NSA AGM 2019
Date: 9th August 2019
Time: 10am
Location: United Auctions, Stirling Agricultural Centre, Stirling, FK9 4RN
The NSA Management Board met on Thursday, for its third meeting of the year, this time staying together overnight for the NSA AGM today (Friday). United Auctions hosted both meetings at its Stirling Agricultural Centre, with Managing Director George Purves joining the group as guest speaker on Thursday evening. Both Mr Purves and Lord Inglewood, NSA President and chairman of proceedings for the AGM, were upbeat in the face of Brexit uncertainty. Mr Purves urged NSA as a whole and individual members alike to ‘talk up the industry’ and not allow the worry of a no-deal to escalate negativity and talk the lamb price down at a time of high global demand and global prices. Lord Inglewood, who was re-elected as NSA President at Friday’s AGM, took a similar vein, saying of the inevitable change of either a soft or hard Brexit, “We cannot stem the tide but we can continue to do what we can to make sure the new world we find ourselves in has a place for sheep farming.” The opportunity the AGM provides to allow all members to attend and ask questions saw a request for an update on the current staffing situation in Scotland, where a staff member who left in January has not yet been replaced. NSA Chief Executive Phil Stocker and NSA Scottish Region Chairman Jen Craig said this was not being neglected, with plenty going on behind the scenes to ensure a suitable role was defined and filled in the coming months. Indeed, this was one of several topics discussed at Thursday’s board meeting, alongside the final appraisal of the NSA Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ending 31st December 2018, which was adopted at the AGM. The Board also appraised a couple of options for new membership categories, which NSA is excited about being able to offer from 1st January 2020 – more to follow later in the year.
