governance
Governance of the SDC Update from Adrian Abel, chair of the SDC Board Behind many charitable organisations is a strong and committed Board of trustees and the SDC is no different. The nine trustees on the SDC Board have been busy working away, in conjunction with the secretariat and staff, since they convened last September. So what have the trustees been up to in the last six months? We hope this update will enlighten you.
Trustee commitment Responsibilities have not been taken lightly and training has been an initial priority for all Board members. Each of the individual trustees has a particular area of expertise – mine being that of the governance, legal and charity aspects. Indeed all Board members must have an understanding of their roles as trustees of the SDC. Therefore, training is so important. The Charity Commission diligently applies the ‘public benefit’ test to all charities and the SDC is wholly committed to providing public benefits. Effective management systems in charity governance are identified by six hallmarks: ■ Clear purpose ■ Strong Board ■ Fit for purpose ■ Learning/improving ■ Financially sound/prudent ■ Accountable/transparent. ‘Clear purpose’ is often the most difficult to demonstrate in membership-based charities. The SDC has concentrated its work on sharing knowledge within the
Editor’s note
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The theme of this is issue is social responsibility. The main focus is given to such a vital resource in the textile industry, water, and we also have input from manufacturers and designers given their perspectives on this topic. The next issue (theme: textile machinery) will report from ITMA Asia where Andrew Filarowski will be attending. To arrange a meeting at the event, email: andrewf@sdc.org.uk (see also p.14).
Issue 2 | 2010
colour industry, with technical meetings, education, expert committees and publications all playing a role. The SDC business plan, which was formulated last year, ensures there is now a clear purpose for the Society and this is now being progressed as part of the trustees’ strategy. A ‘strong Board’ needs to be small enough to make decisions and follow them through, something that the SDC’s previous governing body, Council (with over 50 members), often failed to achieve. The new team of trustees is more focused and committed as a group. After four Board meetings, there has been an attendance rate of almost 90%, which helps to ensure our decisions are consistent.
Sustainable future This last year has seen the SDC positioning itself for the future, with a new vision and a new business plan in place. As part of this planning process, a Board decision was taken to rebrand. It was felt that a strong, consistent identity which reflects our new vision was fundamental to the delivery of our business plan. Thus, a new logo with clear brand guidelines was an early decision, reflecting a new beginning. Working to a sustainable future for the Society is a core focus of the business plan, and the Board has been presented with departmental strategies outlining our plans to achieve this. One of the overriding objectives of the Society is to promote good ethical and environmental working processes and best practice in the industry, so to lead by example another priority task was to formulate our own ‘Social Responsibility Statement’ (see page 7).
Market leaders The funds received from SDC Enterprises Ltd (SDCE), the wholly-owned SDC subsidiary, enables the Society to function, but SDCE exists in a highly competitive market, demanding prudence in revealing plans for the future. The smaller SDC Board has allowed SDCE to be more open about
its marketing plans. Areas have been selected where the Society can supplement the SDCE management team’s ability to identify and exploit new opportunities. The Society has also helped to increase the SDCE working capital, allowing it to expand and meet new opportunities. A major project that is currently going on behind the scenes is to ensure that the SDC has IT facilities that will enable us to move forward with all the technological developments in electronic communications that the 21st century brings. The previous Board had approved the purchase of a new integrated system, but the scale of the investment (over £100K) demanded that the new Board ensure the options being chosen were right for the Society and provided it with sufficient protection. The new system will be available later this year and will provide us with the tools needed to serve all members, by communicating more effectively. For the moment though, communication remains a challenge. We do have a Board trustee representing the membership (Peter Diggle). However, because the Board does not have specific representatives from the SDC regions (as Council previously did), we need to ensure methods are in place for conveying Board decisions and strategy to the membership. We would welcome advice on how this can be achieved. You can send in your ideas on this, or any other aspect of SDC governance, to: secretariat@sdc.org.uk. We introduced you to the new Board members in a recent issue of The Colourist (issue 4, 2009, page 9). A profile of the trustees is available, please visit: www.colourclick. org/131620.aspx