Organisational Structure Overview

The Institute of Quarrying is the professional membership body for quarrying and the related industries. The legal status of the Institute is that of a company limited by guarantee, a special status reserved for not-for-profit organisations. The purpose for which the organisation was established is set out in the Memorandum of Association.

The company itself is deemed to be comprised of its corporate members who have a position broadly similar to that of shareholders in other types of companies in that they collectively 'own' the company and enjoy the right to vote in general meeting. Also, the Institute is a registered charity and, accordingly, does not have to pay corporation tax on any profits which are generated.

As a limited company, the Institute is subject to the usual provisions of English company law and in legal terms, therefore, Council is the board of directors which is held responsible for the affairs of the company. Council meets three times a year and membership is broadly based to allow scope for wide representation (see Bye-Laws, II).

The senior officers are the President, who is the figurehead of the organisation, and the Chairman of Council, whose responsibilities are more akin to that of a business manager. Both offices are held on an honorary basis.

The objectives of the Institute are now pursued through a formal Business Plan overseen by Council and the detailed work is undertaken by four main committees - Policy, Education, Finance and General Purposes and Membership. The full Terms of Reference of Committees is available here.

The Institute's registered office is at Nottingham, in a building shared with its associated company QMJ Publishing Ltd (click here for further details). The main function of the office/staff is to provide an administrative base for the organisation and support for the Honorary Officers, Council, its committees and, in specific ways, the UK branches.

On joining, all members are allocated to a local branch, of which there are 13 in the UK. Full details of the geographical areas appear in Branch Area Schedule (see also Branch Organisation Overview). The branches have their own Chairman, committees and programme of activities which are operated independent of the centre.

Also, there are currently two overseas branches based in Hong Kong and Malaysia. For historical reasons, these national sections have been accorded a higher degree of autonomy of operation than those in the UK, principally the right to set and collect their own subscriptions, of which a proportion is remitted to the parent body in the form of Overseas Dues.

In 1996, however, the new status of Affiliated National Institute was created to allow overseas sections the opportunity to form themselves into independent corporate bodies with parallel constitutions to that of the UK (see Bye-Laws, IV) and electing their own President. Again, in 1999 the status of Affiliated National Branch was created (see Bye-Laws, V) which allows former overseas sections to become independent by adopting a constitution differing from that of the UK. The significant differences are that all members, both corporate and non-corporate, can vote at the AGM on matters other than the constitution and the ANB elects a Chairman, not President.

The former Australian Division was the first to take advantage of these arrangements and is now called The Institute of Quarrying Australia. It was followed in 1999 by the New Zealand branch which became the Institute of Quarrying New Zealand Incorporated. Most recently, during 2000, the Southern Africa branch became the Institute of Quarrying Southern Africa, an affiliated national branch. In due course it is anticipated that the remaining overseas national branches will convert to an affiliated status.

In order that the existing Coat of Arms (which remains in the ownership of the Institute in the UK) can continue to be used as the common identity linking the members of affiliated bodies overseas with the Institute itself, a new non-corporate grade of Affiliated Overseas Member was created within the UK company.

In view of the looser arrangement which exists between the UK and its Affiliated National Institutes, both the level of service provided from Nottingham and the affiliation fees have been set at a lower level than those associated with overseas national branches.

The mechanism for liaison at international level is through the Presidents' Committee which comprises the Presidents, or Chairmen, of all the national bodies (see Terms of Reference of Committees, 1). This committee is scheduled to meet once a year on a rota basis at one of the national conferences and the meeting is chaired by the host President.

As each corporate body represented is an independent entity in its own right, the Presidents' Committee has no executive power and can only formulate recommendations for acceptance by the national Councils. It does, however, have some limited scope to pursue initiatives at international level, subject to agreement on the level of common funding required.