Ecology Building Society Annual General Meeting 2015
In 2015, our AGM and Members’ Meet up was held in Liverpool at the Arena and Convention Centre (ACC) which prides itself on being one of the greenest venues in Europe and is an example of how business and sustainability can work well together. Our theme for the day was: Remaking money: Transforming Finance for people and planet.
During our AGM business, there was intense questioning from our members about the way the Society operates and the services we offer. The Directors responded to questions on their area of expertise.
Feedback from one member: ‘…The board and staff were very approachable.’ And, another member commented: ‘[It’s] great to be part of a values-based organisation’ Thank you to everyone who gave feedback on the AGM. We read every form and your suggestions will be used to help us deliver better events in future.
Voting results:
| For | Against | Abstain | Spoilt | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | To receive the Auditors' Report | 1203 | 19 | 24 | 0 |
| 2 | To receive the Directors’ Reports and the Annual Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2014 | 1207 | 18 | 21 | 0 |
| 3 | To appoint KPMG LLP as Auditors | 1030 | 133 | 83 | 0 |
| 4 | To approve the Directors’ Remuneration Report year ended 31 December 2014 | 1124 | 62 | 60 | 0 |
| 5(i) | To elect ANDREW JOHN GOLD | 1167 | 40 | 39 | 0 |
| 5(ii) | To re-elect STEVEN JOHN ROUND | 1175 | 42 | 29 | 0 |
Overall voting turnout was 16.5% – a slight improvement from last year, and 38% used our online voting service. We’re always trying to get more members involved in voting, if you’re a voting member, please use your democratic power in 2016!
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting 2015.
Remaking money: Transforming Finance for people and planet
Our afternoon presentations focussed on who currently controls money, how it can be controlled more democratically in future and how individuals view money; the two main presentations were: Making money work for people and planet by Christine Berry from New Economics Foundation and Finance: Let’s get personal by Marloes Nicholls from Meteos. After each presentation, the speaker took questions from the audience and a lively discussion on money ensued.
One member remarked: ‘The speakers were very imaginative and clued-up. The absence of spin, and the openness and honesty were refreshing…’
After the presentations, the attendees moved on to a workshop, which they’d signed-up to at registration. The sessions were on:
- Meet the Directors – An intimate forum to grill our Directors and discuss our 10 year plan
- Sustainable lending in practice – Stories from our borrowers who are building a greener future: Robert Morris from Co-operative Living Freehold Society, Ian Rothwell from Co-operative and Community Finance, Jon Bootland from Passivhaus Trust and James Hartley from LATCH
- Remaking Liverpool – A tour of the ACC venue and a talk about Liverpool: The Rise, Fall and Renaissance of a World Class City by Ken Pye (Discover Liverpool)
5 June 2016 
