The President, Mr Rob Smith, presided. There were 21 members present. The meeting opened with the President welcoming the members to the meeting and calling on the CEO to read the Notice of the AGM.
AGENDA ITEM 1 – Report of Council and Financial Statements, 31 December 2008 The President proposed, with the meeting’s consent, that the report of the Trustees and the Financial Statements be taken as factual. There being no objections, the President stated that he would comment on a number of points from the Report. The Institute remained in a strong financial position, with no marked effect recorded to December 2008 from the downturn in financial markets. However 2009 would probably be a more challenging year, and the Trustees were paying close attention to areas of risk where these impacted both on membership numbers and on the Institute’s finances. Current membership While membership numbers remained relatively strong, the declining trend was continuing. Net membership of individual members continued to decline by 3% per year, from 1,785 individual members in December 2007 to 1,711 in December 2008. Forty-five per cent of current members were employed in the private sector, 42% in the NHS or related government departments, and 13% not employed. The average member’s age was 54 years. There were 65 new joiners in 2008. The President said the Institute needed to attract 140 new members a year to achieve stable membership numbers. Company affiliate member numbers had increased from 111 to 121, with 348 named company affiliate members. On 31 December 2008 the total IHEEM membership was 2,059, including company affiliate members, compared with 2,249 members in December 2007. The number of engineer-qualified members seeking registration with the Engineering Council via the Institute was continuing at low numbers, with 12 new registrations in 2008 (there were 10 in 2007). The total number of members registered as engineers was 817, compared with 829 in 2007. Comparing the Institute by the number of registered engineers with the other 35 engineering institutes, IHEEM is currently the 23rd largest institute, with 1,130 engineers registered with the EC. The accounts The President said the funds for 2007 had been restated as a result of the auditors back calculating branch financial activity now included within the account as a result of clarification of Charity Commission guidance. In 2008 there were incoming resources of £507,000, of note being the increase in seminar and conference activity contributions, from £22,000 in 2007 to £39,000 in 2008, and from £188,000 in 2007 to £244,000 in 2008, respectively. The additional income was largely due to another excellent conference exhibition and of incorporating branch seminars and conferences in the calculation. Resources expended in 2008 were £548,000. The President noted that the increase in seminar costs from £21,000 in 2007 to £36,000 in 2008 was a result of the increase in quality and quantity of seminars. Governance costs had increased from £27,000 in 2007 to £42,000 in 2008, largely accounted for by the short notice succession of auditors and an increase in the cost of mounting Council and committee meetings. Staff costs rose by 14%, following investment in the post of business development manager, and, for the latter part of the year, the administration officer, to deal with the extra loading of governance administration. The investment in office facilities in 2008 was concentrated on the new membership management and database system at a cost of £25,000, including licence fees and training. The annual Conference continued to be the touchstone of the Institute’s educational programme. The Council believed Harrogate provided an ideal venue for the time being. The 2008 event attracted 400 paying delegates. 75% being non-IHEEM members. Themed “Clean, Safe and Sustainable Environments for Care”, the conference ran in four parallel streams, presenting 30 different papers. The accompanying exhibition attracted 150 exhibitors. The two-day conference and exhibition combined attracted a total attendance of over 2,000 visitors and company employees, realising a surplus of £68,000. IHEEM’s seminar programme continued to provide educational and CPD opportunities for members. Seven seminars during the year covered three specialist healthcare engineering and estate manager subjects. The popular, expanding and quality IHEEM magazine, Health Estate Journal, continued to provide a high level of technical and educational articles for IHEEM’s membership. The President invited questions from the floor. One attendee asked for clarification of the valuation of the leasehold property at Portsmouth. The CEO stated that the property’s book and audited valuation was set at the purchase price and written off in a straight line over the 125 year lease to zero valuation. The property was professionally valued, classified as an informal valuation in 2007, and shown as a note in the accounts. This valuation showed the property could be disposed of and that the monies raised, including all costs of sale, would exceed the property’s audited valuation. There being no further statements or questions, the resolution that the Report of Council and the audited accounts be received was put to the vote and carried unanimously.
AGENDA ITEM 2 – Elections to the Council The President asked the CEO to report on the results of election to the Council. In accordance with the Institute’s Articles of Association the following elected members retired at the AGM’s conclusion: r David Hall, Branch Member, West Midlands. r Richard Boyce, General Member, Registered with the Engineering Council. r Darryn Kerr, General Member, Healthcare Professions. None of these members were eligible for re-election. The CEO reported that there were a number of nominations for the Council, with the majority of Council seats filled by elected members. The CEO read out the full list of Council members that would take effect from completion of the AGM. Darryn Kerr had been coopted onto the Council for an initial three years as chair of the Executive Committee, while Mike Ralph was coopted onto the Council in 2008 to chair the Journal Committee.
AGENDA ITEM 3 – Appointment of Auditors The President reported that at the 2008 AGM the resolution to appoint auditors for 2008 was not carried. The Council considered this appointment in June and October 2008, deciding in October to appoint Morris Crocker Chartered Accountants to prepare statutory accounts and audit of the Institute for three years commencing with the 2008 accounts. The President proposed the company be appointed as auditors to the Institute and that Council be authorised to fix their remuneration. The motion was carried unanimously.
AGENDA ITEM 4 – Special Business No special business having been notified in writing, the President thanked all those for attending for their presence and participation and declared the Annual General Meeting closed. President’s Address The President then gave his impression of the Institute during his first year in office, and of the challenges facing the Institute and the Council to move the Institute forward. During an “extremely interesting and very challenging” year he had devoted considerable time both to “finding out how the Institute works” and to talking to past Presidents. It had been agreed that Paul Kinsgmore, currently a General Member on IHEEM’s Council and the representative of Health Facilities Scotland (see also page 8) would take over as Institute President at the completion of the 2010 IHEEM AGM. In his discussions with past Presidents, key priorities had included thinking hard about the Institute’s future strategic direction, and addressing declining membership; individuals were currently leaving IHEEM faster than they were being recruited. Of particular concern was the fact that IHEEM’s overall membership numbers did not equate to even 10% of the “overall audience” of 25,000 potential members the Institute had calculated existed within the NHS and private companies. Over the next year the Institute would work to develop stronger strategic direction and reverse the decline in member numbers, with the establishment of a working group chaired by Paul Kingsmore, informed by the feedback received from the recent IHEEM membership survey. The President said working on this project would be his “key commitment” over the coming year. While looking forward to October’s Healthcare Estates 2009 conference and exhibition in Harrogate, the President believed the number of delegates would provide an indication of the current “state” of the market, and a “test” of whether NHS Trusts, increasingly “tightening their belts”, would allow staff time away from the office to attend such events. Despite the tough market conditions, the President “strongly hoped” for a good attendance, especially as the Institute’s continuing existence would “not be sustainable from membership subscriptions alone”. Current rules on charitable status also placed considerable onus on IHEEM to make the best possible use of its existing reserves and be seen to “create public benefit”. Asked by one attendee whether the current two-year term provided sufficient time for an incoming President to get to grips with the myriad of issues the role demanded, Rob Smith said this was “difficult to answer”, but that while his current manager gave him “considerable latitude” to combine his IHEEM role with the responsibilities of his full-time job, he might well “not get this for a longer period”. The President moved towards concluding the event by presenting the 2007 Northcroft Silver Medal (for the best Health Estate Journal technical paper by a member) to Geoff Dillow, for his article, Path lab gas system guidance reviewed, published in the October 2007 edition of the journal. It had been intended to present the winner with the Medal at last year’s Healthcare Estates conference, but he had been unable to attend due to ill health. The President then made a presentation to Richard Boyce, who retired from his role as a General Member registered with the Engineering Council at the AGM’s completion, to mark the Institute’s thanks for his contribution to its Council over the past 15 years.
Minutes of the 42nd Annual General Meeting held at the Royal Academy of Engineering, London, on Tuesday 12 May 2009.
