The third (3rd) AGM of the Chartered Institute of Brewers and Distillers will be held on 15th September (Tuesday) at 10am BST (GMT+1).
To vote live on the day, please register for the AGM here.
If you prefer to vote in advance, Mi-Voice, our electoral service, will send eligible members information on how to vote by proxy.
Please save customer.support@cibd.org.uk and elections@mi-voice.com in your contacts to ensure that you receive all our communications in your inbox rather than in your junk/spam folder. If you have any questions you would like to ask the trustees at the AGM, please share it here.
CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF BREWERS AND DISTILLERS (Charity number 1207959)
Notice of Annual General Meeting
Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting (the meeting) of the Chartered Institute of Brewers and Distillers (the Charity) will be held ONLINE in accordance with the information provided on 15th September (Tuesday) at 10am.
At the meeting, you will be asked to consider and vote on the resolutions below, all of which are proposed as ordinary resolutions.
RESOLUTIONS
1. To confirm that the minutes of the second (2nd) Annual Meeting of the Chartered Institute of Brewers & Distillers held on 9th September 2025 be confirmed as a true and accurate record.
2. To receive and approve the Financial Statements and Annual Reports of the Trustees and Auditors for the year ended 31st December 2025
3. To re-appoint HaysMac LLP Auditors for CIBD for 2026 accounts and to authorise the Trustees to fix their remuneration.
4. To elect Martin Hayes as a Trustee
5. To elect Stuart Watts as a Trustee
6. To elect Danielle Bekker as a Trustee
7. To confirm the 2027 Annual Membership Subscription prices of an increase of £2 up to £52 for concessionary membership (Student Membership, Retired Membership, Retired Fellowship, Retired Associate) and an increase of £7 up to £162 for Associate Membership and Membership. Life Membership to remain as fully paid up (£0).
8. To confirm the 2027 Annual Student Concession Membership price which does not include the benefit of a printed BDI magazine subscription but includes access to the online edition of BDI of £30.
9. An application for the CIBD to be able to award members, who fulfil certain criteria with Individual Chartered Status, is planned to be submitted to the Privy Council.
Subject to approval of the application by the Privy Council, members are asked to pre-approve the following addition to the Bylaws:
2.6 Individual Chartered Status – to be those active Members and Fellows who fulfil all the criteria of an Individual Chartered Status application. They shall be entitled to use one of the following titles and post-nominals: Chartered Master Brewer (CMBrew), Chartered Master Distiller (CMDist), Chartered Master of Packaging (CMPack) or Chartered Master Maltster (CMMalt).
By order of the Board
Will Calvert, Trustee, CIBD
44a Curlew Street, London, SE1 2ND (charity number 1207959)
NOTES TO THE NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
You are invited to join and participate in the meeting electronically via Zoom. You can register for the CIBD AGM here: https://ibd.zoom.us/meeting/register/49H2-u7-SJql-hUncC_TXA
We will also share the invite electronically via the newsletter in August.
The deadline to register to attend the Zoom meeting is at 10.00 (BST) (09:00 UTC) on Tuesday, 15th September.
2. APPOINTMENT OF PROXIES AND VOTING IN ADVANCE OF THE AGM
2.1 If you are a member who is entitled to attend and vote at the meeting, you are entitled to appoint a proxy to exercise your rights to attend, speak and vote at the meeting and you should have received a proxy form [with this notice of meeting]. A proxy does not need to be a member of the Charity but must attend the meeting to represent you.
You can only appoint a proxy using the procedures set out in these
notes and the notes to the proxy form.
2.2 If you do not give your proxy an indication of how to vote on any resolution, your proxy will vote or abstain from voting at their discretion. Your proxy will vote (or abstain from voting) as they think fit in relation to any other matter which is put before the meeting.
2.3 If you wish your proxy to speak on your behalf at the meeting, you will need to appoint your own choice of proxy (not the chair) and give your instructions directly to them.
2.4 The notes to the proxy form explain how to direct your proxy how to vote on each resolution.
2.5 You can:
2.5.1 Appoint a proxy and give proxy instructions by returning the enclosed proxy form by post (see note APPOINTMENT OF PROXY BY POST).
2.5.2 Register your appointment electronically (see note [APPOINTMENT OF PROXIES ELECTRONICALLY]
3. APPOINTMENT OF PROXY BY POST
3.1 To appoint a proxy using the proxy form, the form must be:
3.1.1 completed and signed; and sent or delivered to the Charity to Proxy Vote at
3.1.2 Mi-Voice,
Unit 8, Mill Court
The Sawmills
Durley
SO32 2EJ
3.1.3 received by the Charity no later than 10th of September 2026 at 10.00 (BST) (9.00 UTC).
3.2 Any power of attorney or any other authority under which the proxy form is signed (or a duly certified copy of such power or authority) must be included with the proxy form.
3.3 If you have not received a proxy form and believe that you should have one, or if you require additional proxy forms, please contact support@mi-voice.com
4. APPOINTMENT OF PROXIES ELECTRONICALLY
4.1 [As an alternative to completing the hard-copy proxy form, you can appoint a proxy electronically by voting in advance by proxy. Mi-Voice will send an email with details on how to do this on the 5th of August. For an electronic proxy appointment to be valid, your appointment must be received by the [Charity] no later than 10th of September 2026 at 10AM (BST) (09:00 UTC).
4.2 This support@mi-voice.com email address should not be used for any other purposes unless expressly stated].
5. CHANGING PROXY INSTRUCTIONS
5.1 Members may change proxy instructions by submitting a new proxy appointment using the methods set out above. Note that the cut-off time for receipt of proxy appointments also applies in relation to amended instructions; any amended proxy appointment received after the relevant cut-off time will be disregarded.
5.2 Where you have appointed a proxy using the hard-copy proxy form and would like to change the instructions using another hard-copy proxy form, please contact support@mi-voice.com.
5.3 If you submit more than one valid proxy appointment, the appointment received last before the latest time for the receipt of proxies will take precedence.
6. TERMINATION OF PROXY APPOINTMENT
6.1 You may terminate a proxy instruction but to do so you will need to inform the Charity in writing by either:
6.1.1 Sending a signed hard copy notice clearly stating your intention to revoke your proxy appointment to the Charity. [In the case of a member which is a company, the revocation notice must be executed under its common seal or signed on its behalf by an officer of the company or an attorney for the company.] Any power of attorney or any other authority under which the revocation notice is signed (or a duly certified copy of such power or authority) must be included with the revocation notice.
6.1.2 Sending an email to support@mi-voice.com
6.2 In either case, the revocation notice must be received by the Charity no later than the 10th of September 2026 at 10.00 (BST) (09:00 UTC)
6.3 [If you attempt to revoke your proxy appointment but the revocation is received after the time specified, your original proxy appointment will remain valid unless you attend the meeting and vote in person].
6.4 Appointment of a proxy does not preclude you from attending the meeting and voting in person. If you have appointed a proxy and attend the meeting in person, your proxy appointment will automatically be terminated.
7.1 Except as provided above, members who have general queries about the meeting should customer.support@cibd.org.uk (no other methods of communication will be accepted).
7.2 You may not use any electronic address provided either in this notice or in any
related documents (including the proxy form) to communicate with the Charity for any purposes other than those expressly stated.
7.3 Voting on all resolutions will be conducted [on a show of hands OR by way of a poll]. [This is a more transparent method of voting where the Chair is appointed as proxy for multiple members, as it allows us to count each proxy vote separately; on a show of hands, the Chair would only be able to raise their hand once in respect of all proxies held by them which are “for” a resolution, and/or once in respect of all proxies held by them which are “against” a resolution. As a result, a vote on a show of hands can produce a result that is not reflective of the wishes of the membership].
7.4 If you have registered to attend the AGM on Zoom, Mi-Voice will send you an email with more information on how to vote live at the AGM.
7.5 As soon as practicable following the meeting, the results of the voting will be [announced and] posted on the Charity’s website].
How to Register and Vote?
We will be using electronic registration and the same voting system used in previous AGMs provided by Mi-Voice.
All CIBD-eligible members will receive information about the agenda items and previous AGM 2025 minutes.
Voting at the online meeting:
Voting online in advance by proxy:
Voting via email or post:
Any questions?
Meet the prospective trustees
Danielle Bekker
Danielle brings international expertise in FMCG innovation, malting and brewing, supply chain management and commercial strategy. She has worked across start‑ups, family businesses and FTSE 100 environments, including global roles at SABMiller and AB InBev, where she led major innovation platforms, integrated global functions and developed long‑term ingredient sourcing strategies. In 2018, Danielle started Marmalade Consulting, providing ad hoc consulting on innovation strategy and business transformation.
Danielle has extensive non-executive and trustee experience, with positions at RMI Analytics GmBH, Charles Wells Limited, Sophie Hayes Foundation, Blossom.LGBT and Skinbiotherapeutics PLC. Danielle is a current member of the CIBD and graduated with distinction with an MSc. in Malting and Brewing Science from the University of Heriot-Watt (UK) in 2004.
Martin Hayes
Martin is a finance and business leader with more than 25 years of international experience across the brewing and wider drinks sector. Over his career, he has lived and worked in four countries — the UK, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Portugal — leading finance, commercial, procurement, and IT functions through periods of strategic transformation, turnaround and sustainable growth.
Deeply experienced in the brewing industry, Martin has held senior leadership roles across some of the sector's best-known businesses. He joined Heineken in 2011, based first at the company's global head office in the Netherlands before taking on country leadership roles across Europe. As Finance Director of Pivovarna Laško Union, he led the integration and turnaround of a newly acquired brewing business, significantly accelerating profit delivery within two years. He then moved to Portugal as Chief Financial Officer of Sociedade Central de Cervejas, helping shape the strategy that established it as the number one player in the Portuguese beer and water markets. His earlier international career included more than a decade with TNT Express in divisional head-office finance roles based in Amsterdam, supporting global operations.
Martin joined Greene King in 2022, where he is currently Finance Director for Brewing & Brands and Group Supply Chain. In parallel, he leads the Programme Management Office for the construction of the company's new flagship brewery in Bury St Edmunds and the associated operational and commercial migration.
A Chartered Management Accountant, Martin qualified as an ACMA in 2005. He holds a Postgraduate Award in Management & Business Studies from Warwick Business School and a BA (Hons) in History from Nottingham Trent University.
Martin lives in Berkshire, UK, and values spending time with family and friends. In his spare time, he is a keen swimmer, runner, and cyclist, and enjoys winter sports when possible.
Stuart Watts
Stuart Watts has over 20 years' experience as a business leader with specialisms across the manufacturing arena in distilling. Passionate about Whisk(e)y and spirits production, Stuart has a proven track record of end-to-end performance.
He originally trained at Glasgow University where he completed his BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry, before carrying out a PhD in Distillation Flavour & Science from Heriot-Watt University.
Stuart has been working as the Distilleries Director at William Grant & Sons Ltd since 2021, where he leads the supply of all liquids into the supply chain, alongside the longer term development of capabilities for the global distilling and technical functions.
He is currently the Chairman of the Scotch Whisky Research Institute. In 2019 he was made a Keeper of the Quaich. He is also had a long association with the Institute, having worked as the Chair of the Scottish section from 2021 to 2023.
