Rules of Membership

Proficiency is a Company Limited by Guarantee (CLG).

Unlike a company limited by shares, which distributes profits to shareholders, a CLG has no share capital or shareholders. Instead, it is owned by its members, known as guarantors, who agree to contribute a nominal amount, in the case of Proficienct this is £1 towards the company’s debts if it is wound up. This structure limits the liability of members while ensuring the organisation’s focus remains on its objectives rather than profit distribution.

Key Features

• No Share Capital: A CLG does not issue shares, and any profits generated are reinvested into the organisation to further its mission.

• Limited Liability: Guarantors’ liability is capped at the amount they agree to contribute (usually a small, nominal sum).

• Governance: Governed by a board of directors or trustees, with members having voting rights similar to shareholders in a traditional company.

• Regulation: Registered with Companies House and subject to the Companies Act 2006, CLGs must file annual accounts and returns, ensuring transparency.

Common Uses of Companies Limited by Guarantee

CLGs are ideal for organisations that aim to serve a public or community benefit rather than generate profit for owners. Common examples include:

• Charities: Many UK charities adopt the CLG structure to manage funds and activities while maintaining a clear non-profit focus.
• Membership Organisations: Professional bodies, trade associations, and clubs often use CLGs to represent their members’ interests.
• Social Enterprises: Organisations addressing social or environmental issues may choose a CLG to balance mission-driven work with financial sustainability.
• Community Groups: Local initiatives, such as sports clubs or arts organisations, often use CLGs to formalise their structure.

Examples of UK Companies Limited by Guarantee

• Oxfam GB: One of the UK’s largest charities, Oxfam GB operates as a CLG to deliver humanitarian aid and tackle global poverty. Its structure ensures that all funds are directed towards its charitable objectives, such as disaster relief and advocacy.

• The National Trust: This well-known organisation, dedicated to preserving historic properties and natural landscapes, is a CLG and a registered charity. Its members act as guarantors, supporting its mission to protect the UK’s heritage for future generations.
• The Football Association (FA): The governing body of English football is a CLG, reinvesting its revenue into developing the sport at all levels, from grassroots to professional leagues.

The member’s area of the website is confidential and for the exclusive use of current members. Members must not provide access to this area to anyone who does not have a legitimate right to access it.

Members must not take any content contained within the member’s area and make it available to non members unless they have been granted permission to do so specific to that content by the Directors.

Your profile page is for you to sell the benefits you and your business offer for potential clients. You must do so in a professional manner, not make any unreasonable claims about what you do and do not include any prices.

Members can link to your own website where you can display your prices but members must not show prices on any Proficiency hosted page.

Any member making inaccurate statements or potentially unrealistic claims on ther listing or profile page will be in breach of the terms of membership. Depending upon the seriousness the member may either be:
a) asked to correct the relevant statement(s)
b) asled to correct the relevant statement(s) and have some or all access rights reduced or withdrawn until they do
c) Have their membership permanently suspended

Any benefit links or discount codes made accessible to members within the member’s area are for the exclusive use of Standard and Pro Proficiency members. Base bembers are not included in members who get discounts due to the value of the discounts. Passing them (or in any other way making them available to) anyone who is not a Standard or Pro Proficiency member is NOT PERMITTED. This includes sharing codes on the forum where Base members may see the code. This also includes obtaining a member ticket for an event for a non-member.

Doing so is a breach of trust, contravention of the rules of membership and defrauds Proficiency and/or the organisation that has offered the benefit to Proficiency members.

Any member who facilitates access to a member benefit for a non-member will have their membership terminated with immediate effect. There will be no refund of membership fees paid. If applicable, the partner organisation will also be informed of the identity of the member who has breached their trust, and if known, the identity of anyone who has been given access to the benefit but is not entitled to use it.

On occasion Proficiency may offer promotional discount codes or enable access to events or other benefits to non-members. Only those specifically intended for non-members can be shared with non-members.

Membership benefits are non-transferable and a member is only entitled to a single access to a benefit. A member who is not using a single (or limited) use benefit themselves must not use it to enable another member to access more of the benefit than they ere entitled to themselves.

The rights to member benefits are limited to the period of active membership. Should your membership cease, you must not use any member benefit that you have not already used. You must also cease to use any ongoing benefit that has been available to you because of your membership. Specifically, but not exclusively, you must cease to accept any discount from any third party that is a discount for Proficiency members.

1. Content from conversations on the forum will be used by suitably authorised representatives to support discussion of conventions and similar discussions with other stakeholders.
   
   
2. Content from conversations on the forum may be used by suitably authorised representatives to support activities defending a member or members rights where it is appropriate to do so. This may for example include supporting an appeal against an audit failure or other action deemed to be unfair or unreasonable.
   
   
3. Suitably authorised representatives will on occasion summarise a forum discussion in order to further the cause of Proficiency or a Proficiency member. Such summary may include limited amounts of specifically quoted text from a forum discussion.
   
   
4. Opinions on the forum are the opinion of the poster, at the time they make the post. No opinions posted by individual members on the forum may be considered as being the opinion of members collectively or of Proficiency.