Chair's AGM Report 2025

Good evening and welcome to the Annual General Meeting. I’m Keith Waitt, Chair of the Board of Directors at Wolverhampton City Credit Union (WCCU), and I’m pleased to host today’s meeting. Shortly, you will also hear from our External Auditor, David Adams. Please feel free to submit any questions via the chat forum, and we’ll respond by tomorrow if we don’t address them tonight.

I’d like to begin by acknowledging our outgoing Chair, Steven Cartwright, whose unwavering commitment over the last five years has been instrumental in guiding us through difficult times. We are grateful for his leadership.

Additionally, I extend my heartfelt thanks to our members for all your continued support, especially during the cost-of-living crisis. Your loyalty has been crucial to our success.

The past financial year has presented significant challenges. The ongoing economic difficulties have exacerbated financial distress in our community, and we’ve had to make difficult decisions in response. Our lending practices, though essential for community support, have led to continued write-offs and provisioning for bad debts, and this has impacted our profitability. As a result, we again recorded a loss this financial year. However, on a positive note, our liquidity remains strong, and short-term provisioning has reduced. David will provide more details on the financials shortly.

Despite these challenges, we have taken proactive steps in the last year to strengthen our financial position. We’ve tightened credit controls which have reduced defaults, enhanced our management information systems, and refined our product offerings and pricing strategy. We’ve also significantly increased our digital presence, improving member services and accessibility. These efforts are positioning us for a healthier financial outlook by this financial year-end.

Our digital capabilities now enable near-complete online transactions, including loan applications and same-day payments. In-person support remains, of course, and is available at our wonderful Civic Centre office for those who prefer face-to-face interaction.

An important development to mention is the acquisition of the Dudley postcode, which has enabled us to expand our presence and offer essential financial services to that community.

As a result of this expansion, we will be changing our name to West Midlands Credit Union. This is of courses subject to FCA approval in the next few months, but our new name will better reflect our broader regional impact.

We’ve also seen some turnover in our Board due to term completions and increased personal or professional commitments. However, we have taken steps to ensure continuity and to strengthen the Board’s diversity and expertise. We now recruit Directors continuously and welcome talent from beyond Wolverhampton.

Additionally, I have introduced a new Board Advisory Member program, allowing former Directors to remain involved in a consultative capacity on a selective basis.

As Chair, I would like to thank the members of the Board - both past and present - for all their support and advice over the past year or so. And I would now like to now formally welcome our newest Board members: Dawn Cummins, Shamsher Zada, and Marie Lightfoot. I know that their diverse expertise will greatly benefit our credit union.

I also want to acknowledge the tireless efforts of our staff. Firstly, our CEO, Tameka Spencer, whose leadership continues to drive our mission forward. Her dedication to both the credit union and the community is unparalleled. And of finally - last but by no means least -, all our staff here in Wolverhampton who have worked tirelessly to deliver such great service in an efficient and sensitive way.

Item 8 on our Agenda is the Declaration of a dividend for the 2023/24 financial year. The Board has taken the very difficult decision not to declare a dividend for the year. This has not come without a great deal of discussion and heartache, and we have spoken to both our auditors and the regulators and determined that it is in our long term interest and the longer term benefits of our members to forego the payment of a dividend this year. I accept that for many this will not sit well, but please be assured that we are doing this in the best interest of the credit union and our membership. We hope that when we move out of this challenging time, we will be able to reinstate the dividend. Our feeling is that the sustainability of the credit union is a greater priority than the short-term benefit to members. I do hope you agree.

In bringing this AGM to a close I would like to thank David and Antoinette for their involvement, as well as Claire from ABCUL who provided the online logistical support.

And finally, a reminder that at the core of our credit union is our growing community, and I wish to thank again you, our members, for your continued support and your belief in our mission and our success.

For our part the Board remains committed in our mission to have a thriving business that reaches out to more members through targeted community engagement, partnering with key local businesses and, above all, by continuing to offer fair, ethical and inclusive banking services to all members of our growing community.

We sincerely hope you will continue this journey with us.

Thank you.