Who owns the 'club'

I suppose the question here is whether the new name for the club is just a trading name for the Caravan Club Limited or if the company is changing its name to the Caravan and Motorhome Club Limited.

My understanding was that the Caravan Club Limited  is a company limited by guarantee, therefore all full members are guarantors of the company and as such owners of the company in the same way shareholders are for larger listed companies.

The Directors will be given powers by the Memorandum and Articles of Association for the Caravan Club Limited to act in the best interests of the Company in its day to day trading.

My question to the Diectors is if the company is changing its name at Companies House should this change have been placed before a General Meeting of the Company as a resolution to be passed by the Full Members or does the M&AA allow the directors to make the change without a specific resolution?

I must stress that I am neutral in my opinions on whether the name change is a good or bad thing, but I am interested to know the process behind the outcome.

I joined the Caravan Club, because I have a Caravan! As did my Father before me. The STRANGE Logo and name at the top of this page have not been our Logo or name since 1907, and I think this is a misrepresentation  !!!

Before everyone gets excited about being the owners of the Club please read the M&AA in particular section 12.2

https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/document-api-images-prod/docs/PQamslsfYX002mtpfa-jx76fDt5IuB2RU4mZzNPnTng/application-pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=ASIAJXRVGCTDDG5U2DJA&Expires=1488180878&Signature=wr7gazBacDoBMdTShLxO%2FjE4reE%3D&x-amz-security-token=FQoDYXdzEDsaDIfQTv5PiB0ty7kwAiK3A5myrkXf8VQ0X%2BUP%2B7UoNw2fxRv70RcrgKWL27fymsVz4Bo%2FkvXxuk1pYoqm8D%2FlOvDBkjqwGGv%2FdFNVrESU%2FPan9wa3r5bXOhH%2BOs8caAQnKcNue2XEqr0YicofBi%2FYCeTnLfgukadFv9%2FVe2p6t4YoZ9DbMJ%2FrpmQXM29ASga7fEv9hIOxfbJRsIZsgEz7L2bIfprrNf11u6a9epawTUKJizLdt31FIGA31Q4FJHbbmns7eA1adLhQhwpdYNJG%2BACirmu9cddiUMyCd3tO3iVs26Dqd8BKXOMM6hlEoToUCRnSNKMuLDuoVt00NFBNZubkYN4J2zKS8AHpmsoE6Vi8dl81GEg0RqzM89PVeKEAZ4G9xOKbvpT13QBTNKyfBY%2BQhXu4UcaP9emH90kMblmyJ2ZmkoBV6LOMgdiEAF7hbwL4FNG9fbViE8zLvrdnZvnGgI8XPnALtdPUds6O08bYwsl8w7wxVSwx2SPRmROBCSQDhw%2FcICdy3ENr%2FvXDEAM5BXIEUXs3Cr%2BUHzuOaZWcMM2iFcNfmrZGADuA5W6zDz%2F41Oi%2BFlj7ikhdgufaKH3qACt6x4AoxZPOxQU%3D

There is a difference between being a Full Member and being a Club Member

 Surprised the forum has not been closes for Routine Maintenance

Hi Nigel,

Could you possibly repost the link as I cannot read it for some reason. Will be very interested to see the difference between the two.

Thanks

The link works for me, not sure what the problem is? Anyway, The M&AA can easily be found via the Companies House website. Search under Caravan Club Ltd and it's in the list of filed documents.

Here is the opening line of the first full paragraph taken from the Annual General Meeting 2016 notification

All members are very welcome to attend, but only Full Members are entitled to vote

Full members being individuals who have applied and had their applications approved by the Directors and are the guarantors of the Club with limited liability.

As Club Members (i.e. you and me who pay our £49 a year subscription) we have no rights to vote on Club decisions or who represents the Club at Director level. To put it bluntly, if you think you can rock up at the next AGM and force a change in the top level, think again, it's not going to happen

If I were to speculate, I would imagine a General Meeting was called to vote on the rebrand and rename of the club, and this was passed by the Directors and Full Members.

Thanks Nigel, they make fascinating reading, particularly that in the demise of the club, the assets are not sold and returned to the members, but are to be given or transferred to other institutions, which of course may have only just been formed.

The member issue is interesting as well, and I think I may write and ask for a list of the special members, and what the pre qualifications are of being a special member or a full member. (Not sure I will get a reply though, probably under that catch all, the data protection act - lol))

Interesting also to note that the magazine should not contain more than 15% advertisements, 

On a slightly different note and just looking at the CC's company house listing I find the ages of the 13 listed directors amazing:

Glynn Malcolm BALL 61yrs

Edward BAXTER 68yrs

Grenville James CHAMBERLAIN 67yrs

John Peter GASS 62yrs

Malcolm GROVES 70yrs

Peter JOHNSON 78yrs

Rodney Norwood Paul LAMBERT 73yrs

John Francis LEFLEY 69yrs

Christopher John MACGOWAN 70yrs

Janet Irene MOORE 72yrs

Barry John SHARRATT 68yrs

Gordon Fordyce SMART 67yrs

David Charles TURNER 63yrs

Now while there is nothing wrong with life experience you would think that there would be some advantage in having a bit of younger blood in amongst the older generation to represent the membership a bit better. Maybe not so surprising the apparent  web site issues/ seemingly slow uptake of social media involvement, poor booking system etc. Could this have something to do with some of the more idiosyncratic features of the caravan club in 2017?

I spotted this too, was about to post something like you have done but didn't want to come across as ageist. You have a valid point though.

The other Club make a big point of promoting their President as a young icon of outdoor life and pursuits. She's on the TV a lot, is well liked and is no doubt a massive coup for the C&CC by way of promoting the link between the Club she now represents and the increasingly popular taste for the outdoors

Thomas Coke, the 8th Earl of Leicester, not exactly what you'd call a well known character that you would associate with leisure