JEC 2017 AGM Minutes

Calum McKechnie (Global General Manager, Parts & Accessories, Jaguar Land Rover.

Calum explained that he had only recently joined JLR Classic with responsibility for product development, sourcing and sales.

£7m had been invested in the business and they had been given everything they asked for, Plus £10m in the new Classic Works facility in Coventry.

The business is based on two aspects – a factory to produce products, and a service facility like a dealership with showroom, repair facilities, and driving experiences, etc.

Current projects include – Legend Lightweight E-type and XKSS, the Reborn Land Rover Series 1 and Jaguar E-type, and Range Rover Classic. The business is now buying in cars and offering them for sale, as well as providing existing owners with servicing, restoration, authentication, and new products, including significant new ideas like the E-type Zero. There are also driving experiences, racing and factory tours. 

From the parts perspective, the business is identifying what is needed to build and rebuild cars, provide parts for customers, producing new products for internal use and for sale at retail level.

For all this to happen the business is investing in people with 30 for the development and introduction of parts, also with a dedicated and expanding sales channel. For parts alone the current budget is £20m. The aim being to keep cars on the road, avoid scrappage, with quality product at a realistic price.

The principles are that any car that has been out of production for ten years will now be considered a ‘classic’, which means that the latest model to be incorporated into this category is the S-type (10 years old in 2018).

The supply of parts will be based on what is essential, those items that can keep a car off the road, and/or failing an MOT, including body panels. Jaguar Land Rover Classic is also looking at rarer parts for racing, unique items for rare models like the XJ220, much of which will be very low volume, perhaps even made to order, according to demand.

Almost ready for launch are 30 new E-type body panels, with other items as well, making around 1800 items coming into stock shortly.

There will also be functional accessories for more up-to-date products that were not around at the time of the car’s original manufacture, but which are now deemed necessary. For examples these include air conditioning for some export market classics, power assisted steering systems, upgraded brakes, etc.

Many new products are down to tooling and so the business has been identifying lost tooling and that held by other businesses, bringing it back in-house, refurbishing where necessary and where this is possible, it brings down the cost of products for the customer because tooling costs do not have to be calculated into a price. Over 300 pieces of tooling have already been recovered, some of which enable Classic to remake XJS bonnets and portions of the original headlight units.

There are also to be lifestyle products made available. For example childrens Land Rovers and E-types. Near to launch are digital radios built to look in period but incorporating touch screen, sat nav, Blue Tooth connectivity, music streaming and links to mobile phone. These will be branded Jaguar and Land Rover but will also be available unbranded for use in other classic vehicles.

On top of all this, by next year Jaguar Land Rover will have a global e-commerce capacity amounting to £1.8m of investment. For more modern cars ECUs are being looked at as so many are currently no longer available. The company is also working with Michelin and Dunlop to produce tyres, new windscreens to fit E-types, gears for Moss gearboxes, new XK engine blocks and much more.

Questions from the floor

Jim Mann (Modern XK Forum) – Does Classic have any plans to roll out their products through the Jaguar dealerships because of great distances from customers to their base?

CMcK – No, although we may partner with a specific dealership or other body to get some regional coverage, but dealerships generally are not set up for the classic business. As far as overseas markets are concerned a Classic Works in Essen (Germany) is now being set up for the European market, with other possibilities around the world.

Colin Boakes – I have not been overly impressed with the Jaguar Driving Experience, having constructively expressed concerns via email a couple of times, but have never received a response.

CMcK – I will follow this up on your behalf. We are looking at the whole aspects of the Experiences.

David Wood (North East Region) – How close is it likely that the organization will achieve a 100% parts availability for some older models, like the S-type?

CMcK – We will look at each model to identify where there are opportunities. Initially looking at only items that we can manufacture, return investment times, and add quality to what is already available. It is unlikely we will ever realistically achieve 100% availability for any model.

Mike Swinfin (Leicester Region) – Impressed with the comments, but doesn’t all this fly in the face of the green lobby, Government policy, etc. Isn’t it a high risk strategy?

CMcK – There is a point here but there is so much in our favour. We have developed the E-type Zero, with the ability to convert and re-convert existing combustion engine classics. Then there is the factor that if we can keep more cars on the road, it may stop new cars being made, and therefore cut back on the use of raw materials and the emissions created by manufacture. There is also the opportunity to get old cars running more efficiently.

Calum thanked the meeting for the opportunity to talk and wished to work more closely with the Club in future.

Approval of the Minutes of the AGM – 26^th November 2016:
Proposed – Helen Price
Seconded – Colin Manconi
Carried – Unanimously

Adoption of Financial Statements for the year ended 28^th February 2017:

Mike Young gave a presentation on the accounts:

For the period in question turnover is up slightly, gross profit is also up slightly and day-to-day operations are running at a small surplus.

My focus for this year has two aspects – the impact of the new accounting standards (FRS 102) and the audit qualification. This has resulted in a different look to the accounts. These changes had to be worked back to the 2015/16 results.

FRS102 Has meant the removal of the Club’s Collection from an investment to a fixed asset on the balance sheet. It permits a predicted realization value to be allowed for in the depreciation calculation. No loss of value has been assumed and therefore the depreciation is shown as zero.

Depreciation for 2015/16 has had to be reversed.

Further, the removal of the website development from fixed assets on the balance sheet to the profit and loss account has meant that the development costs cannot be spread over several years as originally intended. This has impacted heavily on the profit and loss and turned a profit into a large loss on this occasion.

The Gift Shop stock-take was completed at the year end and frustratingly the papers could not be found (suspecting that they were destroyed with confidential Windsor event paperwork). Despite historically the level of discrepancy being low and with no personnel changes, the accounts had to be qualified.

We did discuss the possibility of addressing the matter but this would have meant identifying every purchase, sale and return back to 28^th February for every product. The costs of carrying this out were unrealistic.

After Tony Ridge’s retirement from his paid position, Helen Hodgson has taken on this role and a new apprentice has been recruited to assist in the Gift Shop, their first task being to complete a full stock-take for the end of February to rectify the above situation.

The operating loss of £33,343 is purely because of the changes relating to the website costs. Under the old rules we would have actually made a small profit!

Income changes this year amounted to:

                Membership income is up by £49,253.

                Gift Shop income is down by £20,880.

                Racing income is down by £7,805 (sponsorship is higher now)

                Show receipts are down by £8,291 due to weather conditions.

On salaries, market demands were investigated and only necessary changes have been  made.

On other expenditure:

                Magazine costs were down by £11,757.

                Gift Shop purchases were down by £7,822.

                Show costs were up by £14,647.

                Postage/printing/stationery costs were down by £5,460.

                Travel costs were down by £6,397.

The new website costs rose merely because of the accounting paperwork exercise changes, from £10,175 to £56,012, the accounts now having to reflect the actual expenditure without any deferral to later years through deprecation.

Raffle car sales resulted in a final donation of £14,000 to the Acorns Childrens Hospice.

The Members Funds therefore in total fell from £387,743 to £350,123 in the year in question.     

Questions from the floor

Doug Warren (Essex Region) – What is going to be the ongoing cost of the website?

PP – Two years ago at the AGM we identified the total cost at £75,000, and now we have delivered on time and on budget. It is just unfortunate that due to changes in accounting procedures, we have had to allot the whole expenditure at one time.

David Wood (North East Region) – Could you explain differences between the Gift Shop income was down and yet sales were down by a different figure? MY – It is the purchases that are down, hence the disparity.

Vaughn Thomas (Ridings Region) – Members funds are they just in a cash account or in an investment account? They are held in a collection of ways. For example the Bristol offices are outright owned by the Club with no mortgage for example.  

Simon Williamson (Doncaster Region) – Why the high cost of telephone bills of over £10,000, when there are so many competitive and lower mobile tariffs? MY – The Club does not use mobile phones at present as they are inappropriate in the office environment. GS – Three years ago we had a new system and it is actually paid for over a number of years. We haven’t looked at using mobiles in the office, but when system is paid for, we may look it then, along with other systems.

Ken Bruce (Central Region) – Bank charges and credit charges appear to be high, why so much? MY – The actual rate we pay is very competitive given that most of our funds come through that way. GS – One of the benefits of the new website is that we take a lot more payments over the internet and what is a slight skew for these accounts, was because of the charges incurred in taking the payments for the Windsor event, which has been claimed back but will appear in next years accounts. A lot of companies don’t like taking raffle money, but we now have a new provider, Cardstream for this.

Mike Hampton (Doncaster) – In view of last year’s losses, what is the strategy to bring us back to profit and what about a profit forecast? MY – We run budgets forward as a board and in the current year we will create a healthy profit. PP – Good question and has had our specific attention as directors. Frustrating that the accounting rules have changed which mean we have to show a loss this year, when in fact before, this would have shown a profit of about £15/£20,000.

Mike Hampton – Why were you not aware of these changes? MY – Yes  we knew, but not aware until the auditors told us they would not allow the website to be capitalised in the normal way. Every month I provide a board statement on monies spent and income over about 64 headings. This year’s figures are looked much better but the changing rules caught us out. Auditors wouldn’t accept our proposals. Cash flow is not affected. PP – Cash flow is the most important aspect above profitability. One thing we have ensured to do is to provide very careful control over cash flow and forecasting.

Adoption of accounts:
Proposed – Colin Manconi
Seconded – Peter Clarke
Carried – Unanimously

Appointment of Auditors:
Last year’ agreement from the AGM was to acquire competitive tenders. Due to pressure of work over the accounts and the Windsor event, we now propose to carry this benchmark forward into this year, to report back at the next AGM. We did make it clear at last year’s AGM that the Board was satisfied with our current auditors Spoffoths (now part of the Kreston Reeves group), so this year we propose to retain them for this current year.

Proposed – Geoff Johnston
Secondly – Art Lawrence
Carried: – Unanimously

The Election of Directors:
Following Tony Ridge’s retirement from employment with the Club, he has now decided that he will stand down from his position as director. Thanks were given to Tony and his wife Jackie for all the time they have put in and the Club’s best wishes to him and his wife Jackie, for the future.

Where we would normally have three directors retiring by rotation, on this occasion we are proposing only two and they are Ray Searles and Peter Purdom.

They both offer themselves for re-election, the matter dealt with by the incoming Chairman Mike Horlor, in view of the fact that one of those offering themselves was Peter Purdom.

Re-election of Ray Searles:
Proposed – Colin Manconi
Seconded – David Marks
Abstentions – 1

Duly re-elected

 Re-election of Peter Purdom:
Proposed – Ian Newman
Seconded – Richard Lyons
Against – 2
No Abstentions

Duly re-elected

 That completed the official part of the Annual General Meeting. 

Directors Reports

Peter Purdom – Chairman’s Report
As is normal practice, I would now like to bring you up to date with a brief report on my year as Chairman. 

Thanks to Mike Horlor for being my Vice Chairman, and to fellow directors for their help and support. Particularly thanks to Graham Searle, who via our regular early morning conversations., always responded positively.

We have made a number of improvements over operations and now we are seeing the benefits, one being the introduction of a much clearer cash flow forecast. Also I pay tribute to the team at Bristol working tirelessly to get things done.

We have talked about the frustration of the financial results this year, but we can’t do anything about this as it is purely an accounting procedure, and I would emphasis that fundamentally we are in good shape and have got controls in place to ensure it stays that way.

Thanks also to all the members who are involved in running our Regions, managing our Forums and generally getting involved. Without you all, the Club would not be what it is today.

There are a couple of notable achievements to bring to your attention. Firstly the new website which was down to a budgeted cost of £75,000, which pails into insignificance compared to the £1.8m Jaguar Land Rover classic are budgeting, just for e-commerce., when ours covers such matters as well. I am therefore very pleased to report that the new website has been delivered on time and on budget without any major disruption to the running of the Club. For this I would particularly like to thank James Blackwell who has worked very closely with our chosen partner Authentic Digital, to make things happen.

Secondly, who could forget our major event of the year/ in the history of the Club, the Windsor Jaguar Festival. We have never before received so much positive feedback for any event that we have organised. I would to thank Helen Hodgson who has put in a huge amount of effort, including weekends, to make sure things happened.

Undoubtedly the Windsor project has been a major factor in the development of what is becoming a very positive relationship with Jaguar and Jaguar Classic. We are planning on more things going forward with them, one being the aspects of parts availability and as you will have seen from this month’s magazine, we need your input on items to bring to Classic’s attention. In the first instance inform Graham or Mike Horlor of your concerns. Also if you want to now visit the Classic Works, then please arrange this through Graham at the Club’s office, as we will be eligible to a special discount for you.

Something the Bristol office will have become tired of me asking is “What’s the benefit?” We do offer a vast range of benefits to members, so please do make sure you are profiting from them. Also, if there are other facilities and services we should be offering as benefits to members, please do let us know.

Lastly, I have an appeal to make to you. We are looking for people with skills to offer to the operating committee of the Club and ultimately to the Board of Directors. If you feel you have suitable skills we can benefit from, or know of someone who has, please do get in touch with us. One specific area we are aware of is that we need to have expertise on the operating committee in terms of IT. Matters in this area move so quickly that we think it is vitally important to keep up to date with such issues.

Thanks for the opportunity to act as Chairman for the last two years, a busy and interesting time, but rewarding. I also hope it has been of benefit to you all.

questions from the floor

Geoff Johnson (Central Region) – Can the Club make Windsor an annual event? PP – One thing that Jaguar did say, “When can we do it again?” Wait and see!

Keith Hurlock (North Wales Region) – Regarding the selection of the benefiting charity for our annual raffle. As tickets are sold across the UK and primarily by members, in future can the appropriate chairman who is selecting the charity of their choice, and it is not a nationally known organisation, also nominate further regional charities covering England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland? This would eliminate the unhappiness and anguish that happened this year. If this was not possible, may I suggest that only national charities are chosen and that this premise is carried into the future.

PP – Last year I chose Acorns, a charity dear to my heart and a very local Midlands based charity with four hospices in the area. We supported that because the amount of money we could raise would make a significant difference to them. That did not seem to affect the takings for that year. Similarly, when the previous Chairman chose the RNLI, it was in fact St. Agnes in Cornwall that benefited with the provision of a new lifeboat.

In this year the Prince Philip Trust would not normally have been our choice, but it was our ticket to Windsor and the organising body that enabled Windsor to happen. The Prince Philip Trust do support groups outside of their immediate area, and detailed correspondence I had with the Cheshire Region for example, highlight this (such correspondence is readily available for anyone to read if required). We do understand this issue but Windsor was the only reason we chose to support the Trust this year.

If any members would like to suggest charities that could benefit from our raffle, then please let Graham know and we will consider them.  

Ken Bruce (Central Region) – My X-type was selected to appear in the Windsor Parade To do so I had to enlist the help of a local company as my ignition key was broken. The Jaguar dealership was too expensive and a local firm, Duplicate, replaced one key at just £45 and refurbished the spare as well. Excellent service that should be recognised.

Gordon Jackson (Doncaster Region) – From our perspective we would like to see an event like Windsor run again but at a different venue. We wouldn’t support a return to Windsor!

The official handover of Chairmanship took place between Peter Purdom and Mike Horlor.

Mike Horlor – Incoming Chairman’s Opening Comments:

Thanks to Peter for his leadership skills over the last two years. He has left enormous shoes for me to fill.

Having driven Jaguars for the last forty years and being a member of the Club for the last thirty-three, I am delighted to have the opportunity to help keep the Club moving forward. Ray Searles has agreed to be my Vice Chairman for the next two years.

I can’t let the occasion pass without mentioning that Club committee meetings will not be the same without Tony Ridge. Also thanks to Jackie, the power behind his throne, so thanks to you both, enjoy your retirement and we look forward to you getting back involved with the Club.

 Jaguar Enthusiasts’ Club in conjunction with Footman James Spirit of The Club Award

We received a number of submissions for this year’s award and after deliberation the 2017 Spirit of the Club Award was presented to Barry Heath from the Dorset Region.

 Mike Horlor then asked certain Directors to give reports on their individual sphere of activity, there will be an opportunity for questions of each director at the end of their reports,

Graham Searle – General Manager Report:

As normal I will cover any relevant points from the financial year in question and bring you up to date.

 Windsor
Most of the last 18 months seems to have been taken up with the preparations for the Windsor event, this being the most complex event we have ever undertaken, especially the security requirements involved.

The organising team comprised the Local Authority, Thames Valley Police, The Royal Household, The Crown Estates, The Prince Philip Trust Fund and the local Rotary! All put in a lot of effort to ensure its success and even the gun toting security officers did their job with efficiency and a smile.

This was the most successful of these events ever held with over 1200 Jaguars, Daimlers and SS cars on the day. A fifteen minute video is now available for download through our zenfolio website for just £10 or on a memory stick, available from the Bristol office for £15.

A big thank you to all our partners for helping make it happen, especially Jaguar Land Rover Classic and their Director Tim Hannig whose enthusiastic support from the very beginning made it all possible, and has allowed us to establish an exciting ongoing working relationship with Jaguar.

 Membership
Again this year we will be recognising another 150 members who have been with us continuously for the last 30 years. That’s now over 500 members we have recognised over the last three years, a great achievement

Membership remains fairly static but the new website gives us a great base to move forward and already since its inception in January 2017 site visits have risen by 72% over the same period two years ago.

One of the expenses in writing the new website was to ensure it was viewable across all platforms, ie Desktop, Tablet, iPad and Mobile.  This has proved to be the correct thing to do as current statistics show.

In 2015 views of the site via mobile phones accounted for 11% of total views, and now they account for 26% of total views. James will give you more information on the site this afternoon.

One innovation that is working very well is our Friday newsletter containing details of Club activities, offers and interesting articles from our partners and the world of Jaguar. It now goes out to nearly 16,000 people every week and our opening rate is close to 50% with click throughs at over 30%. To put this into perspective the national average across many sectors is around 24%, with a click through rate of only 3%

 The Club’s Office
With Tony’s departure Helen Hodgson will now fulfil the Marketing and Sponsorship role making full use of her marketing degree. We have also been working with the local college and have just taken on an apprentice under the Government’s scheme and welcome Tom Coggins to our team in Bristol.

 EU General Data Protection Regulations
I mentioned earlier that last year most of my time was taken up with the lead up to Windsor and that great weekend in May. This year my time is taken up with the EU GDPR, leading to its introduction in May 2018! This is a topic all businesses have to grapple with and it has an impact on most of what we do. I will be explaining more later, I know you cant wait!

Club Benefits
This year we have expanded our member benefits by taking on the RAC, the main benefit of this scheme is that with the RAC it is you that is covered and therefore any car you are in, whether you own it or not, all are covered.

We have also established a link with the Institute of Advanced Motorists who have recently rebranded as IAM Roadsmart and offer a number of courses to improve safety and awareness for all drivers.

 Insurance Schemes
You may well have heard that Peter James Insurance has recently been taken over by Vantage Insurance Services. Well that will actually be good news for our members as we expect to finally be able to offer competitive cover for modern cars.

 In conclusion it seems each year gets busier and busier as we try to raise the standards, benefits of membership and seek ways of engaging more Jaguar owners. I am surrounded by a very good team in Bristol and amongst my fellow directors.

The technological advances continues, battery powered E-types are with us, but whatever happens it cannot take away the best part of my job, which is meeting and talking to our members.

Terry Dye – Competitions Secretary Racing Report:

(read by Graham Searle in Terry’s absence)

The Vredestein Jaguar XK Series.
This Series has now been running for 19 years. Currently racing as part of the Aston Martin Owners Club 50’s Sports Cars as a ‘Race within a Race’, the XKs usually provide over half the total grid at every race meeting. In 2017, 5 races were run. Additionally, Jaguar XKs with JEC Racing decals appeared at many other races in UK.

 Toyo Tires/Watchdogapp.com Jaguar Saloon & GT Championship
2017 saw our largest number of races, with 16 Rounds on the Championship scheduled. Races took place throughout the country and two rounds also took place at Zandvoort in Holland, very well supported by our European spectators.

 Castle Combe Autumn Classic
The JEC has been involved in this historic race meeting since its inception. Running the Norman Dewis Trophy race for Pre ’66 Jaguars, attracts Mark I, 2, XK and E-types. The event has become a keynote race in the calendar. We have a Club stand which this year attracted over 80 cars. The Club race is generally thought to be the race of the day and this year was no exception.

 Trackdays
There were two trackdays in 2017, Brands Hatch in February and Castle Combe in October. Both very well supported by the general membership, whom relish the idea of driving their cars a little more quickly in safe surroundings. Another trackday is scheduled for February 2018 at Brands Hatch.

As part of the trackday experience, the Club provides tuition and instruction to get the most enjoyment from cars in a controlled environment.

At last year’s AGM the high cost of a full track day was raised, so taking this on board we introduced the idea of Power laps. Basically purchasing track time in 15 minute sessions at £25 per go. This proved very popular at Castle Combe with a lot of people new to track days having one or more sessions. This will now form part of our track day structure.

Sponsorship
We continue to enjoy sponsorship from Vredestein Tyres, Toyo Tyres, Jaguar World, Millers Oils and Watchdogapp and we are extremely grateful for their support.

 Publicity
Whilst hard to quantify financially and in number of new members, JEC Racing is heavily reported in many bookstand magazines and websites. Cars with JEC logos appear around the world at race tracks and support vehicles traverse the UK and European roads also carrying JEC advertising.

 Club Members
Talks on JEC Racing are available to Regions in addition to Paddock Walkabouts when a Region attends race meetings. This includes a visit to Race Control to explain the procedures in running a race meeting.

2018
This will be the 20^th year of JEC racing. Around 6 Jaguar XK and 12 Saloon/GT races are planned with at least 2 trackdays.

Terry is looking to retire next year and we have a couple of people interested in taking over so we are talking to them and will report back later as Terry will continue throughout the 2018 season.

Questions from the floor

David Wood (North East Region) – With the amount of money in the accounts and that which is spent on Regions only amounts to .2% of our turnover on them. Are we happy with that?

GS – Regions have always been autonomous and it would be a complex operation to bring them totally into the financial running of the Club. We have looked at this and it would involve individual accounts being kept, all audited at the same year end date, calculate VAT, each year. Some of our Regions are overseas which would create another set of issues.

David Wood (continued) – To look at giving Regions more financial support would help them to put on more professional events and activities that the Club would benefit from.

MY – There are so many issues here, but we could look at supporting Regions in various ways, so please give us some examples.

Ian Newman (West Sussex Region) – The support we get from the Club is much more than financial, it comes with support, advice and information. As to financial matters, it is up to each Region to look at ways in which we can finance events, build our own funds. I would suggest that Regions look to themselves  to find the best opportunities.

Ray Searles – Events Committee Chairman Report:

Graham has already talked about Windsor, so all I will add is that normally one tries to go out of a role on a high, so clearly I am on a slippery slope downwards from now on! It was a great success, creating a new relationship with our sponsors for the future. We believe we have raised around £95,000 for the Prince Philip Trust and we still have our final weekend of fund raising from the raffle, which will increase this figure. Some issues did arise from this event which we have noted when organising events in the future.

The other event this year was the Hull weekend. We didn’t get the attendance we wanted but everyone in the main enjoyed it and it introduced more new ways to get members involved in events. We did have a great response to the activities on the Saturday and the Humber Bridge parade on the Sunday. Room for improvement for future events and we of course will be looking at them.

2018 Programme:
For the first time we have been invited and decided to attend the London International Classic Show in February.  

Then there are the Spares Day and the Practical Classics Show in March. This latter event unfortunately clashes with the major European event, The Techno Classica Essen, so our events team will be split between the two shows/venues. Any support you can supply, particularly for the NEC would be most appreciated.

We are the supporting Philip Porter’s XK Club at Shelsley Walsh for the XK anniversary, and we will also attend the FlyWheel Show in Bicester, before we get to our summer festival.

Our major summer festival celebrating the 50^th anniversary of the XJ will take place at Wroxall Abbey in Warwickshire, which will include the very special appearance of personalities from Strictly Come Dancing. There will also be a post-summer festival tour to the Black Forest.

The Club’s Road Show:
The events programme is not yet complete as there are lots of spaces yet to fill. So where would you like the Club to take our road show in 2018? We want to know your suggestions, indicating size, numbers likely to attend big events, to spread the word of the Club? Please get in touch with myself or Graham to give us your ideas for us to consider.

Our new road show is produced for just such opportunities but bear in mind there are matters to consider because it includes the newly wrapped van, its awning and perhaps even the raffle car or some resemblance of media coverage for the car. We would like the road show to appear at big classic events, with thousands of people, somewhere where we can spread the word about the Club and its benefits.

The Events Team and Changes at Shows:
We have had two new members join our team, both of whom bring different elements of creativity to the team and that has opened up a number of possibilities to us that we had not previously considered.

After the success of our demonstrations at the Practical Classics show in March, delivered so expertly by Dave Marks and assisted in the technical presentation by our new team member Patch Jobson, we came to the conclusion that there was an even greater need to refresh the way we present the Club to our audience. So in much the same way as we have overhauled the website we undertook a review and refresh of our exhibition equipment and presentation at these indoor events.

The culmination of this some, of you will see next week at the NEC. I am quite excited to see how the new elements that we are using will all blend together, as at the moment all we have our paper plans and drawings. Hopefully it will find favour with you and encourage more people to visit our stand and ultimately join our community. I look forward to your feedback in the course of time.

I have been lucky enough to lead many teams in my professional career, and one gets a sense of when one has a good team around you by the way in which people react in a crisis. There were times this year at some events when it looked like the world was going to come crashing down around us as our best laid plans got trampled into the dirt. But the team pulls together in these situations and not only finds a way to fix things but also largely keeps it invisible from you, our audience, not always but certainly most of the time, and that of course is the best trick of all.

So finally I would like to thank my Events team for the hard work and putting up with me as Chairman, my fellow Directors, their long suffering wives/partners and of course all of you members who helped us stage our events in 2017 because in truth without all your support none of it would happen. Thank you.

Questions from the floor

Richard Treacher (West Sussex Region) – A lot of Regions do put on large events, in our case the Arundel Castle event we have held for the last four years. It improves each year and for next year we have something special with weekend facilities like a run around the Sussex countryside.

RS – Thanks for that, exactly what we want to hear and we will look at that when arranging our overall programme.

Lesley Abrams (Bucks & Herts Region) – Sorry to hear about the lack of support for the Hull event, but in our case specifically we had our weekend away which was booked before Hull and there must have been similar situations with other members and Regions.

RS – The whole issue of booking and clashes of events is bound to happen, we can only do so much but we try to be aware of situations. For example Wroxall Abbey’s dates had to be changed because of The Le Mans Classic and the Forumula 1 race.

Graham Greenwood (Jaguars at the Castle in Warwick organizer) – Glad to hear about the road show and put a note in diaries that the 2018 Jaguars at the Castle event will take place on 9^th September.

Nigel Thorley – Magazine Editor Report:
My report is obviously geared to the magazine but I would first mention in recognition of Ian Newman’s comments about the benefits provided by the main Club to its Regions, that I, along with other Club officials provide talks to Regions on a regular basis. All they have to do is request a speaker and we will oblige, given a number of dates to work around.

Now with the magazine I could just say how good it is (I would, wouldn’t I?!), it is only a success because of the support I get from the membership. We are very fortunate in many ways. Not only do we have a large membership (by the standards of most other car clubs), a membership that likes to contribute to the magazine, but we also have an extensive range of Jaguar models to cover and the company we support (Jaguar Land Rover) continues to produce more and more fine motorcars. There is also another factor in that despite the fact we produce the largest (in terms of the number of pages) magazine by any club (even some high street motoring magazines), I always have a stock of articles to fill it, although not necessarily all of which can be used at a particular time.

All this is a recipe for success but it does bring with it issues as well. Two of those I would like to bring to your attention today.

Firstly, in view of the number of models we need to cover in order to provide something of interest to all members, I have to maintain material for no fewer than 17 Model Forums, and that is a big ‘ask’. While some Forums are particularly active, others are quite weak in terms of people coming forward with items for publication. I also have Forums that have lost their co-ordinators, Joachim for instance in the case of the Mark VII Forum, and John Weston has less time to concentrate on magazine matters for the relatively new XE Forum. Others are very well catered for with ‘helpers’ and material, while some that you wouldn’t think would prove problematic, are, resulting in a minimal amount of material coming through.

It’s something I have to contend with regularly to ensure we have that important balance of material, whether that be in terms of technical information, general upkeep of cars, buying experiences, or whatever.

Secondly, is the time factor from creation of the pages, to printing. We use a well known specialist magazine printer (that currently handles in excess of 200 magazines). They work to very tight schedules which means we MUST get our magazine completed and to them by a specific time in every month. Failure to do so can have a major effect on when members get their magazines because we would be put back to the end of a queue, and could actually lead to a financial penalty for the Club in the worst case scenario.

As it is we have a long lead time to get the magazine ready for the printer and I have prepared a new schedule for 2018, copies of which are available here today and others will be sent out to all regular contributors after this meeting.

The difficulty I have is that regularly contributors supply material to me much later than the deadlines I issue, and that has a domino effect on production of the magazine, particularly when I am not sure what a particular contributor or Forum is going to supply in terms of space requirement. It’s another balancing act throughout the whole month.

It does take literally a whole month to put a magazine together, allowing time for our advertising team to complete their work, go through the proof reading stages, etc., etc. Unfortunately there is no magic elixir to rectify these two issues, but I can ask you all to give the matter some thought.

1 – Can you help out with one of the Forums to ensure that Jaguar model range is well supported both in the magazine and, of course through the Club’s website? Even those existing co-ordinators would gladly appreciate some support.

2 – If you are involved in supplying material for the magazine, please take into consideration the deadline dates to work to.

In both cases thank for your support.

Finally I would just like to mention the Regional Newsletter that appears in the magazine. Due to other commitments Vince Franklin has had to relinquish his duties as our Regional Co-ordinator, Vince has done a great job for us and the Regions and we are sorry to lose him.

So, we are currently looking for support in this area and if you might be interested in taking on the task of receiving the material from the Regions, feeding it through to the magazine and taking an active role in visiting Regions during the year, please let us know.

For the moment therefore I will be looking after that section of the magazine as well. So, for the benefit of Regional members here today, from now on until further notice (effective from the January magazine), please submit your material for publication direct to me.

This is an ideal opportunity to thank you all for your support for me and the magazine. I am always interested in hearing your comments, good or bad, because it is only through such feedback that I can ensure I am offering the membership the best I can so that you continue to be happy with the mouthpiece of the Club, the Jaguar Enthusiast magazine.

Questions from the floor

Tim Taylor (Three Counties Region) – Will the existing deadline dates still apply with material going to Nigel Thorley. NT – Yes exactly the same.

Gordon Jackson (Doncaster Region) –  Our Region uses the magazine and the newsletter to get the best out of the opportunity.

Mike Beirne (North Staffs Region) – We don’t always get acknowledge that material has been sent through for the Regional Newsletter, can this be improved? NT – Yes, I am enlisting the help of James to set up an automatic response system using the Club’s 365 email system (if you send me the information via nigel.thorley@jec.org.uk My own email system will not permit an automated response (that is on nigel.thorley@btinternet.com )

Richard – Is it not possible to increase the size of the magazine to give Regions more opportunity to get material published? This might also help the Editor with outstanding material. NT – Many times I have wanted yet more pages in the magazine, but at present that is not viable for a number of reasons. Firstly the weight would have an adverse affect on our postage costs, that is why we print on fairly low grade 75gm paper which in itself doesn’t show up the pictures as well as I would like. Secondly, to add more page (due to our printing procedure) this would have to be in modules of 8 pages a time, and our present paper stock and binding process is unlikely to cope well.

Peter Freelove – The Regional content is limited to 250 words and should be the process by which Regions promote their activities, particularly those to come up. Too many times I note that some Regions get more than the statutory 250 words printed and that, even in some cases, the material they send in relates to events gone by, or even worse, promoting an event that has already gone! Can this situation be improved? NT – Yes certainly, this is an issue that has arisen in the past and although, up to now, I don’t get vision of the material being published for the Regional Newsletter, I will now ensure that it complies with both those issues, perfectly valid points. 

James Blackwell (Assistant General Manager) – Website update:
My presentation covers what we have achieved so far, and look at how you can get more from the site, before outlining what we still have left to do.

Eleven months have now passed since launch and things are looking very good. Website visits are up, time spent on the site is up, mobile phone usage up, email interaction is up, and forum interactions up. Social media continues to grow and we are gathering valuable data in the process which is providing encouraging signs that people want to engage with the Club and that we have the basics right, providing a solid foundation for the next stage of our development.

There are two important indicators that we are on the way to achieving what we set out to with the website project, first the sheer volume by which we have increased traffic to the website, almost double where we have been, and importantly still growing. The second I eluded to was mobile phone usage. This historically has been a real weak point, with percentage of traffic very low, this has now risen dramatically from below 2000 a month to now more than 12000 a month. I will explain the focus on mobile in a moment.

You can also see that we had a spike in traffic in May around the time of our Windsor event. Another great indicator that people are relating information to us and our website, consequently it is a reference point, as it should be.

I mentioned that mobile phone usage is a good indicator that the website is achieving some of the aims we felt were important at the outset of this project, why? Because it better reflects society and our target market. The number of people who own a mobile phone and use it to browse the internet has now become the number one method, far out striping tablets and desktop computers. So, to see growth, significant growth in this area is very important and encouraging.

What does the website in its current state provide users? Latest news, list of events, Online magazine, regional notifications, searchable regions by postcode or location, Forum, online community and so much more. To the members it offers a bit more, but soon that list will grow adding huge benefit to our members. More about that later.

By entering your detail’s, you can set up handy reminders of MOT and insurance renewals, receive notifications from selected regions about events or latest news, also we get a clearer idea of our members. What cars they own, not just Jaguars. It helps us develop the website and our services for the future, all of which take time, planning and resources.

Regions, what can you do and provide for the user to better interact with them and make the most of this tool to support the ways you already communicate with them?

You can upload events and latest news probably the two key facilities available to you, and the ones most liable to regular updates, which I would actively encourage. The page is designed so you do not have to upload your meeting address for your regular monthly meet ups, attach links to your social media and list traders that you recommend or support you as a Region.

The important part with this is that is you use it to support what you already do, it can be an excellent communication tool and one that reaches an audience outside your usual confines, but only if it is used.

News unlimited, your secret weapon. Why? Because you can expand it as much as you like, you are not restricted to size, space, words, just keep going. All the styling and formatting has been done so that it remains true to the Club branding, all you have to worry about is the content, how you present the images, who said what. Make it your newsletter, a news bulletin. You could then circulate the URL not a pdf that needs downloading or reading. The options are endless, the only restriction is your imagination.

Only a year or so into our project we still have a significant amount of work to do, or as I recently referred to, all the cool stuff to add. Expand the model landing pages, upload the whole magazine archive, add a technical archive, buyer’s guides, expand the forum, targeted emails, and much, much more. All of this improves our offering to members, users, general Jaguar enthusiasts’ who are not yet members, potential commercial partners…. The list goes on.

We are also expanding our relationships with other companies to provide the skills that we do not have to continue to promote the Club as a whole.

Our aim is to become “The first port of call for all things Jaguar” across all platforms, and I believe that we have already put in some solid foundations to build on.

Questions from the floor

Peter Clarke (Surrey Region) – Success or failure of archiving depends on indexing, is this in hand? JB – We need to differentiate between the magazine and the technical archive, extracting information into special models pages, etc.

Ian Newman (West Sussex Region) – There is a potential for event clashes. It would be useful to have an ability to see at a glance a calendar of all events, without the need to search specific months, or Regions. Is this possible? JB – At present, ticking a Region will filter the events in that area. Don’t click any filters, you will get a listing of all events.

Dug Warren (Thameside Region) – We don’t like the new website. How many others contribute or have the same feelings we do? JB – I am willing to discuss the use of and how to use the website on a Regional basis, to help you understand the system and what is required.

Doug continued: Couldn’t we have an idiot’s guide? JB – Such a thing is just down to time but we will look at it.

Roger Webster (Leicester Region) – Searching without any filters, the software is collecting local area information only, unfortunately only putting in basic information, not even mentioning the Region, or topic.

Gordon Jackson (Doncaster Region) – We have difficulty in using the website. JB – I will spend some time with the Regions.

Gordon continued: What about the Regional Gallery? JB – It wasn’t being used, but it has been mentioned so we will look at it again. GS – There are security risks with photographs, particularly now with what we have been talking about, but we will look at it.

Art Lawrence (E-type Forum) – It appears that many people need help and advice with the website. Wouldn’t it be possible to have a simple drop-down help menu? JB – We have explored this, and we think it is better to work with people on a one to one contact basis.

Colin Boakes(Kent South Region) – Too much repetitive work is required for input from the Region. Can anything be done about this? JB – Again I really need to talk to the individuals concerned. If a specific person has issues, get them to speak to me direct.

Ian Newman (West Sussex Region) – To save shoe leather, why not hold a website workshop for people who are responsible in their Regions for uploading information? JB – We will look in to this.

Rob Jenner – From experience I know that James is available to help, so no-one should hesitate to give him a ring.

Peter Freelove (Thames Valley Region) – I have missed seeing any information on traders, recommendations, etc. which was in the Club questionnaire. We were going to have a publication based on this. Is it better to have it for a Regional basis instead? Has the matter of traders adverts on the website been overcome? JB – Not as yet, a national basis does want looking at again.  I will take it to the Board for discussion.

Bob Welton (Essex & Suffolk Borders Region) – Would be it appropriate to visit the Region on a Club night or individually to talk to the Regional committee? JB – I don’t know, this very much depends on the needs of a particular Region and how they operate.

Tim Taylor (Three Counties Region) – Vince Franklin set up on old website with car chassis numbers, etc. It still exists but has been separated out to the models. JB – It is still there but without public access as it wasn’t being used.

Mike Horlor – Some people have expressed concern at the fact that members and non-members can access certain areas of the website and comment on the forum. JB – We have recently adjusted things so that non-members cannot access certain information, but we are still looking at other areas.

Graham Searle – New General Data Protection Regulations
New regulations coming into effect next May are of deep concerns to all business with stringent new rules over the use of personal information. To strengthen countries data protection, the new regulations will provide uniformity. It gives individuals stronger rights over the use of their personal data. This is a general warning in advance of detailed information being supplied to all areas of the Club in the near future.

If anyone holds and uses any personal data relating to Club members, then the new regulations apply, so obviously affects Forums, Regions, etc. Even the taking of cheques or credit card information has to be covered. Hopefully none of us share data with third parties, but if you do, this has to be notified and perhaps a contract will be involved.

The biggest issue is the secure movement of any data, eg sending out to Regions regular information on new members. We are looking at encrypted emails and other methods for the future.  There are a lot of changes to come over these issues.

Any data collected on a Region’s personal website will also be collected and therefore be part of the new regulations. You also need the consent of everyone for whom you hold such information, identifying what information and how it is used. There is another way to handle this information, that is a Lawful Use of Personal Data, necessary for organizations like ours, otherwise we couldn’t continue running the Club, but even then regulations apply, so there is much that we are working on and will inform you all in the future.

An individual will now have 8 specific rights under the new regulations which we all must follow, these are:

The right to be informed (of what information you hold, and what you use it for).
The right of access to that data.
The right of rectification (if any data is incorrect).
The right to erasure (if he or she doesn’t want you to hold that information).
The right to restrict processing of that information.
The right to portability (if he or she wants to take their data elsewhere).
The right to object.
The right to object to automatic decision making including profiling.

We must also ensure that any data we hold is secure and to know where all the data is kept, with an audit trail. You also need an emergency back-up plan for any data held.

All organizations must have a data protection agent, and in this case it will be me, Graham Searle, so any communications about it should be addressed to me from May.

Finally, if there is any failure to comply, it is a serious issue which would involved significant fines. 

Questions from the floor

Alec Gurney (North Wales Region) – What about credit agencies and data that I don’t want them to handle? GS – I agree it is a problem, fortunately it is not our issue I am only concerned with the impact on the JEC.

Keith Vincent (Club Vice President) – We pass information to Regional Reps about car registrations, etc. We are then passing personal data, so does this need to change or do we get permission? GS – Through Authentic Digital we have a meeting arranged with an expert to refine information. Answers to this and other questions will be forthcoming.

Mike Young – The DVLA will no longer issue information about the history of a car or its owners, for this very reason.

Mike Horlor (Incoming Chairman) introduced his nominated charity for 2018:

My chosen charity this year will be the Macular Society, which looks after people with macular problems and funds research in this area.

AMD (age related macular degeneration) is the biggest cause of blindness in the UK. Damage to the macula affects our central vision, our ability to see detail and our colour vision. However, macula issues can affect people from birth onwards and the society looks after all aspects of macula health.

Not surprisingly with an ageing UK population, the incidence of AMD is increasing rapidly. Today, there are some 600,000 people with AMD and that number will more than double by 2050.

Unfortunately, I can relate to the comments on this slide. Some 8 years ago, I was wrongly diagnosed with AMD and at that time I was told, “It could be 5 years before you are blind” and I was told there was nothing that could be done about it. Luckily, for me the diagnosis was later changed to one of macula damage and not AMD. Apart from anything else, you can imagine what it was like to contemplate not being able to drive at such a tender age!

Up to half of people with late AMD experience hallucinations. This is because in the absence of visual information, the brain attempts to fill in the missing gaps but it gets things wrong. This can be particularly distressing because people can doubt their own sanity on top of coping with a lack of vision. The condition is known as Charles Bonnet syndrome.

The causes of AMD are not fully understood but age and genetics play big parts. Smokers are three times more likely to suffer and if you smoke and have certain genes, you could be twenty times more vulnerable. Exercise, green veg and sunglasses are the best things to counteract the risks.

There are two forms of AMD, wet and dry. As yet, there is no treatment for the dry form although there are drugs undergoing clinical trials. For wet AMD, regular eye injections are used to stabilise the condition and to stop it spreading from one eye to the other but the injections don’t undo the damage. Like everything else today, the effects of AMD have been costed and they look enormous, around £3Bn in direct treatment costs alone.

When it comes to research, the crunch is that very little public money is being devoted to this area. For me, the key numbers on this slide are: only £6m for what is a massive problem – remember there are 600,000 sufferers of AMD and that number is growing all the time. I’m glad to say there is some ground -breaking stem cell and gene therapy research going on in the UK supported by the macular society.

The society and its research have moral support from some well-known names, like David Blunkett and Henry Blofelt. The late Peter Sallis was also a strong supporter. Its mission and vision statements encompass both the research it funds to seek out future treatments and the practical work it does today to support people with macular degeneration.

That practical support work takes place throughout the nation via some 340 local groups. There’s also a telephone helpline, information leaflets, professional counseling, retraining of sufferers teaching them how to read with the condition, information about suitable sight equipment and so on.

That’s a very high-speed run through the work of the chosen charity for next year’s raffle car which has is still being sourced. I hope you will help me work towards a good result for what I believe is a worthy cause.  

Questions from the floor

Peter Freelove (Thames Valley Region) – Having been told about the new charity, what price are the tickets going to be? MH – The same as this year £2.

Geoff Johnston (Central Region) – Has there been any progress in stopping another Region setting in another’s area? GS One or two things about the Regions have been on-going with Vince, but unfortunately with Vince now leaving his Regional position, more on this will follow.

This concluded the meeting