Council Duties and periods of office

President (3 years) +

• To serve normally for 3 years, with a possible fourth year if co-opted to Council.
• To be responsible for over-seeing the running of ABH and that its aims and objectives are adhered to, and that current strategy reflects these aims and objectives.
• To be responsible for establishing, maintaining and fostering links with other societies and agencies who have an interest in, or whose activities impinge upon, the teaching of, and research into, business history.
• To establish and extend the international network of business history in Britain.
• To be responsible for maintaining and improving the profile of the Association amongst its members.
• To be responsible for over-seeing the organisation of the annual conference as chair of the conference sub-committee.
• To ensure that the Association activities are within the Constitution.
• To Chair Council and AGM meetings.
• To ensure that there are at least two confirmed conference hosts for the subsequent years.
• To find hosts for future ABH conferences.

Treasurer (3 Years) +

• To contact members whose registration is about to lapse.
• To oversee the process of recruiting new members for the ABH.
• To attend Council and AGM meetings.
• To be a Member of the Conference Committee.
• In liaison with the President and Secretary, to be responsible for communications with external bodies and to represent the Association, if requested, in meetings with such bodies.
• To help the Communications Officer, Slaven Workshop Organiser, and Coleman Prize Winner, as required and agreed in Council.
• To report on the work conducted by the ABH Administrator, as outlined in the job description.

Secretary (3 years) +

• To arrange dates for Spring and a Summer Council meetings and also AGM (Annual General Meeting) of the Association. The summer Council meeting and AGM should take place at the time of the ABH Annual Conference.
• To attend Council Meetings and the AGM.
• To prepare agendas and minutes of meetings and ensure that all meetings are timeously arranged and circulated to Council.
• To liaise with relevant council members with regards correspondence and announcements received by the Association.
• In liaison with the President and Treasurer, to be responsible for communications with external bodies and to represent the Association in meetings with such bodies, if required.
• To be a member of the Conference Committee.
• To be responsible for reporting to the OSCR any changes to the governance of the Association, in particular changes to the Constitution as legally required.
• To ensure that the Nomination and Election of Council Members is within the Constitution.
  • October - The year prior to joining the Council, the Secretary is responsible for sending out a call for Council nominations to membership (deadline January).
  • February - Responsible for sending out ballot papers to membership with the selected candidates to Council (deadline in April).
  • May – responsible for informing existing Council and New Council members of members elected to Council.

Communications Officer (3 years) +

• Winter and Summer (prior to the Annual Conference) – to be responsible for producing, twice a year, the Newsletter of the Association and for over-seeing, in conjunction with the secretary, its mailing to members of the Association.
• During Annual Conference – to be responsible for appointing a member to write the ABH annual conference report to be included in the Newsletter.
• During Annual Conference – to be responsible to for asking all Coleman Prize finalists to prepare a 200 words summary of their PhD dissertations, to be included in the Autumn ABH Newsletter.
• To compile and publish information on conferences, seminars, lectures, visiting researchers and post graduate researchers hosted by the membership.
• Early May and Early November – to send reminders to the membership to submit any relevant material to be included in the ABH Newsletter.
• To be responsible for over-seeing the management and construction of the Association's website.
• To be responsible for the management of Facebook and Twitter on behalf of the Association.

Slaven Workshop Organiser (3 years) +

• July/August – to be responsible for writing and obtaining approval from Council of the Call for Papers for the Slaven Workshop for the following year.
• September – to be responsible for sending out the Call for Papers to ABH Communications Officer and ABH Webmaster and any other appropriate publicists.
• January/February – to be responsible for collating a list of candidates for the Slaven Workshop to be discussed at Spring Council Meeting.
• Spring Council Meeting – to be responsible for advising Council of the Slaven Workshop details.
• After Spring Council meeting – to contact the Slaven Workshop finalists.
• Spring Council Meeting – to liaise with Annual Conference organizer and to agree with the rest of the Council, logistics associated with the delivery of the Slaven Workshop prior to the ABH Annual Conference.
• To help the Communications Officer as required and agreed in Council

Archives Officer (3 years) +

• To ensure any ABH archival materials are up-to-date and in a secure place.
• To liaise with organisations related to the preservation of business archives.
• To attend Council meetings and to report back to council any developments related to Council.
• To help with the organization of the Slaven Workshop, if required.
• To prepare on the Archives page of the ABH website, but contacting archivists of various private and public institutions.
• To provide any relevant information to the Communications Officer relating to latest news about Archives.
• To help the Communications Officer, Slaven Workshop Organiser, and Coleman Prize Winner, as required and agreed in Council.
• To consult with the Conference Organiser with regard to costs for the Slaven Workshop to ensure that such costs are covered by the main conference.

Coleman Prize Organiser (1 year) +

• To serve normally for one year.
• July, after Annual Conference – to be responsible for preparing a one-page summary of his/her own thesis to be published in the ABH Autumn Newsletter and ABH website.
• Summer Council meeting – to be responsible for writing and obtaining approval from Council, of the Call for Papers for the Coleman Prize for the following year.
• September - responsible for sending out the Call for Papers to the ABH Communications Officer and ABH Webmaster and any other appropriate publicists.
• January – to be responsible for collating emails and abstracts from candidates to Coleman Prize Competition, acknowledging receipt, providing a copy of the abstracts to the second member of the Coleman Prize Panel, agreeing which submissions to shortlist and report to the Council in the February/March Council meeting.
• February – to be responsible for advising successful and unsuccessful candidates of the outcome.
• February – to be responsible for asking shortlisted candidates to send a full copy of their thesis.
• Before Spring Council Meeting – to be responsible for drawing up a new short list with the second member of the Coleman Prize panel of about 3-4 candidates.
• Before Spring Council Meeting - to liaise with second member of the Coleman Prize Panel (as agreed in Council), and to agree which submissions to shortlist.
• After Spring Council Meeting – to be responsible for providing feedback to successful and unsuccessful Coleman Prize applicants of the decision for shortlisting, and for requesting the shortlisted candidates to send a full copy of their thesis in liaison with the Coleman Prize Panel. Also responsible for notifying candidates of their need to present at the ABH conference, and for deciding on the winner (and also order a certificate) based on the written dissertations. If a decision cannot be taken based on written work, the supposed winner gives an unacceptable performance at the conference, or misses to give a presentation, then the decision can be delayed until after the presentations.
• After Spring Council Meeting - to liaise with second member of the Coleman Prize Panel to read full dissertations and reach a joint decision about the winner.
• To help the Communications Officer as required and agreed in Council.

Conference sub-committee (1 year) +

• Appointed on an annual basis. It comprises the President (as Chair), the Secretary, the Treasurer, the Local Conference Organiser and the second member of the Coleman Prize panel.

Conference Organiser (1 year) +

• Spring one year before the conference – While not serving in Council, but once formally approved as the following year’s ABH conference organizer – to be responsible for preparing a one page Call for Papers for the annual conference for approval at the Spring council Meeting.
• At the ABH Conference, one year before, and while not serving in Council - to make available for circulation copies of the Call for Papers for the ABH conference in the following year.
• At the time of the ABH conference, one year before – to be responsible for sending out the Call for Papers to the Communications Officer and Webmaster and any other appropriate publicists.
• October - When possible the Spring Council meeting should take place at the location of the conference so that Council can confirm the adequacy of the venue. Conference organizer to book the venue.
• January – to be responsible for collating all abstracts from candidates, acknowledging receipt, providing copies of the abstracts to the conference sub-committee, and prepare draft programme.
• Spring Council meeting – to be responsible for discussing rejections with council, presenting a preliminary programme to council and confirming to Council logistics associated with the conference.
• Spring Council Meeting – to be responsible for submitting a detailed proposal of accommodation, facilities and costs to Council. Acceptance of these by council at the Spring council meeting will be taken as a contract obligation between the host institution and the Association of Business Historians.
• Spring Council Meeting – to be responsible jointly with the Coleman Prize Organiser and the Slaven Workshop Organiser for ensuring that adequate room provision is made.
• July ABH Conference – to be responsible for the collection of ABH annual subscriptions and for handing over the registration fees to ABH Administrator, overseen by Treasurer.
• After Spring ABH Council Meeting – to be responsible for sending the Communications Officer and Webmaster a copy of the final programme, accommodation details and registration form.
• The institution of affiliation of the conference organizer - to raise sponsorship in order to keep the cost to delegates to a minimum, in particular PhD students.
• The institution of affiliation of the conference organizer – to organise all registration/reception business.
• The institution of affiliation of the conference organizer - to accept all gains and losses associated with the running of the ABH annual Conference. The association will have no financial liability in respect of conference arrangements.

Administrator (rolling appointment) +

• This post is appointed by the council, for an unspecified duration.
• To supervise and be responsible for all monies in the account of the Association and to retain updated accounts of the Association.
• To be responsible for maintaining the account books of the Association and for preparing the annual accounts twice a year for presentation to the council meetings and the annual general meeting of the Association.
• To be responsible for preparing an annual budget of expenditure to Council prior to each financial year which runs from 1 June to 31 May of the following year.
• To report, when necessary, on the charitable status and registration of the Association in relation to the Inland Revenue and Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR).
• To prepare and upload the annual accounts as specified by the regulations of the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR).
• To maintain an up-to-date register of current, and recently lapsed, members (including postal addresses and, where possible, email addresses).

Webmaster (rolling appointment) +

• This post is appointed by the council, for an unspecified duration.
• To be responsible for the development and maintenance of the website, including the direction of enquiries through the site to the relevant persons. In liaison with Communications Officer and other council members, the Webmaster is responsible for the marketing of the website.
• To be responsible for maintaining an up-to-date register of current, and recently lapsed, members including title, affiliation, postal addresses and email contact address in liaison with the Secretary and Treasurer.
• To be responsible for communicating to the membership of the Association any information as requested by the ABH Council.
• To be responsible for sending out information on conferences, seminars, lectures, visiting researchers and post graduate researchers hosted by members to the membership and other publicists in liaison with ABH members.
• To be responsible for maintaining the account books of the association and for preparing the annual accounts twice a year for presentation to the council meetings and the annual general meeting of the association in liaison with the Treasurer.
• To be responsible for reporting, when necessary, the charitable status and registration of the association in relation to the Inland Revenue and Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) in liaison with the Treasurer.
• To be responsible for the preparation and uploading of the annual accounts as specified by the regulations of the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) in liaison with the Treasurer and external accountant.
• October – to be responsible for sending out the Call for Papers for the Annual ABH Conference, the Call for the Coleman Prize, and the Call for Slaven Workshop to all members and publicists as well as the ABH website after liaising with the appropriate council members.
• December and January – to be responsible for sending reminders (two weeks before, one day before) of the deadline submissions for the Call for Papers for the Annual ABH Conference, the Call for the Coleman Prize, and the Call for Slaven Workshop to all members and publicists.
• To be responsible for ensuring that the Coleman Prize candidates and Slaven Workshop candidates receive their prize money and expense grants in liaison with the appropriate Council members.
• To be responsible for gathering the required information about the application for the Francesca Carnevali grant, and pay those grants as agreed by ABH council.