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DirectorsUKElectionRegulationsChanges
The Directors UK Board has voted to approve new regulations for Directors UK elections. Directors UK Chair Steve Smith and CEO Andrew Chowns explain the changes below.
Under our current regulations Board members may serve three two-year terms in office (maximum of six years) before they have to step down. We currently have elections every two years, with the next election due in June 2019.
Board members have agreed that these two-years terms are too short for new Board members to become really effective. It takes a good six-twelve months to get fully up to speed with the way the Directors UK Board works, so just as you are finding your feet the election process starts all over again. The election process costs money and takes a substantial amount of our resources to run: the Management team start planning the election process in the January of the year in which the election is held. This effectively means the election cycle starts 18 months after the previous election. Whilst it’s really important that we have a transparent democratic process for the membership to elect Board members, this has to be balanced against the costs and resources and the effectiveness of Board members.
The Board has decided that we will be more effective as a Board if we change the rules so Board members serve two three-year terms in office and to hold elections every three years instead of every two years. Board members will continue to serve a maximum of six years. This change would significantly reduce the administrative burden on the Management team of holding elections every two years, allowing them to focus on other, more important work on behalf of all members.
The Board has also considered that under our existing rules we are due to hold our next election in June 2019, right in the middle of our transition to the new Future Rights project when the current UK Rights Agreement comes to an end. Changing the Board in the middle of this transition could be extremely disruptive when the focus needs to be on making it a success, particularly if we ended up losing experienced Board members. This indicates that it would be desirable to postpone the election currently set for June 2019 at least until after the expected implementation date of the new Future Rights project.
If the election is run in June 2020 half of the current Board will have served five continuous years in office, and the other half will have served three years. This latter group may stand for another three-year term if they wish. If the first group are allowed to stand again, they will end up serving eight continuous years, which some may feel is an unreasonably long term. Additionally, this would mean that in 2023 the entire Board would be ineligible to stand again – a situation that would be hugely destabilising for us and one we cannot allow to happen.
However, if the election is postponed until June 2021 half of the current Board will have served six continuous years in office and must resign, and the other half will have served four years. This latter group may stand for another three-year term if they wish.
The Board has therefore decided that a postponement of the next election to June 2021 offers us the greatest stability during this period of radical change, and the easiest transition to the new three-yearly cycle of elections.
In order to reduce the risk that we change the entire Board and the Chair and Vice-Chairs at the same time - which could be extremely disruptive - the Board has agreed that the posts of Chair and Vice-Chair should continue to be two-year terms, and that the Full Board should be given the opportunity to re-elect these posts every two-years. This would mean the incumbent Chair and Vice-Chair will offer themselves for re-appointment by the Full Board in June 2019 and thereafter in June 2021.
Steve Smith (Chair of Directors UK), Andrew Chowns (CEO of Directors UK).