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The governing body of The Institute of Brewing & Distilling (IBD) is its Council,
as was the case with the Institute of
Brewing (IOB) and the International Brewers Guild (IBG) before amalgamation
into the IGB (Institute & Guild of Brewing), the precursor to the IBD. Previous members of both the IOB and IBG
will have their own perceptions of their separate Councils, but words like ‘undemocratic’, ‘top heavy’, ‘too big’,
‘unwieldy’, ‘unrepresentative’ have all been used in a critical sense. When the Amalgamation Working Party (AWP) came
to address the formation of an IBD Council, they were fully seized with the need to come up with suggestions of
composition and representation which would both satisfy the business and educational charity requirements and,
equally importantly, be acceptable to members. This article is intended to inform
IBD Members of what has been put in
place, the reasons for such a composition, who does what on the Council, and why.
The IBD is a Company Limited by Guarantee, and registered as an educational charity with the UK Charity Commission. As
such, it is bound by Articles of Association which, in turn, are conditioned by the prevalent UK Companies Act, or Acts.
Council Members are directors of the Company, and trustees of the Educational Charity. Only statutory members of the
IBD may be elected to Council, and they hold office in accordance with the Byelaws. Council is responsible for the
management of the IBD income and its property, plus all other ‘affairs and concerns’. As a starting point, the IBD
Council is set to meet in full three times per year; an Annual General Meeting will be convened to follow the mid-year
Council.
For functional purposes, the Officers of the IBD are the titled Honorary and Executive. Honorary Officers are: the
President, two Deputy Presidents (one UK; one international), and the Treasurer. Executive Officers are: the
Secretary, and the Accountant. The Executive Officers attend Council, but are not members of it. Whilst the Secretary
performs the function for Council which the title suggests, his duties are primarily to manage and conduct the
business of the IBD as chief executive officer, under the direction of Council.
Four sub-groups have been established to bring papers to Council for
consideration. The Organisation & Management Group deals with corporate
governance, and gives support to the Chief Executive with regard to
financial matters; the Strategic Development Group looks at IBD strategy,
short, medium and long-term; the Products & Services group debates all
matters concerning IBD publications, training and examinations; the Section
Representative Group deals with membership matters.
In addition to the Honorary Officers, Council includes a representative from each of the eight IBD Sections – Africa,
Asia-Pacific, International, Scottish, Irish, Great Northern, Midland, and Southern.
Furthermore, the Chairman of the Board of Examiners and Guild Trust
Representative are Council Members.
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