Worstall’s Law: Every organisation will be, in the end, run by those who can stay awake in committee meetings.
Paul Ralley sends me a spotting of this law in the wild:
The group is owned by its members and 80 or so member societies.
Area committees are the grass roots of the organisation. There are about 48 of them, each with 10 to 12 members who serve three-year, elected terms.
These area committee members elect members of the seven regional boards. They, in turn, elect 15 of the 21 members of the group’s board. Of the remaining six, five come from member societies, such as Midcounties and Midlands, and there’s an independent director, the role held by Lord Myners.
There are also boards for the food business; the bank, which the group no longer fully owns; and specialist businesses, which include the pharmacies and funeral care.
A bit like the Church of England, then?
Yes.
We’ve just returned from a trip to Chilham, a rather charming village in the heart of Kent.
Reading the parish newsboard, this village, which you can circumnavigate and cover the bits in the middle in an hour, is being looked after by:
CFDG
Parish Council
Village Society
Environment Agency
Area of Outstanding Beauty bodies of which there are too many to mention, but they ensure nothing changes
Kent County Council
The population of these bodies is perhaps less than 1,595 (the polulation of Chilham), but probably only just…