NORTHAMPTON BRIDGE CLUB
Minutes of the 52nd Annual General Meeting held at the Club on Wednesday 9th April
2014
1.
Present
Kevin Fogarty
Simon Bevan
Ross Stacey
Richard Tickle
Pam Peacher
Richard Gibson
Neil Jenkinson
John Pearson
Andy Heslop
Aubrey Carter
Celia Beaty
Sheilagh McIntosh
Leszek Lubaszewski
Mo Simpson
John Josephs
Chris Barnett
Karen Knight
Alan Brown
David Watt
Paula Olive
Mel Viljeon
Michael Dawes
Subie Foneska
Bob Braines
Apologies
Eddie Luck
Chris Luck
David Moss
Doris Moss
Marilyn Evans
Brenda Bale
Hilary Stacey
Janice Chun
Tony Youel
Minutes of the 51st AGM and Matter Arising
The Chairman, Richard Tickle opened the meeting.
The Minutes of the 51st AGM were proposed by Bob Braines and seconded by Chris Barnett
accepted by the meeting as a true record.
There were no matters arising (other than those covered in the Chairs report below).
2.
Chairman’s Report – Richard Tickle
Richard opened the report by welcoming the 23 members attending and pointing out that the
club was the members club and not the committees club. It was therefore important that
members expressed their views at the AGM to influence decision making.
Richard stated that the committee was well established and that new committee members
would be welcome. The club had set itself four goals and his report reviewed the year against
these targets, being:
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Increasing membership
Increasing attendance
Financial stability
Better premises
Membership had increased to 107 being 88 full members and 19 associate members.
Inevitably some members had left, notably Sally Page and Ivan Posener and others but more
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had joined. There would always be a churn of members; however against the national
background the club performance on membership was good.
Attendance levels were very important to the club as this was the main source of income
ensuring the club’s stability and future.
Over the year attendance had grown by 7.5% up to 27 table per week and over the past five
months up to 29 tables per week; we were aiming for 30 tables per week measured against a
background that our maximum capacity was 10 tables. Monday(7 tables) and Tuesday(8)
attendances were stable and Thursday(6) had improved but with some recent blips.
Wednesday (6.5) afternoon bridge had proved popular and was now considered to be a regular
playing session in the club calendar. In view of the popularity of afternoon bridge the
committee had decided to introduce Friday afternoon bridge with a programme of one team
events, one teaching/supported bridge event and the remaining Fridays to be pairs.
Wednesday had originally been Chicago once per month which had developed into weekly
sessions, this combined with lessons and training had brought new members to the club
Richard felt the culture of the club was very important with the committee fully supporting a
culture of a friendly and inviting club with a good reputation which the club had gained - this
was demonstrated by the attendance at the excellent Christmas party.
The club had invested in new technology - the full display screen, the weekly displayed
information and communicating more by e-mail. Professional training had been given to
achieve more volunteers for scoring and directing with Aubrey Carter, Cindy Woods and John
Pearson becoming directors. The club could always do with more help on the technical side
and more volunteers would be welcome.
All of these initiatives need resources and Richard thanked all those who had helped organise
and run the events. Richard would welcome more volunteers to help run the club as more
people were needed for scoring, directing and in other areas that ensured club success.
The committee continued to review the club diary and programme to make the competitions
as interesting and meaningful as possible. In general the competitions worked well with no
major changes being proposed. The changes that had been made were aimed at bringing
competitions to life and to encourage less experienced players.
The published calendar was being expanded with extra pages to provide members with more
information.
The committee aimed to keep the club tidy and inviting - cards were changed regularly and
the bidding boxes were kept in good condition and we had a dealing rota. There had been
some difficulty with new and old cards being mixed which was due to the dealing machine
not being as efficient as it should be – the club had a new machine on order which when
replaced would help with card management. The machine was a specialist item and was not
readily available. Members helping to keep the room tidy after play was appreciated as it
helped with the smooth running of the club.
The bar was well stocked and well run- its purpose was not to make a significant profit but to
provide a service for members, as was the provision of tea and coffee.
Richard thanks all those who gave their time to running the club.
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Looking at the finances, Richard said that Simon would give a full report - however the
overview was that the club was clearly in a strong financial position with substantial cash
resources and there was no need to increase table money. There would be a significant outlay
on the dealing machine possibly within the next six weeks, The committee was considering
the position on the bridgepads which may need changing.
On matters arising from the last AGM the club had resolved in 2013 to see if a workable
solution could be found to merge with Kingsley and if a workable solution was not found to
inform members no later than 14th August 2013 on the position . Richard apologized for not
reporting back by 14th August and said the merger did not happen as there was no appetite for
it.
The committee was continuing to actively look for new premises setting itself criteria for
acceptable premises within Northampton. Twenty premises had been examined in a desktop
study together with the options of leasing or building new with nothing firm to report to
members. The club has a lease on 16 The Crescent until November 2015 and it was
extremely unlikely that the landlord would wish to see the club leave; we were very stable
and caused no problems - we have a very good relationship with the landlord and the property
company. There had been some changes on the landlord’s side – it was family run business
with the former landlord handing the business directorship over to the younger side of the
family and him becoming the property manager.
Turning to playing matters the interclub A, B and C team’s results were regularly posted in
the club. The A team had finished third in the league this year and were looking forward to
next season where they hoped to improve – bearing in mind that they had good wins against
the other leading clubs. The B team had finished 5th and the C team had also finished 5th
Richard Gibson ran the A team helped by others, Kevin Fogarty was moving on from leading
the B team after many years and John Pearson was going to lead it. Barry Potter was passing
the baton for the C team to Karen Knight.
The club had come second in the Lakeland. All our teams had lost in the Broke Cup and
Richard Gibbon’s team had reached the final of the Betts Bowl. The club was well
represented in the county contributing seven players to the county teams in the Eastern
Counties League (ECL). (Incidentally the Northants A and B teams had won the ECL). Ross
and John had done well in the recent National Pairs.
Richard rounded up his report by individually thanking all members of the committee who did
a lot of work in ensuring that the club ran smoothly.
3.
Treasurer’s Report – Simon Bevan
Simon circulated the audited accounts. Simon thanked Nigel Baldwin for checking the
accounts.
Simon went through the accounts and explained the detail.
Simon pointed out that the most important figure on the account was that income was in
excess of the expenditure. Last year the surplus had increased compared with the previous
year, however Simon expected this to go down in the coming year because of the purchase of
the dealing machine. The committee had decided a few years ago to write off capital within
one year in accountancy terms rather than to depreciate over five years for smaller items.
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(That is the capital cost of the dealing machine would be shown as a one year instead of a five
year cost helping to show the club cash assets).
Looking to the future Simon commented that P2P cost continued to creep up – when it first
came in it was 29p and was now 35p. The rent was currently fixed in the lease but it was
unknown what the rent would be at lease renewal on November 2015.
Simon also pointed out the club paid corporation tax on outside income mainly from the U3A.
Charitable status had been considered, there were some advantages but the status also brought
with it obligations and it was not a straightforward as it might seem. It was noted that because
of our club status we benefitted from a rates discount.
Neil Jenkinson thanked Simon for his work and proposed adoption of the accounts seconded
by Paula Olive.
5
Election of Club Committee
The list of proposed and seconded club members who had put their names forward to stand on
the committee was read and accepted by the meeting.
The club management committee was elected in block for 2013 -2014 being :
Chairman:
Vice Chairman
Secretary
Treasurer
Committee
Richard Tickle
Richard Gibson
Ross Stacey
Simon Bevan
Kevin Fogarty, Mo Simpson, Celia Beaty, Andy Heslop and Eddie
Luck
Nigel Baldwin was happy to continue his role in examining the accounts
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9
Presentation of Trophies
Championship Pairs - Spencer
Cup
Pivot Teams
Richard Gibson & Eifion Jones
Individual
Beard
Banks
Summer Pairs Davies Salver
Mixed Pairs
Monday teams -Corps Tankard
Tuesday teams -Beeby Gold
Thorne Cup
Teams -Scott Trophy
Ladies Pairs Ward Cup
Best Pair Monday “A”
Best Pair Monday “B”
Best Pair Tuesday “A”
Best Pair Thursday “B”
Best Pair Thursday “C”
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Malcolm Orr Ewing, Trevor Wray, Josephs &
Ross Stacey
John Pearson
Neil Jenkinson and David Moss
Michael Dawe
Richard Gibson & Eifion Jones
John Josephs and Cindy Woods
Margaret Bryant, Richard Gibson, Ross Stacey
& Eifion Jones
Malcolm Orr Ewing, Trevor Wray, Josephs &
Ross Stacey
Chris Barnett & Paul Denton
Florence Followell, Paula Ollive, Brenda Bale
and Neil Jenkinson
Pam Peacher & Celia Beaty
Chris and Eddie Luck
Judit Bovai and Mel Viljoen
Richard Gibson & Eifion Jones
Florence Followell and Paula Ollive
Kathy and Michael Dawe
AOB
Bar Area
Sheilagh McIntosh and Paula Ollive both suggested that consideration should be given to
moving the bar storage into the kitchen and re-using the area as an office to release more
space for the playing area. Richard said the committee would consider this proposal.
Access and Toilets
Bob Braines commented that disabled access was difficult – as one Wednesday afternoon
player had great difficulty in entering the club in a wheelchair. Richard acknowledged Bob’s
concern but was uncertain what could be done as we were tenants and full ramped access
would be very difficult to achieve – however the committee did take its responsibilities on
H&S seriously and spent quite a lot of time on these issues. Bob also remarked that the toilet
doors were misaligned and needed repair – Richard said this was in hand and it was expected
they would be fixed shortly (done on 14/4/14).
Premises and Move
Paula Ollive commented that she had come to the meeting hoping to hear more on the
premises. Richard said that the sub-committee had evaluated about 25 premises and also
looked at new build as a possibility however he had nothing solid to report to members.
However, saying that, Richard wished to reassure members that if the committee had firm
proposals they would come back to members.
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Premises Funding
John Josephs suggested that the committee should conduct a straw poll to contact members to
see how willing members were to lend money towards improved premises. Richard said it
was a good suggestion and the committee would consider.
Hot Drinks
Sheilagh commented that the percolator did not seem to working and that quality of the coffee
could be better. Richard accepted these comments and would aim to improve the coffee
quality.
Kingsley Merger
Aubrey Carter commented that although the merger had not occurred the Kingsley
membership had voted to continue to negotiate the possibility of a merger with general
support for a merge,
Prizes
Alan Brown suggested that instead of wine and chocolate as prizes that plaques or shields
should be offered. Richard Gibson said that we used to provide mugs and shields but
members had stated a preference for consumables. Richard did not mind what the prizes were
but from a practical point of view all the same prizes were easier to deal with.
E Mails
Paula asked whether the news bulletins via e mails were continuing. Richard said none had
been sent out recently however in principle they would be continued,
Photographs
Andy Heslop suggested that photos of prize winners for the web site might be a good idea for
next year’s AGM.
10
Meeting Close
The meeting closed at 9 00pm.
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