ASC becomes a CIC

On the 4th November 2022, ASC became registered as a community interest company or CIC. A CIC is a special type of limited company where the purpose of the organisation is legally defined as being to provide benefit to the community it serves in the activities it carries out. A CIC can trade and make a profit, but profits made in ways that will benefit its community. This enshrines the principle that ASC does not operate for private profit, in common with most professional associations, and that its officers don’t gain financially from their involvement. For example, ASC can pay subcontractors for services, such as designing a web page – but its directors and committee members are unpaid and must declare any conflicts of interest at meetings.

Incorporating as a CIC will, in practice, make little difference to what ASC is or does but it does offer more protection to the society.

Continuing accountability to members

ASC had been operating throughout the previous four decades of its existence as an unincorporated association answerable to its members. The form of community interest company chosen by ASC is the one most similar to how things were: a CIC limited by guarantee without share capital with “large membership”, where the members are the ultimate owners.

Becoming a community interest company means ASC is now subject to the same oversight as any other limited company, filing a return, accounts and an annual report to the CIC regulator which are on the public record. Fortunately, the additional accounting and reporting requirements are not onerous or costly – they broadly similar to what ASC was already doing. Putting the wrapper of a CIC around ASC’s activities safeguards the ASC, its members and its officers. It means, for example, ASC can now take out insurance and enter into contracts and provides the kind of accountability that members, funders and sponsors expect today.

Word association

Association is a word that can only be used in a UK company name with the permission of the regulator. Other reserved words include, for example, Bank, Federation, Council, Police, Trust and University – all names that are protected for fairly obvious reasons. Fortunately the regulator agreed to the ASC’s request, because ASC was able to show it would be operating as a membership organisation, accountable to members and limited by guarantee. With “Association for Survey Computing CIC” as the new legal name, it provides continuity of both name and purpose, as the association enters into a new chapter of its existence. In other words, business as usual – but now guaranteed.