1. Welcome & apologies for absence.
Apologies – Ewan McCarthy (EM), Richard Oxlade (RO), David Sloan (DS), Roger Scrutton (RAS), Rachel Wilson (RW), Ross Lilley (RL),
2. Register of interests – check & update.
All present checked and signed the register of interests.
3. Approval of the Minutes of the Meeting of Directors on 21 September 2016
Approved
4. Matters arising from the minutes of 21 September (not covered in the agenda below)
- Formal agreement for loan of club equipment (RS).
- A proforma was presented to those present, the idea being to formalise agreements between clubs and the 6 day company to ensure understanding of the agreements.
- Drum Awards & Highlands and Islands Tourism awards (CM)
CM attended these award presentations (See December SCORE for more details)
5. Finance report (KR)
KR advised that the accounts and tax return have been filed.
A discussion took place on the level of minimum reserves that it is prudent to hold in case of the cancellation of an event, taking into account ongoing costs such as professional officer contributions to the SOA and advance expenditure on mapping and other one-off costs.
6. Ownership and Maintenance of SPORTident and associated kit.
RS presented a paper on the equipment that it is considered that the 6 day company owns. A suggestion was made that the 6 day company should deal with maintenance while SOA covers the annual insurance costs as a practical working arrangement. RS to investigate a capital expenditure plan for this equipment over the coming year.
Action: RS
7. Royal Deeside 2017
CM presented his report on progress with assistance from JM.
Areas and mapping – benchmark courses are in from all but one day.
Event Centre costs are currently worst case scenario in the budget and will reduce as we confirm which rooms are required.
Campsite facilities will require a deposit to secure their services. However the overall cost was in line or less than the budgeted amount.
A couple of central organisers meetings have been held.
World ranking event status is still to be clarified.
Skips and recycling facilities to be deployed at each arena.
Sponsorship from Ramboll has been secured.
Contactless punching was discussed and the final decision was to be delayed until after JK 2017.
Use of ACTIVNorth photography or another supplier was discussed and due to large increase in cost this year it was considered not worth taking up this year.
Budget is holding up well to the ongoing changes with adequate contingencies so far.
The sprint event on the Wednesday has been subcontracted to Graham Gristwood to deliver the event.
8. Strathearn 2019 – 28 July to 3 August
CM shared a report on progress for Strathearn 2019. A number of potential areas have been explored, and landowners identified. The potential number of new areas will impact on mapping costs. The World Masters and the Swiss 5 Day competition will overlap with the end of the proposed event week. A general overview was given of progress to date including provisional areas that may be used and those that have been discounted for various reasons such as no approval from landowner, environmental concerns or unsuitable area.
It is proposed that a campsite and the event centre will be in Crieff.
9. Strategy and Business Plan
CM shared an updated draft (from previous comments at September meeting) prior to the meeting, Ewan Mcarthy has made some comments that are yet to be merged into the body of the text. A fully updated document shall be circulated by CM to the board and an agreement will be reached via email correspondence.
Once complete CM will put the agreed version on the Company web site to replace the current online version.
Action All: Review updated draft and send comments to CM.
10. SOA Events Manager
CM has potentially spent more time on 6 day company business than a strict split of hours would indicate. However it is considered that there are peaks and troughs in his 6 day activity and it will balance out.
11. SOA business relevant to 6-Day Company
In his absence, RAS had previously circulated a report on recent SOA business and those attending reviewed key points. The possible allocation of any reserves was discussed. However at this point in the event cycle the 6 day company is at a low point of cash in hand, with the focus on maintaining an agreed reserve as discussed in the finance report. This will be considered further once initial indications of entry levels for Royal Deeside are known.
12. AOB
A discussion took place on whether the sponsorship strategy for 6 day events should be addressed by the 6 day company rather than on an individual event basis.
13. Future meeting dates
Wednesday 15 February 2017
Wednesday 10 May 2017
The meeting closed at 9.10pm