AGM and Annual Statement from the Chairman of Cambridge SkillsTap
January 10th, 2006 - 12:15
At: St John's Innovation Centre : [map]
AGM Meeting is at, St John's Innovation Centre - 12:00, 20th January 2006 Lunch will be provided, so we need to know numbers. Please register at the usual email - events@cambridgeskillstap.org.uk.
Chairman's Statement
I am pleased to report on our development since formation at the start of 2005. Our financial year ends on 31st October and so this is a formal report about the progress we have made over this period and an indication of where the Directors see our association moving during the coming year.
Highlights
It has certainly been a year of significant events. Our initial launch and the good number of members who paid the joining and annual subscription were very encouraging. Cambridge Network gave us early space with a 3 minute pitch at the March Open Meeting and a joint networking event in May. We were clear about making our mark on the local business scene; we planned a £10,000+ turnover in our first year.
Placing John Hall at Inca Digital and receiving a £2,000 fee was seen as the hope of future possibilities.
Initial response to the idea of an Institute of Portfolio Working was good and we established a number of encouraging leads with some key local business figures.
Equally significant has been the excellent arrangements made by a dedicated team under Thak Patel who created and ran the Thursday evening networking events which drew in both members and many potential members as well as other interested people.
We also started well with an attractive website and good graphics, realised through the then marketing director, David Jenkins.
Unexpected Hurdles
However, it is also true that the process of getting established has proved a great deal harder in a number of respects than most anticipated. Losing David Jenkins from the management team and his subsequent resignation after his election as a County Councillor meant a loss of capacity in his critical area of responsibility.
Thak Patel's need to be in India over three months in the summer also had its impact on making progress.
The management team has sought at several points to draw in other members to support the marketing and other admin activities. The major effort went into exploring the concept presented in our July meeting of presenting ourselves with greater professional credibility in the form of the Association of Portfolio Professionals. A number of excellent elements came out of this exercise but sadly we found ourselves severely resource limited to put the concept into thoroughgoing effect. We decided to implement the best features within our present structure and defer the remainder. In particular, we are now presenting member's details to prospective clients on the website via a gateway page, which shows our capabilities by industry sector and functional skills.
Sadly, we have also had to "park" the Institute elements pending greater resources.
Most significantly, the more we pressed the more we got consistent feedback that we were too much of an unknown, both in terms of an operation and our product offering, to persuade prospective clients to commit to any significant fees for the introductions we could provide.
Nature of our Commercialisation
The key basis of our formation was the recognition that we needed real income to fund the publicity and central admin functions, rather than remaining an essentially voluntary association who would be perpetually funds limited. Getting traction to the promotion of portfolio working will need substantial resources.
It became clear that, for now, we should not put any hurdles in the way of potential clients using our members' personnel, and so we have dropped the fee structure based on any charges to clients. However, as explored with the Assoc. of Portfolio Professionals, we think that a levy on member's who are successful in gaining work through Cambridge SkillsTap is fair and can, at this stage of our development, generate relevant income. We are therefore proposing an amendment to Cambridge SkillsTap's Code of Conduct at the forthcoming AGM.
The levy on successfully obtained business would be capped at £500 and be 5% of professional fees received from work which is found through Cambridge SkillsTap, either from the direct activity (website, emails etc) OR from another member.
We know that this approach relies on the honesty and goodwill of members and cannot be 100% policed, but the nature of all business relationships depends on trust and I know that our Chairman's Statement
I am pleased to report on our development since formation at the start of 2005. Our financial year ends on 31st October and so this is a formal report about the progress we have made over this period and an indication of where the members are experienced business people who act with integrity.
Taking things forward
In the meantime, we have to continue in our "voluntary" mode and the rate of progress depends on the offerings from individual members until our income from introductions grows.
Everyone involved has given their time and travel expenses without direct cost to Cambridge SkillsTap; we shall continue to be reliant on this arrangement in 2006. It is vulnerable to the work-loading of individual members, but we know of no way around this.
We have formed a revised group to organise our meetings both daytime and evening. We shall hold as many of these as our resources allow and publish the schedule as far ahead as we can.
We are spending funds on a brochure to publicise Cambridge SkillsTap, which should be available at the AGM and is intended for members to use as widely as possible to raise our profile and reinforce our brand. We shall use the medium for marketing that Cambridge Network provides as often as we can.
We are keeping the annual subscription at £50 but have decided to offer a £20 discount to members who renew promptly AND set up a standing order to pay Cambridge SkillsTap regularly. Details to follow.
We have existing mechanisms to reward particular members for introductions (by way of commissions). We shall keep these under regular review and continue to provide incentives wherever practical.
Finally
Together with all the directors, I am most appreciative of the many hours freely contributed by a range of members over the year. We have also significantly benefited from the time, hospitality and advice of our advisory board. In particular, Eversheds provision of our evening meeting venue has been most valuable and I am delighted that Walter will present to us after the AGM.
There are too many individuals to list here, but I hope you will join with me in thanking them and wishing Cambridge SkillsTap a progressively more prosperous series of activities in 2006.
Alan Syrop
Chairman