Bute and Cowal Credit Union Ltd.
Twenty-second Annual General Meeting 3rdFebruary 2016
Directors’ Report
The report covers the year October 2014 – September 2015 and to 19.1.16.
We thank the officers of St. Paul’s Church for once again offering us the use of the Church for our Annual General Meeting. It is greatly appreciated.
During the year the first stages of the implementation of changes to the regulations governing credit unions were introduced. This meant a steep learning curve and a great deal of work for your Board and Staff. The purchase of an app. for our financial software (Custom) means we are able to deal electronically with the reports to our regulators concerning the state of readiness of members’ details in relation to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
I am pleased to report we are on top of all this and we are confident we will meet all requirements when they are fully implemented in the current year. However, we need to reinforce our Board for the longer term, and this will be a priority effort in the current year.
The number of Loans issued was 130, value £149,900. (2013/14 140 £130,500).
Loan Book value at 30 September was £126,400. (30 September 2014 £90,000).
Shares at 30th September £259,700.(30 September 2014 £214,900).
The increase in value of individual Loans issued; and in the amount of Shares deposited is very positive for the viability of the credit union.
Despite considerable unusual expenditure related primarily to costs associated with purchase and fitting out of 29 Ferry Brae; and additional software apps. we had an Income/Expenditure surplus of £2,187.
The opening of our Dunoon office at 29 Ferry Brae on 27 October 2015 was a major highlight. The premises are centrally situated making them easily accessed and visible. Our Dunoon staff, who up till then had been working from very cramped facilities in the premises of Argyll Voluntary Action (now TSI Argyll & Bute) at Edward Street, made a smooth transition. There was no interruption to services to the members. The Board’s grateful thanks go to them.
The Board’s thanks, also, to Manager Alistair McLaren and his staff at the TSI office for their forbearance and support. The use of a “pop-up “office was vital to confirm our belief that an office in Dunoon was worthwhile and viable in the long term, before making a decision to purchase premises.
We regretfully said farewell to our Treasurer, David McIntosh, who left for warmer climes. David was able to more fully integrate our day to day working with our financial software (Custom). We are very grateful for that and we wish him well in his new abode.
Alison Johnston, Asst. Manager Rothesay, has had to step down, but we hope to welcome her back later in 2016.
We welcomed Kim Findlay to the Board in the current year – Kim brings us legal expertise.
Our thanks to staff member Neil Owen for agreeing to be our Financial Administrator; and to Peter Flanagan, who has been part of the Dunoon team since its early days, for accepting the post of Manager of the Dunoon office.
In the current year Linda McGuigan (Rothesay) and Margaret Clark, Jamie Collings, and Eileen Cowley (Dunoon) have joined our general staff.
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There are Credit Committees at Rothesay and Dunoon; and a Credit Control Officer at Rothesay with a staff member at Dunoon undergoing training for the post there.
We have 5 Board members ( filling the Treasurer’s post is a top priority); a Supervisor; a Financial Administrator; 2 Managers; and 10 General Staff ( 5 Rothesay; 5 Dunoon).
The Rothesay and Dunoon offices are open Tuesdays 10.30-13.30; and Rothesay office Saturdays 10.00 – 12.30. It is hoped to be able to open Dunoon on Saturdays later this year.
Training for Board, Supervisor and Staff is ongoing. It includes attending SLCU conferences with workshops, and training sessions at our offices provided by the SLCU and our software providers; plus in-house training.
Our auditors, Sharles Auditors Ltd. have given us much appreciated support, advice and encouragement and the Board will be proposing their re-engagement.
Our thanks to our internal auditor (Supervisor) Andrew Swift for his essential oversight of our affairs.
BCCUL is part of an international movement. We keep in touch with what is happening worldwide through our membership of the Scottish League of Credit Unions. The SLCU is our trade body and acts as a link with credit unions throughout Scotland; and, very importantly, provides advice regarding Regulatory requirements and training in all aspects of the running of a credit union. We appreciate and thank Dermot O’Neill, General Manager, and his staff for this.
Our financial computer programme, Custom, and our internal computer network are essential for the functioning of the credit union. Our grateful thanks go to George and Elaine Weir, our Programme providors, and Paul Welsh, our IT advisor for their always prompt and effective response to emergencies and requests for advice.
Membership Total at 30 September 2014 was 376 .( Rothesay 344; Dunoon 32)
There were 63 new members in 2014-15 (Rothesay 35 Dunoon 28).
Total at 30 September 2015 was 418 including 9 Junior (Rothesay 357 Dunoon 61).
Total at 19 January 2016 was 421 (Rothesay 356 Dunoon 65) including 12 Junior(16 new and 13 closed since 1 October 2015)
In recent years the accounts closed ( mainly through members leaving the Island and deaths) has meant our ongoing Total membership figures each year end do not reflect the degree of positive dynamic in membership numbers which is occurring despite decreasing populations in Bute and Cowal.
Our new website is in place for which we thank our webmaster Alison Cross. Please take time to look at it, we think it provides all the essential information but let us know what you think. At this stage we are not offering online account management which was indicated as a possibility last year.
Publicity is important for the development of the credit union movement generally and for individual credit unions. The Credit Union Movement has never been more prominent than during the past year. This has been of help to BCCUL but the need for ongoing local publicity is a constant. The local press is vital for this and we greatly appreciate the space the Buteman and Dunoon Standard continue to give to reporting our work. Our local Cricket Club carried an advertisement for us in their programme to far flung fields and we hope to run with that again this year.
The opening of the Dunoon office, especially the Official Opening by Brendan O’Hara MP on 13 November, which was much appreciated, provided great publicity.
The Board is grateful for the support of our local Councillors, MSP and MP. Our thanks go to them.
Above all the thanks of the Board must go to the managers and staff of both offices for their unstinting efforts throughout the year. Changes and developments, whether in regulations or personnel or location, can be trying and difficult to accommodate but our credit union has absorbed them without detriment to members’ services.
The year ahead is challenging, but your Board is confident that we are well prepared to meet it successfully.
Bute and Cowal Credit Union
Board / Staff List at 3 February 2016
Board
Janet O’Sullivan (President)
Brian Balmain (Secretary)
Treasurer (vacant)
Michael Boyce (Dunoon) Board Representative on Dunoon Credit Committee
Kim Findlay (Legal) Co-opted
Avril Walker (Admin. Secretary) Representative on Rothesay Credit Committee
Supervisor
Andrew Swift
Financial Administrator
Neil Owen
Managers
Doreen Weir (Rothesay) Chair of Credit Committee; Credit Control Officer
Peter Flanagan (Dunoon) Chair of Credit Committee
General Staff
Rothesay
Ruby Cowie
Greg Mercer-Brown
Linda McGuigan
Basia Ligeza-Craig
Billy Sprowl Secretary Credit Committee
Dunoon
Anne Cameron Secretary Credit Committee
Margaret Clark
Jamie Collings
Eileen Cowley
Shirley Robins Member Credit Committee
(Undergoing training as Credit Control Officer)
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