When you are looking to hold an annual general meeting
(AGM), there are a variety of things to consider when
selecting an appropriate venue to host the gathering. Not
only will you be looking for a suitable professional venue
to reflect the image and purpose of the company or trust,
you will also need to consider the availability of
professional and business support services, location and
accessibility, comfortable accommodations for meetings that
last days rather than a few hours, and the size of venue
that can hold your attendees.
Annual general meetings (AGM) for many companies and trust
organisations are major highlights of the business year
requiring a great deal of logistical organisation. These
meetings also provide an opportunity to demonstrate to
shareholders and investors the results of business
performance over the last financial year as well as
management plans for the future. It is essential that the
right venue be selected, as proper consideration in
choosing the venue to hold your annual general meeting will
pay good dividends.
Consider the number of attendees you are likely to expect,
and bear in mind that if you are a publicly listed company,
this may run into hundreds or thousands that may or may not
decide to turn up on the day. You may be looking to
combine your annual general meeting with other company
related events such as a product launch, PR event, or
training courses that shareholders and staff may
participate in, and this also needs to be factored into
your decision for hosting the events. Once you have a
realistic estimate of the number of attendees, consider the
ability of the venue to handle spillover numbers, not just
for seating capacity but also parking, food services, and
overnight guests.
The geographical location of the venue for the annual
general meeting (agm) also must be seriously thought
through. Many meetings take place in London every day;
however, before you decide to follow the herd or hold a
meeting at the main operational location, take some time to
look at where your shareholders and stakeholders are
actually located. Some organisations deliberately host
their annual general meetings at different locations around
the country in order to be able to show off differing parts
of the company or geographical divisions and dovetail this
with what the change of scenery has to offer. The National
Trust for instance, holds its annual general meeting at a
different venue each year to provide management and
stakeholders with the opportunity to sample first hand the
efforts of the Trust.
The availability of overnight accommodations is also an
important factor to consider when selecting your venue for
hosting the annual general meeting. In this instance, the
cost is primarily borne by the guests attending and not the
company itself, so the ability to offer a range of
accommodations to suit the varying budgets of your
attendees becomes a good plus point. Bear in mind that
quality accommodations will be required for company guests
such as potential major investors and business partners who
will be attending. These are likely to be required to be
close at hand in order to facilitate business meetings and
negotiations outside the main event.
It should go without saying that communication and
transport links are essential, particularly for meetings
that will only be held for the day. Proximity to rail and
road links that will allow travel to and from the venue
comfortably will go some way to ensuring that attendees
arrive fresh and able to conduct the business of the day.
Consider what shuttle transport services the venue is able
to provide to collect and return attendees to the train
station or airport, bearing in mind that attendees will be
voting on company resolutions such as director’s
remuneration and their ability to serve on the board for
the forthcoming year and to an extent they need to be
catered for.
The ability to provide a wide variety of services such as
corporate hospitality and business support services will
also mark out those venues that are suitable for hosting
your annual general meetings (agm). Asking your
prospective venue providers what experience they have in
hosting PR events, corporate hospitality provision,
training, and team building exercises will help you gain an
idea of the professional capability of the venue.
Combining these ancillary factors together with the more
obvious considerations such as hotel size and location will
help you narrow down the choices available to you for
hosting the meeting.
Whatever the choice you make, it is important to keep in
the forefront of your mind what the annual general meeting
(agm) is for and who will be there. This is the meeting
where management and shareholders meet and vote on issues
facing the company for the immediate future. How well the
shareholders are catered for is a direct reflection upon
how important management considers shareholders to be. The
image that is projected by the selection of the venue will
also reflect directly upon how the company is perceived by
the shareholders themselves, and it is they who own the
company.
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