Minutes of the Executive Board meeting held at British Triathlon Federation Offices, Loughborough, on 16 April 2016 commencing at 10:30 am.

Transcription

1 Minutes of the Executive Board meeting held at British Triathlon Federation Offices, Loughborough, on 16 April 2016 commencing at 10:30 am. Present: In Attendance: Ian Howard (Chair), (IPH), Jack Buckner (CEO), (JB), Mike Battersby (via telephone) (MBa), Nicky Dick (ND), Mary Hardwick (MH), Bill James (BJ), Jon Ridgeon (JR), Andy Salmon (AS), Craig Stewart (CS) Kay Simnett (KS) Michael Buccheri (MBu), Emma Good (EG), (Minutes) Brendan Purcell (BP) joined until item Performance Helen Wyeth (HW) joined during item 4.5 Major Events and Officials Item Minute Owner and due date 1 Opening Remarks 2 Apologies IPH welcomed all to the meeting and welcomed MBu and EG to their first Board meeting. IPH acknowledged the importance of Windsor to the BTF s strategy and said that the issues which had arisen there needed to be addressed if we were to recover our reputation. IPH noted that there needed to be more team building for Board members outside of formal meetings; the August Board weekend in Liverpool would be a good opportunity to develop team building. The minutes of the January 2016 meeting were approved. Received from: Neill Craigie (NC) Clare Cunningham (CC) Mike Battersby (MBa) joined the meeting via telephone. 3 Declarations of interest There were no declarations of interest. 4 Items for decision/regular business 1

2 4.1 CEO Update Strategy and Planning Process until April 2017 The core strategy planning document was circulated to the Board ahead of the meeting. Windsor Post-event Update JB stated that Windsor had not been the start of the season that was hoped for and assured the Board that all staff were taking the outcomes of Windsor seriously. There would be a thorough lessons learnt exercise. 4.2 Performance Update BP gave an update on the UK Sport 2020 Strategy submission. The draft strategy had been accepted in principle. The final sign off is December 2016 pending Rio performances. BP gave an update on the recent recces to Rio he had completed with the BOA and the BPA. Issues that may affect Triathlon included beach evacuation plans and water quality. BP updated the Board on Olympic and Paralympic selections. Some Paratriathlon athletes had qualified outright or secured quota places. The final female Olympic place had been decided and the respective athletes had been informed. BTF would make an official announcement after 19 April once the appeal window had closed. It was noted that the medical conditions at the Gold Coast WTS race and the standard of care delivered to Jonathan Brownlee was unacceptable. It was decided that BTF should raise the issue formally with the ITU. A discussion was held around implementing a forum to agree minimum medical requirements at major events. ACTION: JB to write to Antonio at ITU re issue and to suggest forum. JB 4.3 Financial Update and Operations Review CS and KS gave a finance update. No forecast was available due to year-end activity but predictions were expecting to come in near or on forecast for BTF at 98,000 deficit on a predicted 95,000 deficit. Triathlon England was predicted to come in at 18,000 surplus on a predicted 15,000 surplus budget. Budget packs for were being prepared and would shortly be issued. Moore Stephens Governance Audit The on-site audit was arranged by UK sport and Sport England. The report was still under review and once completed it would go to the Audit, Risk and Governance Committee. Once approved it would then be shared with both Boards. 2

3 Audit, Risk & Governance Committee There was no update from the Audit, Risk & Governance Committee; an update would be provided at the August Board meeting. Mike Townley Re-appointment The reappointment of Mike Townley was approved by the Board. There were reservations whether one lawyer could meet all legal needs so an overflow facility was being tested through BHW Solicitors Budget and Operating Plan The budget was approved by the Board. The Board were happy to approve the principles and objectives of the operating plan subject to BJ s recommendations on the wording. 4.4 Commercial and Communications Update Marketing Strategy JB gave a presentation on behalf of NC and Garth Lewis outlining the key marketing promotions for 2016: Leeds WTS, and Rio Olympics and Paralympics. The aims were to sell out 2016 and 2017 for Leeds, and to raise the profile of the athletes and increase participation in triathlon following Rio. It was clarified that although Liverpool 2016 would have some marketing resource devoted to it, it would not be one of the main marketing campaigns for 2016 as more places had already been sold than in It was noted that the new website launch was on track for 21 June. A discussion was held around making better use of athlete contracts to help with increasing the profile of triathlon. It was confirmed that the 2017 athlete contracts would be signed in autumn 2016 and the Customer Experience team had already begun discussions with BP around how these could be better used. Work had already been underway in 2016 updating the athlete profiles with new and engaging content. It was noted that the Board would need Z3R0D kit with the new BTF logo for Leeds and new business shirts with the new branding for the ETU Congress in May. Other JB would update the Board with more detailed clarification on BTF s position on the TATA Kids of Steel branding. ACTION: JB to update Board on TATA branding. JB 4.5 Major Events and Officials Update JR gave an update on the current events strategy. 3

4 4.6 Business A recap of Windsor was provided. It was a sold out event in an iconic venue, however, there had been challenges. Lessons had been learnt internally which were mostly organisational that could be rectified. A post-event survey was sent out with approximately 300 responses received with both positive and negative comments. An apology was sent out to all competitors. The event concept was good but there were budget implications if the same venue is used in the future. A decision to hold the event at Windsor in 2017 would be made after the Crown State Review Leeds Update A few places remained to be sold but the event was perceived to be sold out with charity places being sold. Leeds City Council had been highly engaged in both the high profile elite races and making the additional festival activities work. Delivery of the 2017 event would be fully led by Ironman UK. There was no underwrite required from BTF. UK Sport had awarded a provisional 275,000 for Liverpool Update Standard distance places were sold out, 279/300 sprint places and 120/350 Go Tri places had been sold totalling over 1600 entries compared to 1400 in Channel 4 would be showing the event Super Series Following a positive discussion with BBC a meeting was to be held to mutually further develop concept ideas for a 2017 series. BBC s preferred venue was Glasgow to link to Glasgow Pointfourone had been appointed to assist with concept development. British & Home Nation Championship Survey A survey sent to all Age-Group athletes who had competed in recent years had generated 700 responses. Detailed results would be circulated at a later date. Results generally showed no requirement for change in current BTF and HN Championship programmes but did highlight very little interest in off road or aquathlon championships. Departmental Update John Muddeman would be leaving BTF after Leeds. Glasgow 2018 ESC It was noted that the resource requirements had been submitted. ETU is the rights holder and BTF is the delivery agency working with Triathlon Scotland for Glasgow City Council. Officials Update The new rule booking had been well received. The expenses issue had been resolved. It was noted that four officials had been selected for the Rio Olympic and Paralympic Games. Portfolio Report MH completed an informal audit on the process of the management of projects. MH would share the report with the Board. 4

5 ACTION: MH to share project audit with Board. MH Risk Register There had been no additions to the risk register. There had been one removal: underwriting of international events and resourcing. 5 Age Group Age Group Strategy ND confirmed that the Age-Group strategy aligned with the BTF strategy in that the GB Age-Group Team were the best prepared team on the start line and produced winning performances. However, ND felt that there was a need to engage with more Age- Group athletes and encourage more to participate. ND also felt that there needed to be succession planning for Team Managers. ND would share the work done to date on the strategy and welcomed the Board to her with any feedback. ACTION: ND to share draft proposals with the Board for comment. ND Approach to Age-Group A discussion was held around the need to create a focus group to discuss how to retain athletes. ND would like to integrate a new Age-Group strategy into the 2024 vision. A discussion was held around whether BTF should fund Age-Group or use it as an income generator. It was agreed that it should be a cost-neutral service. ND would review the current Age-Group Committee and would update on the progress of this. 6 Clean Sport 7 A.O.B Scott Murray sent his apologies and it was agreed that he would present at a future Board meeting. EG and JB updated the Board on the timeline for Age-Group testing. It was agreed that more time should be spent focussing on education. BTF is looking to hold an education workshop at Liverpool and to have stands at other 2016 events. EG and JB were asked to speak to UK Anti-Doping to determine whether shorter sanctions could be imposed to those athletes that would be tested in the initial implementation of Age-Group testing. The Board is to communicate to EG and MBu re their attendance at the dinner on 11 June at Leeds WTS and their grandstand and VIP ticket suggestions. ACTION: EG/MBu to Board re dinner/grandstand/vip requirements. EG/MBu 5

6 IPH suggested Sarah Springman should be recognised for her lifelong service to Triathlon at the 2016 Awards Dinner and be made a patron of BTF. The board agreed that it merited further consideration and so IPH would create a paper for formal approval. ACTION: IPH to submit a formal paper for approval under which Sarah would be made a Patron of the BTF. IPH 6