Notice of EGM — we need your help to secure a stable future for Nominet

Dear Nominet member,

We will be a holding a virtual Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) at 15:00hrs (GMT) on Monday, 22 March 2021 to vote on a proposed resolution to remove five members of the Nominet Board, including the Chair and the entire executive leadership team.


Why You Should Vote: What’s at stake

Approval of this resolution would plunge the organisation into the unknown. We would lose our most experienced leaders. The instability will damage our ability to retain or attract the highly-skilled staff we need to run the service our members rely on. There is a real risk that Government stakeholders will question whether Nominet’s governance model is fit for purpose: placing our independence, and that of .UK, at risk.

The resolution is destructive, and if passed, creates nothing but uncertainty. No credible alternative plan has been put forward.

We therefore ask you to vote NO.


We’re on the right course for a stable, forward-looking Nominet

The extreme measures proposed are unnecessary. That’s because we have a solid plan that keeps Nominet stable, looking forward, not back, and working closely with members all the way.

We are investing £20 million to build the infrastructure we need to support .UK for the next decade.
We are launching a new Registry Advisory Council to involve the membership much more closely in key decision making.

We are doubling our support for public benefit causes in the UK to more than £4 million this year. Future funding will rise in line with our commercial success.

We have frozen .UK prices - along with Board pay - until 2023 at the earliest.

Now we need your support to keep Nominet on track.

No organisation is perfect, and we are committed to working closely with members to resolve issues and change the way Nominet works. We can do that without resorting to the extreme measures put forward in the resolution.

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Please vote

We do want all members to participate, whatever their view.

But please bear in mind a ‘yes’ vote is a vote for the unknown, and brings with it the likelihood of damaging consequences for .UK, our staff and the services we provide to you and other members.

That’s why the Board was unanimous in recommending that members reject the proposed resolution.

With that in mind, please Vote NO.

You can attend the virtual EGM meeting if you wish, but you can also vote right now by clicking through to the voting platform and designating the Chair as your proxy. The details you will need are below.

You can read more at www.nominet.uk/EGM. And if you have any questions or feedback for the Board, please contact us at egm@nominet.uk

Together we can secure a stable future for Nominet. Your vote is essential, so please make your voice heard.

Yours sincerely,



Mark Wood
Chair



Formal notice of the EGM notice can be found here

How to Vote

Civica Election Services has been appointed as scrutineer.

You are welcome to join the virtual EGM meeting to vote. But you can, alternatively, vote right now by appointing your proxy. Proxy votes must be lodged by 5PM GMT on Friday, 19th of March.

This will take you to the voting platform where you will be able to view all of the information you need to make your choice.


How to Join the Virtual EGM Meeting on 22 March 2021.

 

Just received the above via email.

 

.

 

It says: "you can also vote right now by clicking through to the voting platform and designating the Chair as your proxy."

Surely you can appoint whoever you want to be your proxy, not just the Chair?

 

Just vote yourself online by clicking "yes" I'm assuming!

 

About to say - not sure I'd trust the Chair to remember to use my vote the way I want to vote - given the email I have just read.

 

I think that's a bit far-fetched to be honest

 

"You are welcome to join the virtual EGM meeting to vote"
https://surveys.nominet.org.uk/s/nominetegm/

 

Is there a danger in voting early and them getting an indication of the result and finding a reason to cancel the EGM??

 

From the website:

As well as using this website to vote, you can choose your proxy and read more detail on the Board’s plans.

 

I think I am going to wait until we receive advice from publicbenefit.uk

 

I replied to Simon's email asking which Proxy name we should use and he replied his:

Simon Blackler

 

Vote YES via proxy “Simon Blackler”
Once cast, your vote can NOT be changed, so make sure it is correct!

 

I would assume that nominet will be looking at *any* excuse to throw out a negative vote so make sure that all names are exactly as they appear in nominet accounts. Remember this is a company that can't distinguish between a first name/surname and the same but with a middle name letter or with a title. 'Sorry Robert Morrison your vote is not valid because you didn't put MR Robert Morrison' I am also not sure about voting so early. I don't want nominet to sense how the dice are going to fall and have time to implement an avoidance strategy.

 

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OVER 350 MEMBERS NOW SIGNED UP...


351 Nominet members have now called for an EGM, and 1,367,599 known votes have been pledged so far.

The numbers keep on growing, because the Nominet Board and Executive have lost the TRUST of members, and this has become a vote of NO CONFIDENCE which no last-minute window dressing or promises is really going to reverse.

And the more the Board ignores the wishes of the Members, the deeper the hole they are digging for themselves - it just persuades more people to sign up.

They do understand we have the legal power to remove the whole lot of them?

This EGM is the outcome of problems that go back many years, calling into question the whole direction of the company.

 

I submitted my proxy and vote.

Afterwards there was a survey by CES which asked a series of questions. As the process was partisan, I submitted the following response