Directors
Directors are appointed by members of a company or co-operative to take legal responsibility for its continued operations. In the UK, a FairShares Company need only appoint one director (three if in receipt of public/charitable funds or over the member threshold set at incorporation). The maximum number of directors will depend on the variant implemented – the current maximum is 13 in a FairShares Public Service Co-op.
A FairShares Co-operative will need to satisfy local legislation for the minimum number of members and directors. This varies from just three members/two directors in the UK (sometimes referred to as the Management Committee rather than Board), up to 20 members in Asia (such as in Indonesia, for example).
After reaching a threshold set in the Articles (default = 50), Directors are elected annually from each shareholder class and can only be removed from office by the class that elected them, or by ordinary resolution. Prior to reaching this threshold, continuity of directorships is practised while the company/co-operative builds its membership. The Governance section contains details of how Directors are elected and the powers they have.
In the FairShares Model, Directors are always subordinate to the wishes of members in General Meeting.
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