Upton St Leonards Life Community Interest Company
The company was formed in 2014 when the newspaper was set up. It is a Community Interest Company (CIC). A CIC is a special type of limited company which exists to benefit the community rather than private shareholders. It is registered at Companies House. There are no shareholders and no dividends are paid. It is a non-profitmaking company. It is not a charity. Its registered address is the Village Hall.
Like all companies, there is a Board of Directors. Currently the board consists of Chairman Peter Wilson, Clifford Alderman, Owen Stinchcombe, Andy Russell and Paul Rosewell. Cliff is the Company secretary and Owen is our Treasurer. Janine Black assists the board by managing advertisement renewals and invoicing, and we are experimenting with a lead person on advertisement sales (Kaye Redmond).
The company constitution also calls for there to be members, and the board reports annually to its members. Anyone can be a member and nearly all the editorial and distribution teams are members. Another web page explains more about becoming a member of the Company.
At the moment all those on the Board and all members and the production teams do their jobs voluntarily. The company constitution allows for employees, were we to want them.
Though advertising income has never covered the whole cost of production, the company is financially sound, thanks in no small part to grants from the Parish Council. Annual accounts are passed to Companies House, as required in law, and are presented at an Annual General Meeting.
Naturally we have a raft of policies. These are published by the Board and reviewed every two or three years. They can be seen here:
Advertisement Policy
Editorial Policy
Expenses Policy
Health and Safety Policy
Membership rules
Volunteer Policy