Election
Tim Rycroft has responded to a Club advertisement to be a Director and the Club currently has at least one vacancy.
If the number of votes FOR this candidate is higher than the number AGAINST this candidate, then that candidate will be elected as a Director of the Club, with effect from the official announcement of the result of the vote, for a term of office expiring at the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting in 2026.
The voting is now open and will close on the 21st April 2024. The results will be available on the Club’s website soon after at https://mercedes-benz-club.co.uk/club-news/
Candidate: Tim Rycroft
Tim has been a Member since 2005 and has been proposed by Michael Morrison and seconded by Malcolm Franks, Vivienne Franks, Brian Ellis, Pete Bowyer and Lucy Wylde.
Tim Rycroft’s statement:
Since joining the Club in 2005, I have served as parking planner, and parking marshall at the National Concours (2012-2019) and briefly as Regional Officer, North-East Midlands.
My greatest contribution to the Club, I think, was to design and implement the parking plan for National Concours between 2012 and 2019, when it was held at MB headquarters in Milton Keynes.
This was a complex job, to ensure every one of (usually over 100) vehicles was allocated the correct place, with all the different classes in their own area and the correct spacing between vehicles. I worked closely with Malcolm Franks on this. On the day of Concours, I also, alongside other volunteers, of course helped to marshall cars to their correct places.
For many years I was a regular attender at Club events, regional and national. I attended almost every National Concours between 2005 when I joined and 2019 (after which my Mercedes was off the road). I have attended Silverstone Classic (now Silverstone Festival) most years for the last decade. Locally I regularly attended shows at Thoresby Hall and Harewood House. I have attended national weekends and many model-specific days including for W123, W124 and S-Class. I was a regular contributor to the Club’s online forum, sharing photos of cars and events.
I did a brief spell as Regional Officer for NE Midlands, but since I worked away from home at that time, I found I couldn’t give it the time commitment it really needed.
I have written a couple of articles for the Gazette, one about the history of the C107 and another about the conversion to V8 power of my C123. In the last 20 years I have owned a diverse collection of Mercedes cars, including a C107 450 SLC, a C208 CLK 230K, a W168 A190 and a W169 A160 A-class, a W203 C55 AMG, a C123 280CE, a C140 S500, aW116 450 SEL 6.9 and a C202 C43 AMG. I currently own a C123 converted to V8 power (off the road at present being uprated) and I have just bought back a 1978 W123 250 sedan that I had previously sold seven years ago.
Since attending my first National Concours in 2005 I have had a great deal of pleasure from the Mercedes-Benz Club. Having recently stopped full-time work after 35 years I have more time on my hands and would now like to put something back into the Club.
My career included senior international communications roles for three FTSE-100 PLCs and, more recently, running two different organisations: a large member-funded trade association and a non-departmental government body employing 400 people. I have been a member of, and led, several boards.
I hope that both my experience of communications and of organisational leadership could be of assistance to the Club as it seeks to maintain and build on its position as one of the pre-eminent car clubs. I was one of the ‘footsoldiers’ who supported calling an EGM to replace the ‘old’ board because I care about the Club. Our long history and solid foundations are fantastic, but they can’t guarantee us the right to prosper unless we continue to serve and adapt to the needs of today’s and tomorrow’s members.
Managing an organisation run entirely by volunteers of course has its challenges, and it can also be hard to please a diverse collection of passionate and knowledgeable members. We must set out a clear direction for the Club and then set about delivering it consistently and at high quality. We must also sustain our openness and accountability, owning our mistakes and listening as carefully to our critics as our supporters. We must be confident in our plan and always willing to explain.
We have enormous technical expertise on tap and I hope I can help to make this even more accessible to members. We also need to continue to raise our game on two-way communication, taking advantage of new technologies while continuing to serve those who prefer more traditional methods.
I recently stepped down as chief executive of a non-departmental governmental body called AHDB (£45m annual revenues, c400 staff). Before that I was COO at an industry trade association called the Food and Drink Federation. I have served on UK and international corporate boards at Diageo, and at IHG.
If the number of votes for this candidate is higher than the number against this candidate, then the candidate will be elected as a Director of the Club with effect from the official announcement of the result, for a term of office expiring at the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting in 2026.
The voting will close on 21st April 2024. The results will be available on the Club’s website soon after at https://mercedes-benz-club.co.uk/club-news/
The candidate is listed with their biography on the voting form. You can vote once per computer IP address. Instructions are on the voting form if more than one person needs to vote from the same address.
Please click here to vote https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MBCVoteM24W
Thank you for your help.
Clive Henderson
Club Chairman
