AGM 2021 – what do you think?

Well, our first-ever online AGM was certainly a real occasion.

Our head office building, in the centre of Beverley, was a buzz of socially-distanced activity as our team prepared for this momentous event, supported by a very talented film crew.

We’re pleased to say that it went off without a hitch and the saying ‘it’ll be alright on the night’ proved true for our Chairman Stuart Purdy and Chief Executive Karl Elliott, who were leading the event.

The feedback we received from those who participated at the time has been resoundingly positive and this has given real impetus to plans we already had in train to review the format of this really important calendar event for engaging with the members that are our bedrock.

Of course, this year, our hand was forced by the exceptional circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and we opted to stream our AGM online in order to enable members to be part of it, albeit from a distance, after having to hold the meeting behind closed doors in 2020.

However, we were already considering the possibility of sharing the event virtually, to enable members further afield than East Yorkshire to take part more easily. We’re now taking the learnings from this year and looking at all manner of possibilities for the future, including running the event from a bigger venue and offering our members the opportunity to attend either in-person or online, with the potential of even including some entertainment in collaboration with community partners, all COVID-permitting of course.

We don’t want to assume anything, though, and will be consulting to members over the next few months, to discover what you would like to see from future AGMs, before taking the plunge.

In the meantime, if you weren’t able to be there live on 26 April, you can still see what it was all about, by viewing our recording of the event, here.

Our Chief Executive, Karl Elliott, said: “Engaging with the members who effectively own our business is hugely important to us, as a mutual building society, and it was great to be able to still offer them some kind of participation this year despite the limitations imposed by the coronavirus pandemic.

“However, our aspiration is to build our member interaction, not just at AGM time but at other points in the year as well, and this year’s streamed event has given a real inkling as to what’s possible.”

We’d love to hear your feedback as we go through that process of deciding what should come next, so please do let us have your views regarding our AGM video, and ideas for things you’d like us to consider doing in the future, via email.