FOSFA Circular - Nov 14

FOSFA INTERNATIONAL – ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
MINUTES
of the Forty-fifth Annual General Meeting of FOSFA International
held at 4 - 6 Throgmorton Avenue, London EC2N 2DL
on Thursday 6 November 2014
Mr M P Farrow (President): in the chair
The meeting was attended by 10 members, and one member of the Federation's staff.
1.
NOTICE OF MEETING
The Notice of Meeting was taken as read, having been previously circulated to the
membership.
2.
PRESIDENT'S REPORT
The President presented the following report “Ladies and Gentlemen, good morning.
Welcome to our first Annual General Meeting to be held here in Throgmorton Avenue.
Perhaps that should be my first area to address as the Federation’s members can be well
pleased with the new location, the office space and the relatively smooth transition from St
Dunstan’s Hill to EC2; itself a desirable part of the City of London, and close to the Bank of
England.
Those who have already acquainted themselves with the office at the September and
October Committee meetings will be aware that it is situated conveniently near the DLR rail
connection to City Airport (at Bank), to several mainline railway stations and of course to
the Underground. For those yet to visit 4 - 6 Throgmorton Avenue, it is a visually appealing
area to have the Federation’s now third home - previously at The Baltic Exchange, between
1970 - 1992 and for the past 22 years St Dunstan’s Hill, in EC3. It seems that FOSFA likes
a 22 year cycle, so it is anyone’s guess where it’s offices may be moving to in 2036?
That said, for the record the lease at EC3 expired and the owners of the building, the
Corporation of London, wished to sell the whole building for complete refurbishment or site
redevelopment. I am told that a hotel group has shown an interest in the building, but that is
not our concern.
What I can say is that the costs have inevitably risen for rent in what is a 10 year lease at
the new premises, but this was to be expected compared to the very favourable rates we
had achieved at St Dunstan’s Hill. Accommodation costs have risen by around 60%, which
itself sounds somewhat alarming, but coming from a low starting point in reality, and is very
manageable. I can also assure the members that you will not see an uplifting of
subscriptions or other service charges. Indeed, as this year’s Annual Accounts once again
show, a healthy surplus exists that covers these increases. In fact the overlapping rents
could not have been kept to a more favourable outcome, with less than a week involved;
very much offsetting some of the one off set-up costs.
Having an office move within July, into August was also convenient for our trade as,
secretariat wise, activities are relatively quiet and the disruption to the provision of services
and support minimal. I suspect that the staff did not find that to be the case, but come
September when certainly European offices get back to full manning and trade picks up,
the Federation’s staff were able to host the meetings, run the Basic Course and meet the
members’ needs.
The Council is pleased to have this aspect of an imposed office relocation exercise
completed in the very satisfactory manner that it was and my thanks go to all the staff for
their hard work and patience in making it happen and my special thanks to Stuart Logan
whose diligence, energy and commitment had the move done quickly at minimal costs with
minimum disruption to the services we provide. Thanks to you all.
The reports contained in the circulated Financial Statements once again convey what has
been achieved on the publications front and I will do no more than say that come January
2015, we can be confident that the contracts will be up to date and that some important
committee work has progressively been undertaken, by many willing participants. I will
however repeat my thanks to all who support the various strands of the Federation’s work
from amongst the membership.
I will leave it to others to set the agenda going forward, but will continue to give my support
to the organisation, and to Council. China has been identified as an area for our attention,
and we have given some thought to the best way of approaching the challenges we are
facing. Not easy, and I believe it will take time to gain that region’s confidence and
ultimately support, but essential to do so.
As my tenure as FOSFA’s president comes to an end I wish to reflect on the education role
that the Federation plays. It is wider than just our currently held UK based residential
courses; successful as they are. While we have only held the two seminars during my time
in office, this in Pakistan in December 2012 and in Indonesia in November 2013, we have
had other outreach, and even on a day to day basis the imparting and sharing of
knowledge, and occasionally wisdom, is evident. Our role in education must not only be to
those already in the trade but also to the wider audience of schools and Universities by
promoting the wonderful career opportunities that exist in this most basic of commodities.
This work needs to continue and be developed and we need the champions of our trade
and industry to be prepared to give their time and energy to promote our industry.
On that note and with my thanks once again to the membership for the opportunity afforded
to me, my thanks to all those that have supported me during my tenure and especially to
Stuart Logan whose guidance and patience has been invaluable, I leave my successors to
make their own mark on FOSFA’s ‘EC2 Chapter’. The proverbial baton changes from the
‘crusher on the Hill’ to the ‘trader on the Avenue’.”
3.
ANNUAL ACCOUNTS TO 31 MARCH 2014
The accounts for the year ended 31 March 2014 were adopted.
4.
COUNCIL
The Chief Executive reported that the membership of the Council for 2014/15 would be President, Deputy President, and Immediate Past President,
Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Oilseeds Committee,
Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Oils and Fats Committee,
Chairman of the Contracts Committee,
A NOFOTA representative in an ex-officio capacity.
The Chairmen of the Arbitrations and Appeals Committee and the Technical Committee act
as advisers to the Council. In the absence of both the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the
Oils and Fats and Oilseeds Section Committees, a designated alternate will be invited to
attend Council meetings on behalf of the Committee, and to hold one vote.
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5.
AUDITORS
It was proposed, seconded and resolved unanimously that Crowe Clark Whitehill be reappointed auditors of the Federation.
6.
AUDITOR'S REMUNERATION
It was proposed, seconded and resolved unanimously that the Council be empowered to fix
the Auditors’ remuneration.
7.
A member raised two matters. In response to the question whether successor consideration
was being given to the post of chief executive, the President indicated that it was.
Asked what plans, if any, were under consideration for expenditure on initiatives and
promotion in light of the very substantial reserves held by the Federation, the President
indicated that funds would be used to extend to the regions where FOSFA was currently not
proactive and well profiled, in particular China and Asia. Activities were slowly progressing in
that direction, but agreed that there was a lot more to do.
Smaller scale education sponsorship was also in place. These matters and the financial
position were frequently reviewed by Council, and that process would no doubt continue
under the new President.
THERE BEING NO OTHER BUSINESS, the President declared the meeting closed.
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