ECF Finance Council Meeting 26 April 2025

[John Swain]

A number of papers have been published for the ECF Finance Council Meeting on 26 April:

https://www.englishchess.org.uk/about/e ... and-board/

The report by Nick Faulks, Chairman of the Finance Committee, is well worth reading:

https://www.englishchess.org.uk/wp-cont ... mittee.pdf

[John Swain]

The Finance Director, Alex Longson's report may be found at:

https://www.englishchess.org.uk/wp-cont ... l-2025.pdf

This includes various proposals for membership charges 2025/26.

I have two suggested modifications, but, not being a member of Council, must leave it to others to consider these ideas:

First, there is an opportunity to correct what I believe was a big mistake for membership fees 2024/25. Congress Pay-to-Play in 2023/24 was £9 which was not a major disincentive to those adult non-members who wished to sample a Congress without taking out full membership. In 2024/25, this saw a 67% increase from £9 to £15 (£15 was also required to upgrade from £20 Bronze to £35 Gold if league players wished to play in a congress). In 2023/24, Silver membership (£27) was sufficient for a Congress which wasn't FIDE-rated. Now everyone has to be a Gold member to enter a Congress, whether FIDE-rated or not, or alternatively pay £15 Pay-to-Play.

It's to be hoped that chess on TV will see another surge in interest. Why not encourage those viewers to dip their toes in the Congress market and have a sensible Pay-to-Play fee, similar to 2023/24, say £10 rather than the proposed £16? Why not go further and subsequently allow those who pay this more modest amount to take out Gold membership at a £10 discount provided they join within a relatively short time, say three months?

Secondly, the proposed increases in junior membership fees seem to be disproportionate. The idea is to raise an extra 5% to deal with budgeted spending. The cost of Bronze membership is therefore increased by 5% from £20 to £21 and Gold membership from £35 to £37 (5.7%) Why therefore do we see Junior Bronze membership fees increase by 25% (£6 to £7.50)? Similarly, Junior Gold fees are proposed to rise from £12 to £14 (16.7%). Junior Pay-to Play fees are proposed to be set in stone at £3 until 2027/28 but the proposals for junior fees see further disproportionate increases compared to adult fees. The only rationale I can see is that by 2027/28 the junior fees are exactly half of their adult counterparts.

[John Reyes]

ECF in swing and there one person who has signed in twice

[John Swain]

Chris Lewis has helpfully produced a detailed report about the ECF Finance Council Meeting:

https://www.shropshirechess.org/wp-cont ... re-Rep.pdf

[Derrick Walker]

I'm assuming they just forgot to put in the P2P junior line for Congresses and it will be the difference between Junior Bronze and Junior Gold, as last year.

Have they scraped the free membership for Juniors this year, I seen a comment that the free student membership has went - but nothing about the juniors. If they are keeping it, they really need to have a single option. Having to charge free Junior Bronze the P2P fee, as they have decided to enter a Congress, resulted in a number of complaints from parents - with one describing the ECF's membership charges akin to Ryanair's hidden pricing strategy.

[Mick Norris]

Doncaster rep Report

Thanks to all those who gave up their time to attend the meeting

I'm very pleased to see that Mike Truran is continuing his service on the ECF Board

[Adam Ashton]

Thanks for the reports.

I am glad to see the contributions of Nigel Towers and Dave Thomas recognised, it was clear from my time on the board how much time and energy they spent on their respective roles. Very well deserved!

[Keith Arkell]

Hear, hear!

[Derrick Walker]

I'm assuming they just forgot to put in the P2P junior line for Congresses and it will be the difference between Junior Bronze and Junior Gold, as last year.

Have they scraped the free membership for Juniors this year, I seen a comment that the free student membership has went - but nothing about the juniors. If they are keeping it, they really need to have a single option. Having to charge free Junior Bronze the P2P fee, as they have decided to enter a Congress, resulted in a number of complaints from parents - with one describing the ECF's membership charges akin to Ryanair's hidden pricing strategy.

So this generated an email from the ECF to clarify the situation. It turns out that as the upgrade between the cost of Free Junior Bronze and Free Junior Gold is £0 then the P2P fee if a Free Junior Bronze turns up at a Congress is £0. I attribute no blame to Malcolm Peacock and his excellent Congress.org.uk site, but it doesn't distinguish between a Free Junior membership and a paid one, therefore, it adds the P2P fee. I also can't fault Malcolm's interpretation of the published information. I've sent an email to Malcolm to make him aware of this. And refunded a parent the P2P fee.

The free Junior Bronze and Gold remain going forward - although I stick by my original comment that it should be a single Free Junior Gold on offer as it cuts down unnecessary paperwork for Organisers and the ECF Office.

To quote the email:

"On the principle that the Junior Bronze/Bronze pay to play fees are based on the difference in price between the Bronze/Gold membership categories, and also that Junior Bronze/Bronze players who pay the pay to play fee when entering a congress are automatically upgraded to Junior Gold/Gold membership at no extra cost, it seems only right that the same principle should apply to Free Junior Bronze. Accordingly we will henceforth also be upgrading Free Junior Bronze players who play in a congress to Free Junior Gold at no charge (i.e. the zero price difference between Free Junior Bronze and Free Junior Gold)."

[Kevin Thurlow]

" However his comment that the ECF is no more complex than a corner shop did not go down too well with the existing directors (‘bloody
insulting’)!"

Our local corner shop has had to wrestle with the Horizon software, not exactly a trivial task!

[NickFaulks]

" However his comment that the ECF is no more complex than a corner shop did not go down too well with the existing directors (‘bloody insulting’)!"

Our local corner shop has had to wrestle with the Horizon software, not exactly a trivial task!

A valid point but in any case, as you may have guessed, I didn't say that. What the reporter heard was the CEO saying I had said that, which is very different.

Misrepresenting an opponent's words in order to feign outrage is a debating tactic as old as the hills.

[Mike Truran]

From the recording of the Council meeting:

As to the size of the organisation, yes, it is getting bigger, but it isn’t that complex. It certainly isn’t that big. I don’t want to seem rude, but we have the turnover of a village shop and we’ve got a bookkeeper and an office manager.

[NickFaulks]

Thanks, Mike. I don't have access to the recording, but that is exactly what I recall saying.

[Kevin Thurlow]

"A valid point but in any case, as you may have guessed, I didn't say that."

I did indeed guess!

It's a good idea to record the meetings though, to avoid "misunderstandings".