Coop members vote on changes to directorships
Nearly 70 people turned out for a Coop special members' meeting to discuss the election of directors.
The Channel Islands Coop announced earlier this month that it could reduce its dividend payment or drop it completely following its annual members’ meetings this spring.
But it was not part of the agenda and there was no mention of the controversial move at Tuesday night’s meeting at St Pierre Park.
Nearly 70 members attended the 90-minute meeting, and were quickly told by chairman Jon Bond that questions on dividends would be addressed at the Co-op’s annual meeting in May.
He added that what the board was proposing in the four motions in Tuesday’s meeting was not ground-breaking and did not ‘diminish member control’.
‘Many independent co-operatives across the UK have already implemented similar changes,’ he said.
‘However, we acknowledge that change can evoke mixed feelings, yet for us to prosper we must evolve to ensure the governance of the society is the best it can be.’
The first two motions concerned the election of the chairman and how long directors could stand, while motion three looked to reduce the minimum annual spend criteria for directors from £1,300 to £500.
The fourth motion, ‘to provide for proxy voting’ appeared to cause confusion within the membership. Board members explained that this was essentially to allow online voting.
Questions from members included ones from Deputies Peter Roffey, John Gollop, Chris Le Tissier and Aidan Matthews.
Each motion required a two-thirds majority to pass. The results are expected to be announced today, after a similar meeting was held in Jersey last night.
The society has paid 4% in dividend to shareholder members every year since 1980.
But announcing a possible change, CEO Mark Cox said that the dividend was a reward scheme that was dependent on the group’s financial performance.
‘And that has been affected by extremely challenging market conditions over the past few years,’ he said.
‘The board will put forward a proposal for the 2023 dividend at our annual members’ meeting and it will be for our members to vote whether they approve it.’
The Co-op annual meeting in Guernsey is on Tuesday 21 May at St Pierre Park.
