NPS Extraordinary General Meeting

[orion]

Can anyone please explain what was the outcome of EGM meeting? Also roughly how many attended? Thank you

[piper]

There were positives to be take from the meeting, the rumours were addressed and some of our fears were confirmed. The "outsourcing seems to me to have been the only option they were left with. BIG mistakes have been made, not least some of the personel involved. To put your trust in a firm of accountants and despite questions raised by various members of council, to carry on using them for the amount of time that they did is, not only negligent but bordering on in insanity, difficult to put trust in any of those presiding over this debacle. I am a positive person and I truly believe that the NPS can come back, bigger and stronger, there was a lot of love in the room for this society. It needs new younger blood and LEADERSHIP. Stand up and be counted all of you who want this society to move onward, people with skills to offer get yourselves nominated . Not just showing and breeding but business, finance and I.T.
There was a lot o sense talked today and hopefully, therein lies a solution. It's no wonder some people are angry, they are entitled to be but we have to let them try and find answers now,what's done is done.

[connie]

Piper my friend didn't stay so doesn't know the result, do you know the result of the 3 questions posed or where they not released in the end?

[piper]

all three resolutions failed.

[hs]

I think the problem they will have is that a lot people with the skills needed will be working full time in demanding jobs and maybe not have enough time to give to the society to sort the problems out, unless maybe they are retired.

Volunteers are not the answer they need to invest in professional paid staff with these skills, who can devote plenty of time to sorting the problems out, unfortunately if their financial situation is bad then they won't have the money to do this unless some rich benefactor steps in or they can really push up their member numbers to increase their income.

It sounds like they have appointed a consultant to help them out hopefully they have choosen some with plenty of experience and a high sucess rate.

Dec 16, 2012 22:12:37 GMT piper said:

It needs new younger blood and LEADERSHIP. Stand up and be counted all of you who want this society to move onward, people with skills to offer get yourselves nominated . Not just showing and breeding but business, finance and I.T. .

[netherbrae]

The Nps will survive, it is a wonderful society with a huge history. More than anything it needs the support of its members , I have paid my subscription and have faith that it will survive these difficult times. Please support it through this, pay your membership and allow the society to go forwards.

[paul]

Agree completely with Piper and Netherbrae.

David Ingle made the point that if there was ever a time that the NPS needed the members to stick by the society, that time is now.
It is a very sad situation but for things to get better, tough decisions have had to be made. Lets hope that the NPS can move towards a brighter future with the backing and support from the members!!

[chloesmum]

Very sad times and I don't want to appear flippant by asking this question as I appreciate there are more serious matters to be resolved and of course very sad for the lovely staff at the NPS office, however I am just finalising our show schedule for next year and have planned NPS Summer qualifiers. So the question is will the Summer Championship show go ahead?
Should we still affiliate for these? If anyone was at the meeting and knows if the Summer show is still being planned with the qualifiers I would be grateful for an answer before our schedule goes to print.
I really hope the answer is yes, having persuaded our committee to hold more NPS classes this year.

[piper]

To be honest chloesmum the question was not asked but the Summer champs has to be an integral part of way forward. We were asked to renew our memberships so the assumption must be onwards and upwards, albeit with new blood on council.

[girly]

It was a very difficult meeting made more so by some members, who wanted to dictate the way the meeting was run and who spoke, from the floor. There was a lot of personal nastiness and rudeness from the floor. Some people were so intent to get their questions asked that in some cases they weren't listening and the same questions kept being asked although sensible complete answers had been given.

The trustees are voted on by the members to run the NPS. The trustees relied on paid professionals, accountants and the CEO who it appears may not have done the work to the standard required. When the trustees realised things were bad they bought in an expert from the horse world to have a look at the situation and advise them. Hard decisions are being made in order to keep the society going.

I felt very sorry for the remaining trustees who their time and energy so that the members get the benefits. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them decide that the abuse and nastiness aren't worth it and stand down.

[piper]

I have to say I didn't really see any of the questions asked from the floor as " personal nastiness " I saw some people who were quite angry and justifiably so. None of the trustees ( that we had voted for ) actually gave any first hand accounts of what had happened. Mr Ingle was bought in after the events to clear up the mess and his was pretty much the only voice we heard. He gave a measured and calm account as he saw it and delivered ALL the unpalatable news, ie the sale of the offices, the redundancy of the staff and the outsourcing of everything held dear to the society, not an enviable task. I find it sad that of all the personalities on the "top" table, leadership was not very much in evidence and that is probably why the NPS are in the mess that they are. Why they asked for resolutions to maintain the status quo is a mystery to me as they clearly do need fresh blood and dedication to inspire the resurrection of the society. I for one, hope that the anger can be replaced by energy to help with the rebuilding. I do agree that some questions were repeated but since the top table were confused as to how many people they actually have on council and who is due to stand down, it is perhaps forgivable that some of the audience were also confused.

[gardenia]

I personally feel very let down by the National Pony Society and the way it has been run. I have been a long standing member and supporter. I have benefitted from the NPS training scheme that they ran many years ago, also having bred native and part bred ponies have felt that the society was always on hand to support, encourage and promote the very best in native and riding/part bred ponies.

However, after listening at the meeting yesterday it appears that the NPS finds itself at "crisis point". How has this happened I ask? Surely this has not come about overnight? How has the business side of things gone so badly wrong? Were all the accountants used over the years completely incompetent? Were all the Treasures appointed completely ignorant of the situation that they found themselves in?
Why do the current trustees appear to swallow what is being recommended by Mr Ingle hook line and sinker?

The very fact that the database for the Riding Pony register is being outsourced to Wetherby's and the show administration overseen by GM can only be a retrograde step in my opinion. What knowledge do Wetherby's have with part bred and riding pony stock? What access will they have to all the old records? Where will all the old records go? This is not something that a company can do without charging a substantial amount of money?

I fully appreciate that expertise is required in order to get to the bottom of how this financial mess occurred. However, it seems criminal to me that there will not be a "face" of the NPS even if this means renting suitable offices and hiring in a skeleton staff that firstly have the expertise to run databases but also have knowledge of the NPS its history and loyalty to boot! We cannot kid ourselves that at the rate that decisions are being made the National Pony Society as we know it will not be around for much longer. If as has been stated the office has been sold there would be funds available. Also, I am certain that there is a great deal of expertise within the membership that could be obtained in order that we could keep this wonderful Society intact.

[piper]

Substantially agree gardenia.

[Guestless]

Nominations forms are now available for the AGM. IMO we badly need people who have business experience to get on the Council to help sort the situation out. I don't think the current situation of having people with more than one hat helps - we need people who are prepared to act purely in the interests of NPS and not those who have a foot in multiple camps.

As for the sale of the office...was a question asked yesterday as to whethe this was done properly (on the open market) or has a deal been struck between buddies?

[zara]

David ingle is involved at a number of societies as many figures are I think he will be able to turn things round will the nps get the riding pony stud book back ? At some point such a shame

[honey007]

I did not attend the meeting and have read this thread with great interest.
On receipt of my subscription renewal request I dutifully sent off my £65 totally unaware of any of the information or facts that came to light at the extraordinary meeting .
However this cannot be said of the NPS when sending me my renewal request.
My point is not that I do not wish to be a member of or support the NPS but at this point we do not quite know what we will be a member of?
On the renewal form it states “reduced rates for Equifest entries” that is incorrect.
Will we still get a year of legal liability and accident cover or has that gone?
I am not sure as a member I should have been asked to re-join prior to knowing some facts.

[helle]

I must say I agree fully with honey007, which is why I am not sending my money off for a minute. I really want to support NPS like we have done for years, but feel very confused as to what I would actually be supporting.

[roseview]

All questions for the AGM in February perhaps?

[helle]

Dec 17, 2012 17:53:40 GMT roseview said:

All questions for the AGM in February perhaps?

Indeed, unfortunately membership renewals are due before then

[piper]

re sale of office an " offer came out of the blue " 3 valuations were obtained and a price agreed. Altho stud book has gone to be administered by wetherbys, it is still an NPS passport. Applications and fees will go to the Nps and they will pay wetherbys on a sliding scale for the work they do. Nomination forms are being sent out this week so let's hope some competant people are put forward.

[doddy]

But the building was not put on the market Also the sale was not sanctioned by the trustees

[cyffryn]

I have read these comments with interest as was unable to attend the meeting.
I sincerely hope NPS in its original context continues. Perhaps this has been a necessary shake up and the society can take a good look at itself and it can return to its roots of training and welfare which IMO seem to have been sorely neglected in recent times.
Over the past couple of decades NPS has become more and more of a Show Society and to many of us up north is predominantly geared to the South of England where there is more money and many ponies are professionally produced and money talks !!
I may be reading the info wrong but I see by passing the stud book and Shows to specialist companies they are in fact paying for the job to be done by professionals in the field (hopefully a better choice than the company(s) who got them into this mess ) which is what many companies do. If they are just being paid to do a job they should not be taking anything over.
However I do agree with what was said above in that Trustees should not have interests in other societies so there can be no conflict .
Interesting times and a lot of soul searching ahead

[withgusto]

Dec 17, 2012 18:42:56 GMT doddy said:

But the building was not put on the market Also the sale was not sanctioned by the trustees

which one would imagine should have been necessary in terms of the NPS memorandum of articles (or whatever form of rules they use)....I don't think it is too difficult to get 3 valuations.... I remember being asked by a surveryor what value I wanted to be put on my previous flat!

Dec 17, 2012 16:25:46 GMT zara said:

David ingle is involved at a number of societies as many figures are I think he will be able to turn things round

Is David Ingle on the Showing Register committee/board? I apologise wholeheartedly if he is not involved but I did hear today that he is.... personally I see that as a conflict of interest if that is so, particularly given the difficulties that NPS is going through. He was also previously involved with Wetherby's....and where have the NPS passports moved to?

I'm not trying to stir things up.... I want the NPS to survive and I think people need to look at issues in depth before trying to work out who they would like to see at the helm moving on from the AGM.

[springer]

I was unable to go to the EGM but am an NPS member. Did anyone say how much the Alton office was sold for? Surely the sale price would help pay off some of their losses or are the NPS keeping the sale money for a future office purchase? I hope they can keep their qualifiers & sponsors too. eg The Picton ,The NFU , The Silver Medal In Hand & Ridden & the Peasedown to name just a few. They have always had qualifiers worth going to a show to try & win. It's been a tough year for many people in business & pleasure & everyone has had to cut their cloth accordingly to keep their heads above the ground. Good Luck for 2013 NPS & to everyone else too.

[roseview]

Helle, I think you find there is either 2 or 3 months 'grace' for renewing your membership each year and the AGM will be before that.

[the showing register]

In reply to post about DI and The Showing Register .. He has no connection whatsoever with us apart from being a speaker for the MasterClass at HOYS. To be clear he is a board member of The British Show Horse Society which is we're the confusion may have started.

Wendy

Admin Showing Register

[connie]

From what I understand was said, an offer came in that they considered they got three valuations from different agents and the office were sold for the top valuation that they got - £220,000 this money is to be ring fenced for the future and is to be kept separate from any other money they may have in different accounts.

I also understand that the contract with David Ingles is on a rolling basis and he is not signed up for a year, it is to continue for the length of time that is needed to sort things out and put a plan of action in place.

[nomdeac]

Dec 16, 2012 18:23:00 GMT Lanwarnick said:

I was at the meeting. These recent posts are alarmist and ill informed. The NPS will survive. They have outsourced some work. You will still get an NPS passport. If people don't join that will hurt the NPS. Wait for the NPS to release information on their site before issuing the last rites on here. They aren't dead!!!!!!!!!!!!

Glad to hear it, looking forward to renewing my membership

[gh]

I've read about half of this and am beginning to lose the will to live! Can ANYONE give an authoritative and succinct answers to the following.
1 if the sale of the office proceeds are to be 'ring fenced' that presumes ALL of the money, why was it sold if not to pay off debts.
2 If wetherbys are issuing passports/maintaining stud book and grandstand media are running the summer champs and one has native ponies not 'riding' ponies, what will NPS offer? And why should I continue to subscribe to NPS? Am happy to o so if someone explains
3. Will it be sufficient to be a member of the showing register toenter HOYS qualifiers?
Thanks in anticipation.

[forester]

u can be a member of TSR to do HOYS qualifers, but please support NPS they need all us members to stick by them in this tough situation,

cant help you with q 1 and 2, although i can only "assume" the money from selling the office is being kept to help co ordinate NPS through this tough patch and so the shows can continue?