155th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

155th Annual General Meeting of the
Royal Aeronautical Society

The 155th Annual General Meeting of the Royal Aeronautical Society was held virtually on the Lumi platform on Thursday, 6 May 2021.

114 voting members were present.
21 non-voting members were present.

The President, Prof Cooper, took the chair and welcomed everyone to the 155th Annual General Meeting of the Royal Aeronautical Society. He introduced other members of the Panel:

• Martin Broadhurst, Chair of the Board of Trustees
• Sarah Moynihan, Chair of the Finance Committee
• Sir Brian Burridge, Chief Executive
• Patrick Slomski, Honorary Solicitor
• Tony Holmes, Finance Director
• Saadiya Ogeer, Head of Governance and Compliance

The President noted it was the first time the AGM had been held virtually. Under the circumstances, the Society felt this was the most appropriate and safest manner to facilitate the meeting while respecting the government’s guidelines. He confirmed that resolutions put to the membership at the Special General Meeting, earlier that morning, had been passed. The outcome would be communicated to the Privy Council and a formal response awaited before updating the By-Laws.

The Chief Executive confirmed that a quorum was present.

The Calling Notice for the AGM was sent to all members of the Society by email and published in April’s newsletters and on the Society’s website.

The President explained that, in that accordance with By-Law 19.2, the business of the Annual General Meeting was to:

1.  Receive and consider the minutes of the 154th Annual General Meeting;
2.  Receive and consider the Audited Accounts and the Report of the Board of Trustees on the state of the Society for the year ending 31 December 2019;
3.  Receive and consider the Audited Accounts and the Report of the Board of Trustees on the state of the Society for the year ending 31 December 2020;
4.  Appoint the Auditors for the year 2021 and; 
5.  Receive the names of those currently on the Board of Trustees and those newly-elected to the Council for the years 20212024. 

The President confirmed that the Calling Notice for the AGM was contained in the April 2021 edition of AEROSPACE which had been circulated to all members. Furthermore, the Minutes of the previous AGM held on 16 May 2019, the Annual Report and Accounts for 2019 and 2020 and the Annual Review were posted on the Society’s website. The meeting took the Calling Notice as read.

To receive and consider the Minutes of the 154th Annual General Meeting held on 16 May 2019

The President invited the meeting to consider the minutes of the 154th Annual General Meeting, held on 16 May 2019. He asked if there were any questions or comments and then invited the members to approve these as a true and accurate record.

The Minutes of the 2019 AGM were accepted nem con as a true and accurate record, as proposed by Air Cdre Bill Tyack and seconded by Dr Simon Hall.

To receive and consider the Audited Accounts and the Report of the Board of Trustees on the state of the Society for the year ending 31 December 2019

The President asked the Chair of the Finance Committee, Ms Sarah Moynihan, to highlight some key points from the Annual Accounts. Ms Moynihan said that income for the year was £5.2million, compared to £4.9million in 2018. Expenditure was within target at £4.6million which meant the Society net trading income, before investment and pensions, was just over £600,000. Gains on investment were just under £402,000 but these were mostly offset by the actuarial losses on the pension scheme of £320,000. As a result, the Society made a surplus of £701,000. Reserves therefore increased to £11.4million.

The President thanked Ms Moynihan for this update. The President asked if there were any questions and comments. He then invited the members to receive and consider the 2019 Annual Report and Accounts. The meeting agreed nem con to receive the 2019 Annual Report and Accounts, as proposed by RAdm Simon Henley and seconded by Chris Walkinshaw.

To receive and consider the Audited Accounts and the Report of the Board of Trustees on the state of the Society for the year ending 31 December 2020

The President asked the Chair of the Finance Committee, Ms Sarah Moynihan, to again highlight some key points from the Annual Accounts. Ms Moynihan noted that, due to the coronavirus pandemic, on 17 March 2020 the Society had to close No.4 Hamilton Place and it had not reopened in the 14 months since. The Society faced losing annual revenue of £1.5million from conferences, events and commercial hire, and the prospect of a deficit of £1million. The Society had to generate income through virtual events and restructure staffing, downsizing from 54 funded staff to 35. Income for the year was £4.2million and expenditure for the year was £4.4million which included the redundancy programme and investment in the new virtual conference programme. As a result the Society net trading loss before investments and pensions was £152,000.

Investment losses were limited to £56,000 but the pension scheme losses were £714,000. Overall, the Society had a net deficit of £922,000 and by the end of the year, reserves were therefore £10.5million.

The President thanked Ms Moynihan for this update and thanked the Finance Committee, staff and members for working through an incredibly difficult year. The President asked if there were any questions and comments. He then invited the members to receive and consider the 2020 Annual Report and Accounts.

The meeting agreed nem con to receive the 2020 Annual Report and Accounts, as proposed by Mrs Jenny Body and seconded by Ms Hilary Barton.

To appoint the Auditors for the year 2021

The President thanked haysmacintyre for their support in 2019 and 2020. The President invited questions and comments. He then asked the members to approve the appointment of haysmacintyre as the Society’s auditors for 2021. The meeting agreed nem con that haysmacintyre be reappointed as the auditors for the 2021, as proposed by Mr Jamie Chestnut and Ms Kerissa Khan.

To receive the names of those newly elected to Council for the years 2021-2024

The President confirmed that:

Total Number of Ballots Issued: 8,196

Total Number of Votes Cast: 1,605

Turnout: 19.6%

He then announced the results of the Council ballot and the votes received in numerical order:

Candidate’s Name	Number of Votes
Capt Hermione Irwin Munns	1,220
Mrs Janet Sims Mitchell	1,100
Lt Cdr Richard M Gearing	1,017
Mrs Rachna Sharma Reiter	963
Mr Daniel Olufisan	882
Mr David Gordon Chinn	828
Mrs Lalitya Dhavala	701
Mr Christopher Patrick Gibbs	661
Mr Paul David Calver	606

The President announced that, in accordance with the Society’s ByLaws, the following had been duly elected to serve on Council for the three years 2021-2024, in alphabetical order:

• Mr David Gordon Chinn
• Lt Cdr Richard Gearing
• Mrs Janet Sims Mitchell
• Capt Hermione Irwin Munns
• Mr Daniel Olufisan
• Mrs Rachna Sharma Reiter

The President congratulated those elected and thanked all those who had put themselves forward.

The President thanked Mr Robert Savidge, Dr Thurai Rahulan and Miss Zoe Gell for their work on the Council, as they had decided not to stand for re-election.

To receive the names of those currently on the Board of Trustees

The meeting received the names of the current Board of Trustees:

• Prof Jonathan Cooper
• Mr Martin Broadhurst
• RAdm Simon Henley
• Lt Cdr Richard Gearing
• Mr Howard Nye
• Ms Jane Middleton
• Ms Sarah Moynihan
• Mr Andrew Cowdery
• Dr Alisdair Wood

The President then explained that Simon Henley and Jane Middleton were standing down as Trustees at this Annual General Meeting. On behalf of the Society, he thanked them for their time and work on behalf of the Society. The President continued to say that Mr Andrew Allen and Mr Peter Round will join the Board of Trustees.

Martin Broadhurst, Chair of the Trustees, answered a question that had been received in advance of the meeting, in regards to a statement made about Black Lives Matter in the AEROSPACE magazine. The Chief Executive answered a question on updating the Branches Regulations and Handbook.

Martin Broadhurst, Chair of the Trustees, noted that Society had reacted to the challenge of Covid-19, as well as recognising the need for long-term change in the organisation’s operating model in a post-pandemic world. He announced the Chief Executive’s intention to step down in the Autumn and thanked him for his leadership over the past three years, particularly in the Covid crisis. He thanked members and Corporate Partners for their continued support.

Presidential handover​

Prof Cooper said that it had been an honour to serve as President and that it had given him much enjoyment as well. He thanked the volunteers and staff that support the Society. He then handed over the Presidency to Mr Howard Nye. Mr Nye thanked Prof Cooper for presiding over the Society during a very challenging two years and providing excellent guidance and leadership throughout. He thanked all those members that attended the Annual General Meeting and declared the meeting closed.