Annual Review 2017/18

Chair's statement

TONY BRADMAN - CHAIR quotes I’m pleased to report that we’ve had an excellent year, with income from all sources – UK and international – at an all-time record high. I would therefore like to thank the executive team and the staff at ALCS for their hard work and dedication to the cause of making sure you – our Members – receive the money to which you’re entitled. That also helps make sure we can pay you without a hitch, and lets you see what we are paying you for.

This year we’ll be sending you email reminders about the deadlines you’ll need to meet when it comes to sending us updates on your works or personal data. We hope these reminders will help you make the most of your membership and maximise your income from ALCS.

We made our first payment to Members for their visual contributions to books, magazines and journals earlier this year, and the second set of payments was made in September 2018. If you contribute any photos, illustrations or other types of images to the publications you write for, don’t forget to tell us about them.

Finally, I’d like to thank all of you who took part in our Authors’ Earnings survey. Almost inevitably, the result showed things are still looking tough for writers. The survey, which we carry out every few years, enables us to build a picture of the working life and income of authors, and helps us lobby for fair payment for your work. The statistics gathered are vital in helping us make our points to legislators. It’s all part of the essential work we do to protect and promote your rights and make sure the money keeps coming!

TONY BRADMAN, ALCS CHAIR

CEO's statement

OWEN ATKINSON - CEO

quotes I'm delighted to report both increased income and increased payments to Members this year. Income has continued to rise despite challenging times, particularly in the audiovisual sector, but we are still cautious about the potential effects Brexit may bring in the future. We continue to build strong relationships with our European partners so that the collective use of UK writers’ work continues to be fairly rewarded.

The increase in income this year to a record £34.3 million represented a rise of £2.2 million from last year and as a result we paid out £34.1 million to nearly 82,000 Members. Over the course of the year, ALCS membership increased to 95,673 – a rise of 5,646 for the year. We know many of our Members take to social media to promote the work that ALCS does, particularly around the time of distributions, and this has certainly helped to raise our profile among those newer writers who may not previously have been aware of ALCS, and many have subsequently joined as Members. Thank you all for your help in making sure as many writers as possible can benefit from our licensing.

During the year we were pleased to successfully launch the new ALCS website. This has an updated Members' Area that easily lets you keep us updated about your new works and if any information is missing, it now shows up as an alert in your account. Importantly it also allows you to tell us about changes to your bank account to ensure we can pay you. This year, instead of sending out paper statements to Members, we sent you emails instead and asked you to access your statements online. This was a big change, I know, but initiatives such as this really do help us make savings that we pass on to you, not to mention helping the environment by not printing 80,000 statements.

We continue to seek out new sources of income to maintain and increase our levels of income for Members and this year, by keeping costs down, we achieved an overall commission rate for you of 8.3%. I would like to thank our Board of Directors for the guidance and support they’ve provided throughout the year and the ALCS staff for helping to achieve this record year.

OWEN ATKINSON, ALCS CEO

Key Performance Indicators

0
million

Money collected for Members.

0
million

Money paid to Members.

0

Number of Members paid.

90,027

Our membership increased by 5,646 to 95,673.

0
million

Money paid out to Members through membership research initiatives.

0

Overall commission rate.

Paid out visual income to Members for the first time.New

Online only distributions for the first time – no more paper statements. Cost savings and environmental impact.New

New website for Members.New

Lobbying

A generic square placeholder image with rounded corners in a figure.

In the UK we have:

  • continued to lobby for the government consultation and Statutory Instrument that enables the legislation that extends PLR to remote eLending already enshrined in the Digital Economy Act 2017 to take effect
  • met with legislators to raise our concerns about how authors may be affected by Brexit and what they need in a post-Brexit world
  • provided written evidence on the UK publishing sector in respect of the needs of authors
  • worked with the All Party Writers Group (APWG) to keep issues pertaining to writers on the radar of parliamentarians.
A generic square placeholder image with rounded corners in a figure.

Globally we have:

  • worked with the Society of Audiovisual Authors (SAA) promoting an online remuneration right for audiovisual authors in Europe
  • worked with PLR International to promote the principle of PLR systems for authors around the world
  • lobbied with the International Authors Forum at the World Intellectual Property Organization on issues pertaining to preserving authors’ rights such as exceptions on education as well as libraries and archives.

New Data Legislation

GDPR image

In response to the new GDPR legislation that came into effect in May, we published, in early March, our revised ‘Personal Data and Privacy Policy’ which sets out what we do/ don’t do with our Members’ data.

Members have been encouraged to read and understand what their rights are, by viewing the policy which is available on our website at alcs.co.uk/personal-data-and-privacy-policy.

Our Leadership

ALCS is led by a Senior Management Team of six. Between them they’ve worked at ALCS for 91 years, so they’re pretty experienced.

 OWEN ATKINSON Executive Director and ALCS Chief Executive
OWEN ATKINSON

Executive Director and ALCS Chief Executive

Read more
BARBARA HAYES Deputy Chief Executive
BARBARA HAYES

Deputy Chief Executive

Read more
ALISON BAXTER Head of Communications
ALISON BAXTER

Head of Communications

Read more
RICHARD COMBES Head of Rights and Licensing
RICHARD COMBES

Head of Rights and Licensing

Read more
ALAN SMITH Chief Operating Officer
ALAN SMITH

Chief Operating Officer

Read more
MARK BISPHAM Head of Finance
MARK BISPHAM

Head of Finance

Read more

  • Owen Atkinson
    CEO
    • Cathy Knight
      Secretary
    • Richard Combes
      Head of Rights and Licensing

  • Barbara Hayes
    Deputy CEO
    • Alison Baxter
      Head of Communications
      • Esther Jones
        Communications Executive
      • Alice Donovan
        Communications Executive
      • Jade Zienkiewicz
        Content Editor
      • Tiago Fonseca
        Digital Developer
    • Colette Scourse
      Membership Services Manager
      • Jack Johnson
        Senior Researcher
      • Gaynor Coules
        Senior Researcher
      • William Haszard
        Researcher
      • John Scott
        Membership Services Deputy Manager
        • Nick Mackay
          Membership Executive
        • Pallavi Vadhia
          Membership Executive
        • Megan Hart
          Membership Executive
    • Jacqui Dalton
      Executive Assistant
    • Luke Alcott
      Public Affairs Adviser

  • Alan Smith
    Chief Operations Officer
    • Isobel Tungatt
      Distribution & Membership Executive
    • Robert Yarwood
      Systems Manager
      • Omar Ashamari
        Systems Analyst
    • Jessica Craig
      International Rights Executive
    • David Grundy
      Information Analyst
    • De'Anne Jean-Jacques
      Distribution Manager
      • Paul Donegan
        Distribution Executive
      • Joe Carrol
        Membership Agency Co-Ordinator
      • Ersilia Cilenti
        Senior Distribution Executive
      • Tommy Horler
        Senior Distribution Executive
      • Sharon Asmellash
        Distribution Executive
      • Zainab Cassim
        Distribution Executive

  • Mark Bispham
    Head of Finance
    • Hash Jogia
      Management Accountant
    • Briony Smith
      Finance Executive

Membership & Communications

CEO's Office and Policy Unit

Distributions & IT

Finance

TONY BRADMAN Chair
TONY BRADMAN

Chair

Read more
JAMES MCCONNACHIE Vice Chair
JAMES MCCONNACHIE

Vice Chair

Read more
FAYE BIRD Non-Executive Director
FAYE BIRD

Non-Executive Director

Read more
TOM CHATFIELD Non-Executive Director
TOM CHATFIELD

Non-Executive Director

Read more
JONATHAN FRYER Non-Executive Director
JONATHAN FRYER

Non-Executive Director

Read more
MAGGIE Non-Executive Director
MAGGIE GEE

Non-Executive Director

Read more
MICHAEL RIDPATH Non-Executive Director
MICHAEL RIDPATH

Non-Executive Director

Read more
JOAN SMITH Non-Executive Director
JOAN SMITH

Non-Executive Director

Read more
Other Board members
OTHER BOARD MEMBERS

Read more

Distribution & Membership Committee

The Distribution & Membership Committee reviews the policy framework for ALCS in relation to those parts of the operations facilitating the payment of fees to members and proposes developments and changes in policy and procedure to the Board. It also reviews and advises on the recruitment of, and services for, Members.
The Committee met twice during the year.

Finance & Audit Committee

The Finance & Audit Committee monitors the financial, accounting, investment, taxation and associated matters affecting the Company’s performance and reports back to the Board as requested or as appropriate.
The Committee met five times during the year.

Nominations Committee

The Nominations Committee reviews and makes recommendations to the Board on such matters as Committee membership (non-executive and externals), co-options to the Board and recruitment at Board level as and when appropriate.
The Committee met once during the year.

Remunerations Committee

The Remuneration Committee reviews, analyses and makes recommendations to the Board on matters pertaining to the remuneration policy.

The Committee met twice during the year.

Equal Opportunities Policy

We are committed to achieving equality in all our employment policies, procedures and practices. We promote an environment free from discrimination, harassment and victimisation, irrespective of race, colour, creed, sexual orientation, ethnic origin, nationality, religion, disability, age, gender or marital status.

Health and Safety Policy

While we work in a low-risk environment with regard to health and safety, it is important to ensure colleagues and visitors enjoy our premises at Barnard’s Inn safely. Risk assessments are used to review and, where appropriate, improve the workplace and our working practices.

Environmental Policy

We regularly review our environmental policy. We operate in an office environment, so our direct activities have a low environmental impact. However, overall energy usage and/or waste are closely monitored.

Ethical Policy

We have an ethical policy in place regarding our investments. Details can be found on our website, alcs.co.uk.

Member Bio image

OWEN ATKINSON

Executive Director and ALCS Chief Executive

Owen joined ALCS in 1997 having previously spent ten years working in Hong Kong in IT consultancy developing bespoke solutions for the publishing and book industry.

Owen was initially responsible for the design and development of a new bespoke royalties system which was successfully implemented in 1999. He became Head of Operations in 2000 and has overseen the doubling of royalties collected and paid to authors over the past eight years. Owen became Deputy CEO in 2004 and CEO in 2006.

During this time he has been involved in international projects regarding information and repertoire exchange, as well as working with data standards groups on the development of identifiers.

He is also involved in lobbying and campaigning in support of authors’ rights and raising the profile of writers in both the UK and EU, raising issues with ministers and MPs on the value of creators to the creative economy.

Owen is married with two lively children and lives in Surrey.

Member Bio image

BARBARA HAYES

Deputy Chief Executive

Barbara started her career in direct marketing. Having spent seven years in the US designing and marketing properties, she returned to the UK to work within the International Department of a major multinational HR consultancy.

Barbara joined ALCS in January 2004 where she focused initially on HR. She then took over responsibility for communications and membership, looking at ways in which ALCS raises its profile amongst the membership, potential members and the public in general, and devising successful marketing and membership recruitment strategies.

She has also been involved with the work of the APWG, seeking opportunities to bring issues regarding writers to the attention of the appropriate parliamentarians.

Barbara represented ALCS for a number of years on the Board of the SAA or Société des Auteurs Audiovisuels. In November 2015 Barbara became Chair of the SAA.

In 2016 Barbara became Chair of PLR International.

Member Bio image

ALISON BAXTER

Head of Communications

Alison joined ALCS in 2000 as a ‘royalties administrator’, took the role of membership secretary shortly afterwards, and moved into the communications department in 2004. In 2014 she became Head of Communications at ALCS.

Alison has a CIM marketing diploma, is a qualified project manager and has a background in visual arts. Her team at ALCS have overseen the development of several websites, organised more than 15 AGMs around the country, and sent several million copies of ALCS News to Members via email.

She’s been asking Members to give ALCS their email addresses for the last 15 years and hasn’t given up yet.

Her spare time is mainly devoted to chasing her two-year-old around a park.

Member Bio image

RICHARD COMBES

Head of Rights and Licensing

Richard joined the ALCS legal team in 2002, having previously worked in private practice, and became Head of Rights and Licensing in 2007.

His work at ALCS focuses on the development of collective rights and licensing schemes in the UK and internationally, aimed at providing writers with fair remuneration for the re-use of their work. This role involves a significant degree of partnership and collaboration with other UK writers’ organisations and licensing bodies as well as authors’ societies and collecting agencies around the world.

Richard’s department is also responsible for engaging with UK and EU policy on copyright and authors’ rights – an area of growing prominence on the political agenda – by drafting responses to government consultations, preparing ministerial briefings and setting the agenda for the APWG.

Richard represents ALCS on the Boards of the British Copyright Council and the Educational Recording Agency, of which he is currently Vice-Chair.

Member Bio image

ALAN SMITH

Chief Operating Officer

Alan joined ALCS in 2003 as manager of the Print Media Department, with responsibility for the distribution of CLA and Public Lending Right income, managing the database of Members and their repertoire, and overseeing the author research team. He was subsequently made Head of the Licensed Works Department in 2008.

He became ALCS’ Chief Operating Officer in 2013 overseeing the Licence Income, Distributions, Data and IT teams, with overall responsibility for the receipt and processing of UK and international licence income, distribution of royalties to Members and reciprocal societies, data services and IT systems.

Alan sits on the Distributions and Membership Committee, whose function is to set ALCS’ operational strategy, review all policies and procedures with regard to the collection and distribution of income, the procurement and processing of data and all matters relating to ALCS current and potential membership.

He represents ALCS on a number of international groups, including the CISAC CT-DLV (Dramatic, Literary & Audiovisual Technical Committee), IDA Management Committee (International Database of Audiovisual Works) and the CISAC Audiovisual Experts Group.

Alan is a graduate in English Studies and has a Masters in Linguistics.

Member Bio image

MARK BISPHAM

Head of Finance

Mark is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and a graduate of the University of Kent. He is also a Non-Executive Director of Ignite Film Fans.

After many years in retail and FMCG (latterly as UK Finance Director at Fosters), Mark spent the next 13 years business partnering the owners of complex, fast-growing, entrepreneurial SME and start-up businesses in media and multi-site hospitality.

In April 2017, he became Group Chief Financial officer for both ALCS and the Copyright Licensing Agency.

TONY BRADMAN Chair

TONY BRADMAN

Chair

Tony is a graduate of Queens’ College, Cambridge and went into journalism after university. He published his first book in 1984, went freelance in 1987, and since then has produced more than 200 children’s books of different kinds across a wide age range – from babies to teenagers.

One of his notable successes are the Dilly the Dinosaur books that were made into a popular BBC animation. Tony has also written for the educational sector, taught creative writing, appeared at all the major literary festivals and visited hundreds of schools to meet his readers. He has been a reviewer of children’s books throughout his career – for The Daily Telegraph, Times Educational Supplement, The Guardian, The Guardian Children’s Books website and several specialist journals.

Tony is married with three grown-up children, four grandchildren and a dog (‘Betty, The World’s Cutest Border Terrier’).

JAMES MCCONNACHIE Vice Chair

JAMES MCCONNACHIE

Vice-Chair

James McConnachie is the author of numerous Rough Guides, from Paris and Nepal to conspiracy theories and sex. He wrote a critically acclaimed study of the Kamasutra, The Book of Love, for which he was nominated for Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year in 2008.

He has reviewed non-fiction for Sunday Times ever since, on roughly a fortnightly basis, mostly covering esoteric history and popular science. He is currently editor of The Author (the quarterly journal of the Society of Authors), a fellow of the Royal Literary Fund (he teaches writing at Southampton University) and, much to his surprise, an agony uncle for the Metro newspaper. He has written for most UK broadsheets, presented TV programmes for the BBC and Channel 4, and has given talks and lectures at the V&A and Cambridge Wordfest, among others.

James was nominated to the board of the Copyright Licensing Agency in 2011, and re-elected as a Director of ALCS in 2015. He is a member of the National Union of Journalists and the Society of Authors, and a passionate advocate of authors’ rights. He lives in Winchester with his wife and three children.

Faye Bird Non-Executive Director

FAYE BIRD

Non-Executive Director

Faye is the author of two Young Adult novels – My Second Life and What I Couldn’t Tell You. She worked in television for over 10 years as a literary agent at The Agency (London) Limited and Talkback Management representing scriptwriters in drama, children’s and comedy before becoming a writer herself.

She regularly visits schools giving talks and running workshops on creative writing for young people, and has been part of the Schools Outreach Programmes for both the Edinburgh International Book Festival and the Bath Children’s Literature Festival. She has also presented workshops for Booktrust and the National Literacy Trust on inspiring reluctant readers.

Both of her books were well received and shortlisted for several children’s book awards, including the NE Teen Book Award 2014 and Lancashire Book of the Year 2017.

Faye joined the ALCS board as Non-Executive Director in 2017.

TOM CHATFIELD Non-Executive Director

TOM CHATFIELD

Non-Executive Director

Dr Tom Chatfield is a British writer, broadcaster and tech philosopher.

The author of six books exploring digital culture, most recently Live This Book!, How to Thrive in the Digital Age and Netymology – his work is published in over two dozen languages. Tom is interested in improving our experiences of digital technology and in better understanding its use in policy, education and engagement.

Most recently, he was a Visiting Associate at the Oxford Internet Institute, researching a new book on critical thinking. Past collaborators include Google, the BBC, Channel 4 Education, Mind Candy, Shift, Flamingo London, Six to Start, Preloaded, Firefish, Future Lab, Sense Worldwide, SAGE Publications, Sugru and Allianz.

Tom joined the ALCS Board in 2017.

JONATHAN FRYER

JONATHAN FRYER

Non-Executive Director

Jonathan is a freelance writer, lecturer and broadcaster working mainly for the BBC and Middle Eastern television channels.

He is the author of 15 non-fiction books and contributes to a wide range of publications including The Guardian, Turkish Review and The Oldie. Since 1993 he has taught a course in Cultural Expression at School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London (SOAS).

Though based in London since 1981, for seven years he was a journalist in Brussels covering the European Institutions. He is a longstanding member of the governing Council of the Alliance of European Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) and sits on the Federal Executive and parliamentary International Affairs Team of the UK Liberal Democrats.

He is a member of the Advisory Boards of both the Centre for Turkey Studies (CEFTUS) and Research Turkey and previously served as an executive of English PEN.

MAGGIE GEE Non-Executive Director

MAGGIE GEE

Non-Executive Director

Maggie Gee is a novelist and Professor of Creative Writing at Bath Spa University, and was elected to the Board of ALCS in 2015.

She has lobbied for writers, on the Society of Authors’ management committee, the PLR committee, the British Library’s Authors’ Lives committee, the London Arts Committee and the Royal Society of Literature, where she was the first female Chair of Council and is now a Vice-President.

She has written 12 novels, including The Ice People, My Cleaner, My Driver and The White Family, a collection of short stories, The Blue, and a writer’s memoir, My Animal Life. Her most recent novel is Virginia Woolf in Manhattan, a comedy which brings Virginia Woolf back to life in New York and Istanbul. Her next novel will feature Neanderthals in Gibraltar and the ‘black’ Goyas.

Maggie ‘s books have been translated into 14 languages; in 2012 an international conference about her writing was held at St Andrew’s University, and in the same year she was awarded the OBE for services to literature. She is often to be found tramping the beautiful beaches of Thanet.

MICHAEL RIDPATH Non-Executive Director

MICHAEL RIDPATH

Non-Executive Director

Before becoming a full-time author, Michael Ridpath worked for a bank and a venture capital company in the City of London. He has written 15 novels: eight financial thrillers, four Icelandic crime novels, two spy novels and a stand-alone thriller, Amnesia.

He has been a member of the Management Committee and the Finance Committee of the Society of Authors; he was Vice Chair of the Crime Writers’ Association and he is currently a Treasurer of the Royal Literary Fund. He joined the Board of ALCS in 2017.

JOAN SMITH Non-Executive Director

JOAN SMITH

Non-Executive Director

Joan Smith is a novelist, columnist and campaigner for human rights. She has published six novels, including the Loretta Lawson series of crime novels and a thriller, What Will Survive.

Her non-fiction books include Misogynies, Moralities, Hungry for You and The Public Woman. She has written for many national newspapers, including The Times, The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph.

Since June 2013, she has been Co-Chair of the Mayor of London’s Violence Against Women and Girls Panel (now the VAWG Board). She is a former Chair of the English PEN Writers in Prison Committee, where she worked on behalf of imprisoned writers and their families. She is currently Chair of Labour Humanists.

Board Elections

There will be three positions available on the ALCS Board of Directors in 2018.

For one of these positions we are seeking a Director who will specifically represent the audiovisual community (scriptwriters for TV/film/radio) and has the experience and knowledge to ably represent that sector on the ALCS Board.

Details about the candidates who are standing for election, and a timetable for voting have been communicated to you by email or letter and are accessible on the ALCS voting site hosted by ERS.

Other Directors who served on the Board in 2017-18:

  • Paul Powell

    Non-Executive Director until September 2017, served on the Remuneration and Finance & Audit committees.

  • Stevie Spring

    Non-Executive Director until May 2017, served on the Remuneration committee.