We were pleased to welcome over 70 BABC Members and their guests to the 2015 BABC Northern California Annual General Meeting held on Wednesday, June 24
^th. Graciously hosted by BABC Patron Member Squire Patton Boggs, the meeting provided the opportunity to report on the activities of the BABC for the fiscal year 2014/2015, present an overview of what is anticipated for 2015/2016 and conduct the Election of the 2015/2016 Board of Directors.

BABC President, Nicholas Unkovic, and Partner at Squire Patton Boggs acknowledged the contributions over the last fiscal year of all who contributed their time and effort on behalf of the BABC including all who served on the Board of Directors, the various BABC Committees and the Raphael House Task Force. Also acknowledged were key partners with whom the BABC has special working relationships including the local chapters of many international chambers of commerce and key economic partners such as the
SF Center for Economic Development, the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, UK Trade and Investment and the British Consulate General San Francisco. H.M. Consul General Ms. Priya Guha recognized the close relationship between HMG and the BABC and the importance of our work together in facilitating bi-lateral trade and expansion opportunities for companies coming here from the UK and US companies looking to expand to the UK. Ms. Guha shared some encouraging and impressive numbers on the UK and its success in attracting a large amount of foreign investment, particularly from the US. Also shared was the importance of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership and the positive effects it will have on both sides of the Transatlantic.

BABC Northern California – with 219 members – is the third largest chapter of the BABC Network behind London (253) and New York (282). In reporting on the growth of the BABC Northern California over the past fiscal year, Nick shared that while the number of members has remained consistent to what was reported at the 2014 AGM, the real success around membership is the increase in annual recurring membership dues from an impressive number of new members joining at higher membership levels and in large part, due to members upgrading their membership type to take advantage of the value and benefits delivered at the higher levels. Nick thanked the Membership Committee and Committee Chair, Melissa Harkcom of
Fitzgerald and Law, for their ongoing work in ensuring the BABC continues to deliver value. He also acknowledge all BABC members for their continued support and recognized the following Patron and Premier Members.

PATRON MEMBERS:

PREMIER MEMBERS:

One of the biggest platforms the BABC offers for creating value and delivering business expansion opportunities is its Events Platform. Chaired by the Vice President of the Events Committee, Stephen Wares from
CCW Business Solutions, our Events Committee continues its stellar work in delivering a mixture of high-quality educational and social networking events that provide not only the opportunity to meet like-minded individuals and potential clients or business partners but also the chance to promote your company and offerings to your key target audiences through valuable and affordable event sponsorship opportunities. In fiscal year 2014/2015, the BABC Northern California held, partnered on or promoted 37 events including events put on by our members and of course the BABC Annual Christmas Luncheon.

Following Nick’s presentation, BABC Treasurer, Stephen Legg from
Grant Thornton, shared the financials for the year, noting that the BABC Northern California operates on a cash basis meaning that transactions are recorded as the cash is received and checks are written – so no accounts receivable or payable. Stephen shared that the organization continues on the upward trend that was established back in 2011 when our chapter hosted the BABC Transatlantic Conference. Our balance sheet as at 3/31/2015 shows an increase over the prior year of just under $10,000 with $148,333 cash in the bank. Pointing to the Profit & Loss for fiscal year 2014/2015, Stephen reported a net income of $15,836 compared to $16,960 in the prior year. Though this obviously represents a small decrease, Stephen stated this is nonetheless a great success as compared to the budgeted net income of minus $739 and is explained almost entirely by adding additional staff and resources to help grow the organization. One of the biggest successes financially for the BABC last year was the 52^nd Annual BABC Christmas Lunch which in December 2014 celebrated its Diamond Anniversary. Net income for the event was just over $100,000 before our contribution of $20,000 to our designated charity, Raphael House (as compared to just over $93,000 in the prior year). This is attributable to the generosity of our first ever Diamond Sponsor CyraCom International and the continued support of our other sponsors and donors plus an increase in attendance – over 970 guests joined us as compared to 950 in 2013.

From an operational perspective, Executive Director Jo Healey welcomed our new full time Member Relations Associate Bo Outland and shared some statistics on growth around social media and marketing. In the past year, our mailing list has grown to 2050 email addresses (1600 last year) and our email communications with our members and other subscribers enjoy an impressive open rate of 29%. Since June of 2014, we now have 751
Twitter followers (over 405 last year) and have 411 people who follow us on Facebook. Our LinkedIn Group has also expanded with 707 members as compared to 533 reported last year. Jo also reported the BABC Young Professionals Group has a renewed vigor thanks to the leadership of Co-Chairs, Barbara Taylor, Felicity Fisher and Naomi Coe prior to her moving to Seattle. The YP Group have assembled a great team of individuals and solid plan for hosting their own events focused on career development and leadership. The Group also continues to enjoy a regular monthly happy hour event now held every third Tuesday at
Americano Bar & Restaurant in Hotel Vitale.

In September of 2014, the Board of Directors held an off-site meeting to map out the future of the BABC. Based on the successes achieved over the past few years and the huge influx of British companies coming to the Bay Area, we hope this year to attract 90 new members in this fiscal year to our vibrant community. We ask all of our members to help in our growth when coming across companies from UK who could benefit from being a part of the BABC!

Finally, wrapping up the Annual General Meeting, BABC Secretary Edward Grenville from
Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell thanked the Nominating Committee for their work on the Election of the 2015/2016 Board of Directors which appointed the following individuals

New Directors:

Emma Cockerton,
Florin Pensions, Karen Geary, WanDisco, Robert Christopher, Panasonic

Re-elected:

Simon Elliot,
Aramark, Melissa Harkcom, Fitzgerald and Law, Catherine House, Sperry Van Ness, Stuart Keirle, First National Bank of Northern California, Kathleen Kimura, Tokyo Express Company, Thomas Klein, Fairmont San Francisco, Peter Koehler, InterContinental Hotel Group, Paul Llewellyn, Lewis & Llewellyn, Julie Wicklund, Cooley, LLP, Jeremy Woan, CyraCom International

Incumbent:

Colin Brown, Venturexcel, Nicholas Unkovic, Squire Patton Boggs, Stuart Bagshaw, BAB LEAP, John Flynn, Dynamic Signal, Edward Grenville, Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell, Stephen Legg, Grant Thornton, Andy Mackay, 2020 Productions, James Mayock, E & M Visa, Stephen Wares, CCW Business Solutions, Janis MacKenzie, MacKenzie Communications, Claire Knollys, PWC, Carmen Sanchez, HSBC, Simon Talling-Smith, Travelzoo, Michael Hughes, LoopUp, Douglas Shelton, British Airways, Tracy Isacke, Silicon Valley Bank

We thank you all for an amazing past 12 months and look forward to helping you in the coming year.

Check out the photos from the AGM on our Flickr Page