2014-2015 BCCJ Excom Elections: RESULTS

The results of the hotly-contested 2014-2015 BCCJ Executive Committee (Excom) Elections were announced at last night’s BCCJ Annual General Meeting (AGM).

Held at the Shangri-La Hotel Tokyo, the meeting attracted a record number of attendees, and was opened by HM Ambassador to Japan Tim Hitchens CMG LVO. The Ambassador praised the strength of the UK-Japan business partnership and acknowledged the valuable work done by BCCJ members in support of this relationship.

Outgoing BCCJ President, Alison Jambert, went on to present The Chamber’s Annual Report, and thanked members for their support during the past year. “I’m pleased to say that It has been another outstanding year at the BCCJ. And it’s important to remember that our success has not just been achieved in the last 12 months but as a result of many years of hard work by past presidents, Excoms and of course the secretariat. I can’t stress enough that our success really is not down to any one individual but the entire team – including you the members”.

Lori Henderson, BCCJ Executive Director then took to the stage to announce the Excom election results. “As you know, from April 9, we rolled out the most competitive election in our 65 year history. Under our constitution, the Executive Committee is run by a minimum of 12 and a maximum of 15 individuals. During our election there have been 25 qualified and approved candidates competing for 15 Excom seats, and by the voting deadline of 1830 on April 21, we had received 119 votes from BCCJ members”.

She went onto reveal another “first” for the BCCJ: a tie for the 15^th Excom seat. “Candidates 15 & 16 received the same number of votes in the election. Therefore, in line with the BCCJ Constitution, we will be moving ahead with the election of 14 candidates this evening”.

2014-2015 BCCJ EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

David Bickle, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu  PRESIDENT

Reiko Sakimura, Clifford Chance Law Office

Iain Ferguson, Lloyd’s Japan Inc

Graham Davis, Individual Member

Haruno Yoshida, BT Japan Corporation

James Dodds, KPMG

Alison Jambert, Eat creative k.k.

Jonty Brunner,  British Airways

Yoko Kosugi, The Royal Bank of Scotland plc

Richard Thornley, CBE, Individual Member

Philip T Gibb, OBE, Individual Member

Simon Farrell, Custom Media KK

James Weeks, Kreab Gavin Anderson K.K.

Anna Pinsky, Individual Member

Of those listed above, David Bickle, of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, was elected as Chairperson of the Executive Committee and President of the BCCJ.

Sue Kinoshita Director of UK Trade and Investment at the British Embassy Tokyo and Jeff Streeter, head of the British Council in Japan, will continue to represent their respective organisations as ex officio members of Excom.

This year’s Excom election, the first to be conducted online, saw a record 38.3% voter turn-out, and the AGM was the best attended on record.

Congratulations to the successful candidates, and thank you to all candidates for their participation in this record-breaking election for the BCCJ!