
Steve Payne formally proposed that Hilden Park Accountants Ltd continued to act as both our Accountants and Auditors. This was seconded by Chris Wall and approved by the floor.

9. TREASURER'S AUTHORISATION
Chris Wall requested that the Treasurer be authorised to continue to agree the remuneration for our Accounts and Auditors. This was proposed by Andy Cobley and seconded by Martin Goosey.

10. PROPOSALS
None received.

11. FUTURE ACTIVITIES
Future activities include the Foundation Course which starts on 13th April. 17 have registered so far and more would be welcomed.
The Annual Symposium will take place at the Black Country Museum on 3rd June.
The Hayling Island Seminar has not yet been confirmed for September.

12. ANY OTHER BUSINESS
None.

Martin Goosey declared the meeting closed at 16.59.

Peter Starkey expressed thanks to Martin Goosey on behalf of the membership for his sterling five years of service to the Institute as Chairman. Martin Goosey was loudly applauded by the membership.