Constitution

Constitution for Footwear Hub

Aims

• ●  Promote Foot Health Awareness
  To educate the public on foot health, the importance of proper footwear, and the benefits of professional fitting services—ensuring families understand how to care for their feet across all life stages.

• ●  Support Independent Retailers
  To unite shoe retailers who offer fitting and measuring services, fostering mutual support, skill sharing, and a commitment to raising standards across the footwear industry.

• ●  Drive Consumer Engagement
  To increase public engagement with trusted footwear providers through national campaigns, educational content, and collaborative marketing—raising the profile of members' businesses and services.

• ●  Develop and Fund Campaigns
  To use member contributions to plan, fund, and deliver impactful campaigns that encourage consumers to prioritise fitting and foot health when buying footwear.

• ●  Maintain Financial Responsibility
  To manage funds transparently, ensuring any surplus not allocated to marketing or campaign work is used to reduce future membership costs.

• ●  Collaborate and Grow
  To work with brands, professionals, and relevant organisations (e.g. NHS, NCT, schools) to amplify our message and secure additional support or funding where possible.

• ●  Uphold Membership Standards
  To require members to demonstrate a commitment to high-quality fitting services and staff training. Membership may be declined or not renewed if these standards are not upheld.

  Status

  The Association is Not for Profit, and any surplus funds raised is to be used for future marketing initiatives or to offset against costs for the following year.

  Management Committee

  The Association is governed by a Management Committee, which is responsible for making all decisions related to the development and initiatives undertaken by the Association. While subscribing members are encouraged to propose initiatives or ideas to the Hub, they do not have any influence over the decision-making process or the management of the Association.

  The founding Management Committee (and their business) comprises: Tanya Marriott (Solelution)
  Nadia Arden-Scott (Footscape & ShuZu)

Any additional members to the Management Committee will need to be put forward by a Committee Member and then approved by a majority.
Committee members can resign at any time except those with a role who will need to remain in office until a replacement has been appointed.

The Committee has a simple structure but does have a Chairman (for General Meetings and AGM), a Secretary and two signatories for the Bank Account.

Committee Meetings & The Constitution

Annual General Meetings will be held in the last quarter of the year, whereby Finances will be reviewed and the fee schedule for advertising rates for the forthcoming year will be set.
The agenda will be sent out within a week of the AGM. All committee members are to be present at meetings (a minimum of 2 weeks’ notice to be provided) and if not then ideally the meeting should be rescheduled.

If this is not possible then a majority agreement from those present (at least 50% of the committee) will be required to approve points discussed.
Regular Committee meetings may be called by the Chair or Secretary. Committee members must receive notice of meetings at least 7 days before the meeting and again ideally all members are to be present, but it is acceptable for in excess of 50% of the Committee.

Any questions that arise at meetings will be discussed openly and a majority vote cast.
Amendments to the constitution may only be made at the Annual General Meeting or a Special General Meeting.

Finances

The Bank account has 2 signatories and each spend requires two signatures of authorisation. We will request online payment functions rather than a business debit card.

All payments will be approved by two of the signatories.
For cheque payments, 1 out 2 signatories will need to sign the cheque

For other payments (such as BACS payments, cash withdrawals, debit card payments or cash payments), a requisition note will be signed by two signatories and held by the treasurer. Records of income and expenditure will be maintained by the Treasurer and a financial statement given at each meeting.

All money raised by or on behalf of the Footwear Hub (Hub) is only to be used to further the aims of the group.

In the event of an accumulation of surplus funds (amounts above expenses due over the forthcoming year), these will either be used towards the promotion of the Hub, for events or to reduce fees for the website. This will be at the discretion of the full committee at the time.
Dissolution

If a meeting, by simple majority, decides that it is necessary to close the group it may call a Special General Meeting to do so. The sole business of this meeting will be to dissolve the group.

Any proposal to amend the constitution must be given to the Secretary in writing. The proposal must then be circulated with the notice of a meeting. Any proposal to amend the constitution will require two thirds majority of the Committee. When voting, if the number of votes cast are equal, the chair of the meeting shall have an additional casting vote.

If it is agreed to dissolve the group, all remaining money and other assets, once outstanding debts have been paid, will be donated to a charitable organisation. This will be decided at the meeting which agrees to the dissolution.

Business Membership

A subscription may be required to be included in the marketing initiatives developed by the Footwear Hub which will primarily be internet-based.
The subscription amount, the levels of cover and any additional benefits will be determined by the committee and are likely to vary each year.

The payment of subscription does not entitle the business owner to be involved in the decision-making process of the Hub. The inclusion in marketing material will cease if:

1. a)  The business changes name

2. b)  The subscriptions are not paid

There is also no allowance for part-year periods
No refunds available should the business cease trading or is sold