## INDUSTRIAL LAW SOCIETY ## **www.industriallawsociety.org.uk** **CO-** _**Chair Co-Chair Co-ordinator**_ Robert Lewis Anna Beale Jean Hughes Mishcon de Reya LLP Cloisters 18 Graysmead Africa House 1 Pump Court SIBLE HEDINGHAM 70 Kingsway TEMPLE Essex C09 3NY London WC2B 6AH London EC4Y 7AA Tel/Fax: 01787 463838 Email: Robert.Lewis@mishcon.com Email: abe@cloisters.com Email jean@industriallawsociety.org.uk Tel: 020 3321 7000 Tel: 020 7827 4000 Office Hours: 9am to 1pm ## **’ - CO CHAIR S REPORT 2024 / 2025** ## **1. Officers and Committee** The Society’s Officers and Committee members were elected on a two-year tenure (since 2023) with the following Officers and Executive Committee serving throughout 2024/2025 as follows: **Co-Chairs** : Anna Beale and Robert Lewis **Vice-Chairs** : Madeline Stanley and Emma Zarb **Treasurer** : Nike Balogun **Secretary:** Rachel Wedderspoon ## **Ordinary Members:** Shubha Banerjee, Iain Birrell, Clive Day, Andrew James, Omar Khalil, Declan O'Dempsey, Michael Reed, Suresh Patel, Anita Vadgama and Max Winthrop **Ex-officio regional chairs during 2024 and 2025 have been:** Connie Cliff (Birmingham), Joel Smith (who assists Iain Birrell in Leeds), Professor Tonia Novitz and Michael Ford KC (Bristol), Jo Seery (Manchester) and David Martyn (Scotland). ## **Members co-opted onto the Committee were:** Frances Cusack and Ann Kelly. Ex-officio members and co-optees are selected to ensure as broad representation as possible on the Committee across industry, legal practitioners including the judiciary and academia. We would like to record our thanks to the Society’s Committee members for their contributions over the last 12 months. ## **2. Announcement: Honorary President and Vice-Presidents** It is with a tinge of sadness that we are announcing that Sir Patrick Elias has decided to relinquish his position of Honorary President of the Society after serving in this role since 2016 and that Vice-President, Professor Paul Davies KC, has also decided to step down. **Honorary President:** Sir Patrick Elias, **Vice-Presidents:** Dr Saphié Ashtiany, Professor Catherine Barnard, Mr D Cockburn, Professor Paul Davies KC, The Hon Mrs Justice Eady DBE, Lord Hendy KC, Sir Brian Langstaff, Michael Rubenstein, The Hon Mrs Justice Stacey DBE, Melanie Tether, The Rt Hon Lord Justice Underhill **A Registered Charity: No. 292145** **….Cont/d** **-Page 2-** **__________________________________________________________________________________** We are enormously grateful to Patrick for the time, energy and enthusiasm he has lavished on the Society during his almost ten years as our Honorary President. It is a testament to his dedication that almost every active member will have met him at the Society’s evening meetings (where he always asks the most difficult questions) and annual conference. It is fitting that, in his last term as President, so many luminaries of the employment law world met in Cambridge to celebrate his academic and judicial contribution to the development of our area of law. We would also like to thank Paul for his long service to the Society, both as the Editor of the Industrial Law Journal for the astonishing period of 32 years (1977 to 2009) and, from 2001, as Vice President. Paul has spoken regularly at ILS events and – even when not a speaker – always makes valuable contributions from the floor in the best traditions of the Society, most recently during Patrick’s celebration in March of this year. We very much hope that Patrick and Paul will continue to attend the Society’s events despite their “retirement” from active duties. We are incredibly honoured to announce that Lord (John) Hendy KC has agreed to take over the position of Honorary President from Patrick with immediate effect. John’s long and distinguished association with the Society, and his unparalleled contribution to UK employment law, will be familiar to you all. We could not hope for a better successor to Patrick. We are also delighted to inform members that Rebecca Tuck KC and Caspar Glyn KC, who are long standing supporters of the Society and its activities, as well as former Chairs, have been appointed Vice-Presidents as of this evening. ## **3. Treasurer and Secretary** We would also like to record our thanks to Nike Balogun (now HHJ Balogun) and Rachel Wedderspoon (for some time now, Employment Judge Wedderspoon), who are stepping down after ten years as Treasurer and six years as Secretary respectively. Nike and Rachel have both spent many years on the Executive Committee and have made a huge contribution to the smooth running of the Society, as well as initiating and chairing events. They will be greatly missed. ## **4. Membership** There continues to be financial pressures since the pandemic on both individuals and businesses alike, and whilst there has been a small reduction of membership which is regrettable, it is of course not surprising. At its heart, the Society still has a strong and active core membership base, for which we are very grateful. **Honorary President:** Sir Patrick Elias, **Vice-Presidents:** Dr Saphié Ashtiany, Professor Catherine Barnard, Mr D Cockburn, Professor Paul Davies KC, The Hon Mrs Justice Eady DBE, Lord Hendy KC, Sir Brian Langstaff, Michael Rubenstein, The Hon Mrs Justice Stacey DBE, Melanie Tether, The Rt Hon Lord Justice Underhill **A Registered Charity: No. 292145** **….Cont/d** **-Page 3-** **__________________________________________________________________________________** ## **5. Principal activities** ## Hybrid and occasional In Person Only Evening Meetings Given that more members today divide their time between working in offices and working remotely from home, hybrid sessions remain incredibly popular and a great method to reach a wide audience. Nonetheless, the Society has hosted a small number of in person only meetings: sometimes to secure speakers who prefer not to address a hybrid audience; where hybrid facilities are not available (usually at regional venues); or when the Committee believes that a particular session would benefit greatly from a room of attendees engaging in debate both during and after the session at drinks. Regardless of the format — in-person, hybrid, or online only — the Society remains dedicated to providing excellent evening/lunch-time meetings on current and topical issues free of charge to members. We would like to express our gratitude to the speakers who contributed to the Society’s Evening (and lunch-time!) sessions in 2024 and 2025, and to those who chaired them. These meetings were as follows: ## **London Evening Meeting (Hybrid): London: 22 October 2024** Dr Francesca Moore, Associate Professor in Geography: _**Private harms, public justice? Sexual misconduct, law and feminist protest in the era of #MeToo**_ ## **London Evening Meeting (In Person Only): London: 12 November 2024** Kate Bell, Assistant General Secretary of the TUC; Neil Carberry, Chief Executive of the Recruitment & Employment Confederation; and Will Winch, Partner, Mishcon de Reya LLP: _**A panel session which discussed the new Labour government’s plans for employment law**_ ## **Cambridge: Joint (In Person Only event) with Woolf Institute: 25 November 2024** Sarah Fraser Butlin KC, Cloisters and Fellow, Selwyn College, Cambridge: _**Religion and Belief Discrimination: Where Next?**_ This event was attended by Lady Hale and was followed by dinner for attendees. We would like to express our gratitude to Sarah Fraser Butlin KC, Lady Hale and all those involved at Woolf Institute. Grateful thanks also recorded to Clive Day, the Society’s regional representative in Nottingham, for proposing and organising the event. ## **London Evening Meeting (Hybrid): London: 10 December 2024** The Honourable Mr Justice Sheldon: _**The influence of the Human Rights Act on our employment law**_ ## **Lunch-time webinar: 15 January 2025** Samantha Mangwana, Director, Head of Strategy, byrne-dean: _**New Year, new thinking? Sexual harassment – the new duty and new ideas to make it work**_ **Honorary President:** Sir Patrick Elias, **Vice-Presidents:** Dr Saphié Ashtiany, Professor Catherine Barnard, Mr D Cockburn, Professor Paul Davies KC, The Hon Mrs Justice Eady DBE, Lord Hendy KC, Sir Brian Langstaff, Michael Rubenstein, The Hon Mrs Justice Stacey DBE, Melanie Tether, The Rt Hon Lord Justice Underhill **A Registered Charity: No. 292145** **….Cont/d** **-Page 4-** **__________________________________________________________________________________** ## **Manchester: Evening Meeting (In Person Only): 23 January 2025** Professor Alan Bogg, Bristol University and Michael Ford KC, Old Square Chambers _**Employment Rights Bill – Where are we now?**_ ## **Manchester: Evening Meeting (In Person Only): 13 February 2025** REJ David Franey and Rachel Owusu-Agyei, Old Square Chambers: _**Making the most of Dispute Resolution Appointments and Preparing for Case Management**_ ## **Evening Webinar: 4 March 2025** Sarah Fraser Butlin KC, Cloisters and Fellow, Selwyn College, Cambridge: _**A proportionate response: where are we now on manifestation of religion and belief?**_ ## **London Evening Meeting (Hybrid): 12 March 2025** Schona Jolly KC, Cloisters: _**Reflections on Race Equality in the UK: has the law delivered?**_ ## **London Evening Meeting (Hybrid): 30 April 2025** Sir Brian Langstaff KC: _**How does infected blood affect employment? Does the Infected Blood Inquiry provide the answer?**_ You will see from the list of sessions above, that in addition to events in Cambridge and London, the Society also held two in-person meetings in Manchester. These were the first regional sessions there since the pandemic and were arranged and hosted by Jo Seery, the Society's regional representative in Manchester. We would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to Jo for organising these sessions, which drew a great number of in person attendees. We hope that these will serve as the first of many future regional sessions. ## One Day Event in honour of Sir Patrick Elias The Society held a one-day workshop on 28 March 2025 at Selwyn College, Cambridge to celebrate and reflect upon Patrick Elias' legacy as a judge, advocate, and scholar. There was a range of panels reflecting on Patrick’s many contributions to labour law comprising: Professor Simon Deakin, _**Sir Patrick and employment status**_ , with a comment from Brian Napier KC; Dr Joe Atkinson, _**Sir Patrick and human rights in employment law**_ , with a comment from Shantha David Professor ACL Davies, _**Sir Patrick on the employment contract**_ , with a comment from Stuart Brittenden KC The foregoing panels were chaired by Lord Sales. **Honorary President:** Sir Patrick Elias, **Vice-Presidents:** Dr Saphié Ashtiany, Professor Catherine Barnard, Mr D Cockburn, Professor Paul Davies KC, The Hon Mrs Justice Eady DBE, Lord Hendy KC, Sir Brian Langstaff, Michael Rubenstein, The Hon Mrs Justice Stacey DBE, Melanie Tether, The Rt Hon Lord Justice Underhill **A Registered Charity: No. 292145** **….Cont/d** **-Page 5-** **__________________________________________________________________________________** Professor Sandra Fredman, _**Sir Patrick and Equal Pay**_ , with a comment from Anna Beale KC Professor Catherine Barnard and Sarah Fraser Butlin KC, _**Sir Patrick and discrimination law**_ , with a comment from Jo Omambala KC The foregoing panels were chaired by Singh LJ. Judge Simon Auerbach, _**Sir Patrick on causation in employment law**_ , with a comment from Dr Charles Wynn-Evans Professor Keith Ewing, _**Sir Patrick and trade union rights**_ , with a comment from Andrew Burns KC Professor Alan Bogg, _**Sir Patrick as Judge and Jurist**_ , with a comment from Underhill LJ. The foregoing panels were chaired by Lady Simler This was a fantastic event which celebrated Patrick's career. It was a who’s who of attendees and was an amazing day, followed by a wonderful evening. We would like to take this opportunity to record our thanks to contributors and those chairing but also to pay particular thanks to Sarah Fraser Butlin KC, and Professors Catherine Barnard and Alan Bogg, for putting together such a superb event in celebration of Patrick and for making it truly special. ## 2024 Annual Conference: Keble College, Oxford The 2024 Annual Conference was hosted at St John’s College in Cambridge. This was the Society’s second in person only Conference since lockdown and it sold out with 155 attendees. There was a very lively and friendly atmosphere at the Conference with delegates expressing how much they enjoyed it. Speaker sessions and contributions were superb, details of which are outlined below: ## **Panel Session:** _**The ethics of employment lawyering**_ Those sharing the platform were Beth Hale, Partner and General Counsel at CM Murray LLP; Iain Miller, partner at Kingsley Napley LLP; and Richard Moorhead, Professor of Law and Professional Ethics, University of Exeter. The Panel session was chaired by Charles Wynn-Evans, Partner and International General Counsel, Dechert LLP **Honorary President:** Sir Patrick Elias, **Vice-Presidents:** Dr Saphié Ashtiany, Professor Catherine Barnard, Mr D Cockburn, Professor Paul Davies KC, The Hon Mrs Justice Eady DBE, Lord Hendy KC, Sir Brian Langstaff, Michael Rubenstein, The Hon Mrs Justice Stacey DBE, Melanie Tether, The Rt Hon Lord Justice Underhill **A Registered Charity: No. 292145** **….Cont/d** **-Page 6-** **__________________________________________________________________________________** ## **Plenary Sessions:** ## _**Is Equal Pay broken? A debate**_ Ijeoma Omambala KC, Old Square Chambers and Sean Jones KC, 11KBW ## _**Religion and belief discrimination: where next?**_ Sarah Fraser Butlin KC, Cloisters and Fellow, Selwyn College, Cambridge ## _**The rights, wrongs, risks and regulation of AI at work**_ Robin Allen KC, Cloisters and Mary Towers, Employment Rights Policy Officer in the Rights, Social Affairs and Economics department at the TUC ## _**A Discrimination Law Miscellany**_ HHJ Simon Auerbach ## **Workshops** : _**Employment Tribunal or High Court – how to decide which jurisdiction to choose**_ Clare Brereton, Partner, BDBF LLP ## _**Best practice in investigations: avoiding common pitfalls**_ Arpita Dutt, Independent Investigator and Mediator – Arpita Dutt Consulting and Luke Watkeys, Director & HR Consultant, Compose HR ## _**Reinstatement and re-engagement: tactics and strategy**_ Thomas Ogg, 11KBW _**How can the government best deliver “a new deal for working people”?**_ Nick Denys, Head of Private and Commercial Law, The Law Society ## **After-Dinner Speaker** Sir Patrick Elias KC We are incredibly grateful to all of the Society’s Conference speakers and to all those who chaired at the Conference. ## **6. Plans for 2025/2026** We are pleased to confirm that the Society will be hosting the Summer Quiz/Drinks Party at UNISON on Thursday 26 June 2025, details of which will undoubtedly be circulated very soon. Please do sign up to what we anticipate will be a very enjoyable social event. The Society’s Annual Conference is scheduled to take place at Keble College in Oxford on Friday 12 and Saturday 13 September this year. Full details will hopefully be circulated in early to mid June. **Honorary President:** Sir Patrick Elias, **Vice-Presidents:** Dr Saphié Ashtiany, Professor Catherine Barnard, Mr D Cockburn, Professor Paul Davies KC, The Hon Mrs Justice Eady DBE, Lord Hendy KC, Sir Brian Langstaff, Michael Rubenstein, The Hon Mrs Justice Stacey DBE, Melanie Tether, The Rt Hon Lord Justice Underhill **A Registered Charity: No. 292145** **….Cont/d** **-Page 7-** **__________________________________________________________________________________** ## **7. Thanks** Change We would like to take this opportunity again to record thanks to all those who have given their time to contribute to ILS events as speakers, organisers or chairs as well as our thanks to the Committee for their work during the year and the members of the Society for your continued participation and support. Finally, we would also like to wish the newly elected Co-Chairs and Executive Committee for 2025 to 2027 all the very best. The Society has brilliant new leadership which promises much and will achieve more and we look forward to seeing the Society continue to prosper. ## **Anna Beale and Robert Lewis Co-Chairs** **Honorary President:** Sir Patrick Elias, **Vice-Presidents:** Dr Saphié Ashtiany, Professor Catherine Barnard, Mr D Cockburn, Professor Paul Davies KC, The Hon Mrs Justice Eady DBE, Lord Hendy KC, Sir Brian Langstaff, Michael Rubenstein, The Hon Mrs Justice Stacey DBE, Melanie Tether, The Rt Hon Lord Justice Underhill **A Registered Charity: No. 292145** INDEPEI¥DEwf EXAMINER'S REPO TO THE TRUSTEES OF THE INDUSTRtAL LAW SOCI l on the acc(Amts of the the y¢•r cJ¥bJ 31 D￿¢mber 2024. whith are s¢t on pagc5 1 to 4. As th charitys you ￿ r¢spo￿1bk for th¢ prcpmion of the ruouth: you consi(kr ihe audii requirement of ￿tIon 43(2) of the Chariii&% Aci 1993 (the Act) does N)1 apply. It is my reswmsibiliry io slal4 ￿ the basis of Proced￿ speeified in the Genttal DirectiorLS given by the Charity Commissith*rs undersection 43(7Xb) of thc ACL wlth particular mattets hav¢ to my 4uenii(Mi. My exwninalion was canicd Iwrt in with ts Gtsml Directions gi￿ by the Chrity Commissioners. An examin*ion a review of the acC￿￿ting records kept by the charity and a CLmnparI￿￿ of the xcounts ￿es￿ted with those record& It a150 ]￿lud&S considerntion or ¢oncerning any such matters. The Pr(￿ed￿ uNlvtak¢n th) not provide all the evidence that would be requited in an and c￿￿tlY I do cxprw •n amjii winiw on the vi¢w Indepadent eMMl4eY'$ sl•¢¢m¢MI COnn￿lI0n with my cxaminu1c￿ no matter has ts) my altcntion: (l) which gives me re4sonablc ￿￿5¢ ￿ bcii¢v¢ that in any material wsped the ryircrnents lo keep a¢¢ouniing records in aCc(¥dar￿ with 5edion 41 ofth Act 2nd to prep&E wunts which a¢¢ord with the accounting Yecords Jnd to with th a¢¢thmtiTrg relwiT4na￿ of the A h&v¢ not bel￿ met or (2) ￿ whicK in my Opinio￿ attention st￿uld k drawn in (rfdcr ￿ cnabk a PTOW thtaMlin8 R.D. Gini 3 Page Road BOWERS GIFFORD Ba5ildon SS132HP RT In ￿cord￿￿e with insinKiions 8iv¢n to w we have the *￿hed from thc TTe&surcr of the Ind￿1 Law Society a￿1 wc ccrtify that il 15 in accord￿¢¢ th¢ffwith. R D Glnbey 3 Page Road BOIVEKS GIFFORD Boslldon E55￿ SS13 2HP THE INDiISTRIAL LAW SoCI￿y INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNr YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2•24 2024 INCOME SubscTiplions: I￿lIv￿￿￿1 25,605 14.ljo 17,698 25.252 14.045 IA146 Journal Sales 57.433 55,443 LE&S EXPENDfTURE Posts8e & S&tiry Employmeni Expensas.. In& employ¢vs' Nl In511rances Infomulion Commissionets Oir￿C Secrctarial Expa Affiliati￿ and aCc￿li￿110n Fc¢s Bank Charges Printin8 Telephone (in¢l ¢.MaiVbro*￿l0Om) 2.164 ACcounts￿Y & Payroll A(kniniskniion 1.845 Gifts Misc¢llancous Emalvwebsi￿ thve10pn￿I oup 420 231 32.492 2M5 35 32J62 2,769 35 266 1586 2,185 2.508 lJ95 538 268 42258 41.958 15,175 13.485 SURPLUSI(DEFICIT) ON CONFERENCLS & EVENING MEETINGS (17592) {20,602) (DEFICITPSURPLUS FOR THE YEAR THE INDUSTIUAL LAW SOCI STATEMENT OF A&SETS AND LIABILMLS ￿ AT31￿ DECEMBER 2024 2•23 ASSETS RETAINED FOR THE CHARrrvs OWN iISE o(rKe Equipmem at Cost AdditioAs 15239 43 15.059 180 15282 15,239 CASH ASSErs Cash at Bank 86,739 89,199 ABlu￿Es HMRC Payroll Adm Telephone 967 450 345 47 A1￿Ual Conference Evening Meding Bank Char8CS 120 39 Co£hir (AThThA ratTrL[- kc) Co£hair 6lo£É¢r THE INDusfRIAL IAW socIErY INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNr YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2ff24 2023 ANNUAL COIYFERENCE Incomc 58,408 57,890 Less Expenses v￿1¢ hiyc (ind.. AV Aids) Sp¢ak¢r5 Poslagc. Prinlin& p￿￿￿)11( & consumables 49.473 631 55.519 956 262 415 50.366 56.890 SURPLUSI(DEFICITI 8,042 SUMMER PARTY (JUNE) 3.415 Hirc of vcn SpeakcrJ Postage, Printing & Promolion Donation on behalf of Winning I￿11 Team to FRU 3.154 375 3,529 suRPLU￿DEFjCrn (114) THE INDUSTRIAL LAW SOCIErY INCOME AND EXPENDITURE AccouNr YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2•24 ONE DAY EVEKf IN HONOUR OF SIR PATrICK ELIAS (MARCH 2•25> Incom¢ 4.850 Less ExputsL HI￿ of v￿uC (thwit) Speaker5 Posthge, Printin8 & Prmiion 435 435 SURPLUSI(DEFICIT> 4.415 EVENING MEETINGS: (ALL CENfRES) Income 633 Expenses Hall Hire s￿k¢[s ¢xpeMcs AV Technician Posta8e. Prinlin& Pron￿¢1< & Consumables 28,113 1,345 20,162 495 31,099 344 22,121 SURPLUWEFICIT) TOTAL SURPLiISI{DEFICIT) ON CONFERENCES AND EVENING MEETINGS **www.industriallawsociety.org.uk** ## INDUSTRIAL LAW SOCIETY **CO-** _**Chair Co-Chair Co-ordinator**_ Robert Lewis Anna Beale Jean Hughes Mishcon de Reya LLP Cloisters 18 Graysmead Africa House 1 Pump Court SIBLE HEDINGHAM 70 Kingsway TEMPLE Essex C09 3NY London WC2B 6AH London EC4Y 7AA Tel/Fax: 01787 463838 Email: Robert.Lewis@mishcon.com Email: abe@cloisters.com Email jean@industriallawsociety.org.uk Tel: 020 3321 7000 Tel: 020 7827 4000 Office Hours: 9am to 1pm **Treasurer’s Report 2024** This years report is presented once again accounting for the activities of the Society on a “Receipts and Payments” basis. ## **Subscription Income/Journal Sales** Income from Journal sales, which continue to greatly supplement the Society’s finances, increased to £17,698 being received from OUP in respect of the profit share scheme this year. So as to address the higher costs of hosting our events and the day to day running of the Society, details of which I will address below, subscription rates were, reluctantly, increased (by £5 for Individual members and £10 for Corporate members), having remained unchanged previously for several years. ## **General Income & Expenditure** The Society made a deficit of £2,417. This amount would have been higher had we not received surplus of income of £4,415 from the One Day Event in Honour of Sir Patrick Elias. Unusually bookings opened for it during the financial year end for 2024, although the event was held in March 2025. Liabilities in relation to hosting it will therefore be paid in 2025. If you allow for the liabilities likely to be owed for the One Day Event in Honour of Sir Patrick, which are yet to be confirmed, it is anticipated that the Society’s deficit for the year will have been a little higher than it was in 2023. The Society made a healthy surplus of £8,000 on the Annual Conference which was held at St John’s College in Cambridge. The Society was fortunate in negotiating a discount of £8,251 on their final invoice as it transpired that the College had over priced their initial costings by not taking our VAT exemption into account. There was a significant increase of £8,561 in the cost of hosting the Society’s evening meetings in 2024. To try and save money, the Society’s Executive Committee had investigated switching venues in London but quotes received from suitable alternative venues were on a par with The Law Society. While banking charges for electronic and online payments increased by some 31%, the overall general day to day running of the Society saw only a modest increase in monetary terms of £300 for the year. These included notable higher costs for payroll services and stationery. Income of some £1,050 was received from non-members attending our evening meetings; a 49% increase on the previous year. There was a miscellaneous charge of £120 for a donation made to Britten Pears Arts. This was half of the sweepstake monies raised at the 2023 Annual Conference (with the other £120 being donated to Scope in 2023). Britten Pears Arts was the chosen > **Honorary President:** Sir Patrick Elias, **Vice-Presidents:** Dr Saphié Ashtiany, Professor Catherine Barnard, Mr D Cockburn, Professor Paul Davies KC, The Hon Mrs Justice Eady DBE, Lord Hendy KC, Sir Brian Langstaff, Michael Rubenstein, The Hon Mrs Justice Stacey DBE, Melanie Tether, The Rt Hon Lord Justice Underhill **A Registered Charity: No. 292145** **….Cont/d** **-Page 2-** **__________________________________________________________________________________** charity of the after-dinner speaker. The £120 donation made to the charity did not however clear until 2024. ## **General** It is reassuring that, despite the rising costs incurred in 2024, particularly for venue hire which are largely beyond our control, the Society’s financial position remains relatively stable with the Society maintaining a healthy amount of money in the bank. We should not be unduly worried about finances despite the current environment of increasing costs and austerity, but we cannot be complacent either. There was a reduction of 3.5% in membership numbers in 2024, which is not what we would have hoped for. However, it was not unexpected due to cost of living/austerity measures etc. How the Society goes about balancing venue hire costs and membership fees will no doubt be an important focus for the newly elected Committee. The conservative management of the Society’s finances allows us to continue in our dedication of our founding aim of fostering engagement with individuals interested in employment law and industrial relations through its meetings and conferences. The Society is truly grateful for the continued support of our core, longstanding membership. Finally, as you will have heard from the results of the AGM tonight, I am stepping down from my role as the Society’s Treasurer after 10 years in post. I look forward to continuing to attend the Society’s events as an active member though. I would also like to take this opportunity to wish the newly elected Treasurer, Co-Chairs and ViceChairs and Executive Committee every success in the future. ## **Nike Balogun Treasurer, ILS** **Honorary President:** Sir Patrick Elias, **Vice-Presidents:** Dr Saphié Ashtiany, Professor Catherine Barnard, Mr D Cockburn, Professor Paul Davies KC, The Hon Mrs Justice Eady DBE, Lord Hendy KC, Sir Brian Langstaff, Michael Rubenstein, The Hon Mrs Justice Stacey DBE, Melanie Tether, The Rt Hon Lord Justice Underhill **A Registered Charity: No. 292145**