Date: 16 October 2019
Dear Members
Some of you will have received an email from a group calling themselves “Future Limousin” on Monday 14th October.
We would like to re-assure all our members that the present Council Members take their responsibilities very seriously and all decisions taken have been with the interest and integrity of the herd book and its members at the forefront.
We would also like to draw your attention to a few very pertinent points following the unfounded and inaccurate information relayed to you in the unsolicited email sent by “Future Limousin”:
1) The decision to de-register Ballinloan was a unanimous one based on information received from BCMS and Trading Standards and taking account of legal advice and the Society’s Byelaws. The Council Members that are quoted to have resigned as a result of this decision (Peter Kirton, John Philips and Delana Davis) ALL voted to de-register.
2) With regard to the allegations of poor financial management the loss of £280,000 in the year to 31 December 2018 was fully explained in the financial statements and the decision to fully amortise the two projects in the year was made in accordance with accounting standards and again agreed to by ALL Council Members, including the 3 named Council members above plus James Cooper.
Budgets going forward have been looked at in great detail and the financial position of the Society moving forward is good. Whilst it was not a factor in recent decisions there is an expected reduction of approximately £100,000 in annual staff costs which will help to stabilise the Society’s finances going forward.
3) As a result of recent decisions 2 members of staff have left the society however the council was not responsible for the previous 4 resignations.
4) We are very concerned that this group calling themselves “Future Limousin” accessed your personal information without your permission and we are investigating how this group was able to retrieve such information and use your personal data for their own ends.
As a Council of Management we wish to continue working on your behalf to uphold the integrity of your society. Every decision we have made is with the good of the society and its members at its heart. We feel restricted with the information we are able to provide due to the arrangements made with the former CEO which curtail us from disclosing the severance deal details and the events leading up to this decision being taken. We do hope that you feel able to trust and believe in the fact that we would not make such major decisions without good reason.
As Chairman, I personally would like to take this opportunity to state that I feel that the present council is probably the most hard working and transparent group that I have worked with in my 11 years on council and do not deserve a vote of no confidence which I think has the potential to blow the society apart. I trust we have your support to prevent this.
Please do contact your local Council Member with any thoughts and concerns. We will answer your concerns to the best of our ability, honestly and with complete integrity.
Your local member contact details are available on the Limousin website
Yours faithfully
Michael Cursiter – Chairman
On behalf of the Council of Management for British Limousin Cattle Society Ltd
