MAY 2018

Governance and the society secretary:
Jim Watts, Central England Co-operative
Jim Watts, who holds the position of society
secretary at Central England Co-op, says it is defined
by three key roles – and these all have a part to play
in ensuring effective governance.
“First and foremost, my role as secretary is to
support and guide the board in fulfilling its duties
in order to meet the society’s strategic aims and
objectives,” he says. “In a co-op, there is also the
added important responsibility for the board to
follow co-operative values and principles in carrying
out its work – which is what sets it apart from typical
business ownership structures.
“The best way to put this is that the secretary
should act as a trusted advisor to the board so that
the directors can operate effectively as a cohesive
group and work in the best interests of the society
as a whole on behalf of the members.
“This also sees me act as the independent ‘link’
between the president, the board and our executive
team – and aims to ensure the smooth running
of our programme of board and sub-committee
meetings, supported by regular communication
in-between meetings.”
The second key area for Mr Watts and his team is
based on supporting the society’s members in a variety
of ways.
“This is a very big and vital part of my role and can
encompass everything from our members’ meetings
to annual elections,” he says.
“I am proud of the great work that we have
done over the past few years around our members’
meetings to ensure they strike the right balance
between providing a clear overarching view
of the society as a whole, at the same time as making
them interesting, informative and relevant to our
local members.
“In terms of our annual elections, my role is to
promote our co-operative point of difference as a
member-owned business. This means encouraging
our members to use their democratic right to take part
and have their say on the society and how it is run.
“Our annual and half-yearly reports are a great
way for us to shine a light on the things the society
has been doing and explain our progress and
achievements to our members.
“But at the same time, our communications with
members have to balance the joint requirements of
meeting our statutory reporting obligations while
also providing a clear overview of our progress
and the impact we have made, and showing how
we continue to measure ourselves by co-operative
values and principles.”
The third key role is based around the behindthe-scenes
work that is essential when it comes to
making sure the society remains open for business
and compliant with its legal obligations.
“Working closely with assistant society secretary
Michael Tavener, this is all about keeping on top
of things such as the timely filing of statutory
information including annual returns, accounts and
corporate registrations,” says Mr Watts.
“The role is all about good, open communication
and the ability to work on all manner of topics, often
taking place at the same time, and to then be able to
articulate and put them into action across the society
while working with everyone from the president and
the chief executive to our members and colleagues.
“In short, it’s about ‘doing the right thing’ on
behalf of the society.”
ANNUAL REVIEW 2017/18
For the year to 27 January 2018
p Jim Watts, society
secretary at Central
England Co-operative
t The annual review
is used as a way
to communicate
information to
members
MAY 2018 | 37