Membership Terms and Conditions

Last updated 22/12/2023

This document sets out the terms and conditions of membership of Assistant Directors Guild UK Limited (12741448) (“AD Guild” / “We”) (“Terms”) by which you as a member of the AD Guild agree to be bound.

1. Member Benefits

As a member of AD Guild, you will receive the following benefits (to the extent that AD Guild is able to provide these):

  • Public Liability Insurance
  • Listing on Find an AD
  • Access to Find an AD
  • AD Guild Events
  • AD Guild Discounts
  • Membership Resources
  • Membership Guidance
  • News and relevant communications
  • Community channels for Job Adverts
  • Access to Industry Rate Card

2. Accounts and Membership

You must be at least 18 years of age to use the Website and to receive the above benefits (together, the “AD Guild Services”). By using the Website and receiving the AD Guild Services and by agreeing to these Terms you warrant and represent that you are at least 18 years of age. If you create an account on the Website, you are responsible for maintaining the security of your account and you are fully responsible for all activities that occur under the account and any other actions taken in connection with it. We may monitor and review new accounts before permitting you to sign in and start using and/or receiving the AD Guild Services. Providing false contact information of any kind may result in the termination of your account. You must immediately notify us of any unauthorised uses of your account or any other breaches of security. We will not be liable for any acts or omissions by you, including any damages of any kind incurred as a result of such acts or omissions. We may suspend, disable, or delete your account (or any part thereof) if we determine that you have violated any provision of these Terms or that your conduct or content would tend to damage our reputation and goodwill. If we delete your account for the foregoing reasons, you may not re-register for AD Guild Services. We may block your email address and Internet protocol address to prevent further registration.

3. Billing and payments

The membership fee is payable in accordance with the payment terms stipulated on the invoice issued with these Terms and in compliance with these Terms.

You shall pay all fees or charges to your account in accordance with the fees, charges, and billing terms in effect at the time a fee or charge is due and payable. If auto-renewal is enabled for AD Guild Services, you will be charged automatically in accordance with the term you selected. If, in our judgment, your purchase constitutes a high-risk transaction, we will require you to provide us with a copy of your valid passport/ photo identification, and possibly a copy of a recent bank statement for the credit or debit card used for the purchase. We reserve the right at our discretion to change AD Guild Services and membership pricing at any time. We also reserve the right to refuse any order you place with us. We may, in our sole discretion, limit or cancel quantities purchased per person, per household or per order. These restrictions may include orders placed by or under the same customer account, the same credit card, and/or orders that use the same billing and/or shipping address. In the event that we make a change to or cancel an order, we may attempt to notify you by contacting the e-mail and/or billing address/ phone number provided at the time the order was made.

Late payment or failure to pay by any Member will result in a suspension of the Members’ rights in accordance with AD Guild’s Articles until such payment has been made.

4. Restrictions

You agree that you will not:

  • Share your login information with non-members;
  • Reproduce any of the information received as part of your membership and share it with non-members;
  • Share any information discussed in Committee meetings with non-members, or ADG members outside of the Committee, unless approved by the Board of Directors;
  • Post disruptive or offensive content to membership forums and discussions;
  • Post defamatory content that jeopardises AD Guild to membership forums and discussions;
  • Partake in bullying, harassment or intimidating behaviour towards members or staff on membership forums or outside of membership forums (including in meetings) e.g. excessive messaging (including in meetings), intimidating language, threats or other similar behaviour.

You agree that unless you are a fully paid-up current member of AD Guild you may not use the AD Guild logo, its branding or any other of its intellectual property for any purpose including in “On Screen Credits”.

5. Term and Termination of Membership

Any Member may be given notice by AD Guild’s board of directors (Board) to terminate their membership with effect from the date of such notice, or at such other time as may be specified, together with a clear explanation of the reason(s) for its decision, and that Member’s membership shall cease accordingly. Such notice shall be in writing and shall be signed by a Director or other officer designated by the Board. Any Member may be given notice by the Board suspending his/her membership at any time. Such notice shall be in writing and shall be signed by a Director or other officer designated by the Board. The terms of such suspension including without limitation its length and the Member’s right to receive any membership benefits or hold any office of AD Guild shall be at the absolute discretion of the Board. Membership terminations and suspensions are subject to the member’s right to appeal (see paragraph 8 below).

Any change to the status of Full Membership, Voting Membership, Supplementary Membership or Overseas Membership to any other category of Member (if the relevant criteria are met) shall only be decided by the Board.

All rights, privileges and obligations of membership shall cease on the date of cessation of membership. In particular, but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, the Member concerned shall cease to have any claim upon the assets of AD Guild and shall not be entitled to participate in any further distributions, save as to any payment to which he may be entitled in accordance with the rules in respect of any period prior to cessation of membership.

The Members shall, at all times, comply with these Terms and shall notify AD Guild if they are or become aware of any possible breach of the Terms by another Member or if they themselves breach the Terms.

The Members agree to be bound by and submit to the Disciplinary Process.

If the Board finds that a Member has breached the Terms, the Board may at its absolute discretion impose sanctions on them including without limitation suspension, termination of membership or a change to that Members’ membership category.

A Member may terminate their membership voluntarily by giving 5 days written notice to the Board.

All restrictions set out under section 4 of these Terms will still apply on termination of your membership.

On the death of a Member his or her membership shall automatically cease and shall not be transmitted to any other person.

6. Disciplinary Action

If a Member experiences what they believe to be harassment, bullying or and intimidating behaviour, all complaints should be made to admin@adguild.uk. These allegations will be treated seriously and confidentially through the AD Guild’s disciplinary procedure set out below.

7. Disciplinary Procedure

AD Guild has the right to review behaviour that is in breach of the Terms. This may include a formal procedure handled objectively by the Membership Disputes committee which may result in termination of membership by AD Guild UK’s board of directors (subject to the Member’s right to appeal).

Investigation will be made by the Membership Disputes Committee and shall include:

  • A prompt, thorough and impartial response;
  • Taking evidence from witnesses;
  • Listening to both the alleged harasser and the complainant’s version of events;
  • A time-scale for resolving the problem;
  • Confidentiality in the majority of cases.

If, following investigation, AD Guild decides to start a formal disciplinary process, the Member in question will be informed of the issues in writing and invited to a formal meeting to discuss the matter further.

The Member will receive an invitation letter to the formal meeting, at least 5 working days in advance, which will:

  • Advise them of the purpose of the hearing, the date, time and either the venue or a link for a video call;
  • Provide information about the alleged misconduct;
  • Advise who will attend the meeting;
  • Provide all relevant information that is to be used at the meeting including the investigation report, any written evidence, witness statements taken as part of the investigation and a copy of the disciplinary procedure.

During the meeting, the Member will have the opportunity to:

  • Set out their case and answer any allegations;
  • Ask questions;
  • Put forward their own evidence.

The Member will have the opportunity to state their case before any disciplinary sanctions are decided on. All decisions will be reached following a full and fair review of the evidence and based on the balance of probabilities.

Following the conclusion of the meeting, the Member will be notified of the outcome. This will be confirmed in writing, usually within 5 working days or as soon as possible and will include:

  • details of the misconduct that has resulted in the disciplinary action;
  • the disciplinary sanction;
  • the dates this will be applied from;
  • any actions required to prevent future disciplinary action;
  • the consequence of not carrying out these actions
  • details of the appeal process (see section 5 for further details);
  • and, if relevant, the length of time the sanction will remain in place.

8. Appeals

A Member may appeal against any disciplinary action taken against them if they feel that:

  • the disciplinary sanction is unreasonable given all the circumstances and evidence considered;
  • the correct procedure was not followed during the formal stage and this has had a significant effect on the outcome;
  • the Member has new evidence to show which they were unable, for valid reasons, to provide earlier in the process, and which would have had a significant effect on the outcome of the formal stage.

The Member may submit an appeal within one week of the date that they receive the outcome of the disciplinary hearing. The Member should do this in writing to the Board, setting out the reasons for appealing the decision.

If the Board decides that there are grounds for appeal, an appeal hearing will take place as soon as possible, and without unreasonable delay. This will usually be within two weeks of the Member’s appeal being received.

Appeals will be heard by a panel who have had no previous involvement in the case and will normally consist of at least one Director of the Board and a Senior Manager.

The appeal panel may:

  • uphold the original decision;
  • vary or modify the original decision but should not usually impose a penalty greater than that decided during the disciplinary process; or
  • overturn the original decision.

All decisions will be confirmed in writing within one week, or as soon as possible and without unreasonable delay. The decision of the appeal panel is final.

9. Liability

The Member will not hold the AD Guild liable for any tangible or intangible damage that might happen to them during their membership of AD Guild.

The Member agrees that the AD Guild cannot guarantee any results from their membership. Any negative or positive results that might occur during the course of a Member’s membership are the result of the Member’s own personal choices.

To the extent that the AD Guild is or may be liable, its total liability to any Member shall not exceed the aggregate annual yearly membership fees paid by that Member in the year immediately prior to their claim against AD Guild, except for any liability arising from deliberate default and/or liabilities which cannot by law be limited.

10. Privacy

The AD Guild organisation will not share any contact or personal information about the Member with other members, non-members or any third parties, without their prior written consent. For further details about how we handle your personal information please refer to our Privacy Notice.

11. Assignment

The Member may not assign, resell, sub-license or otherwise transfer or delegate any of its rights or obligations hereunder, in whole or in part, without AD Guild’s prior written consent, which consent shall be at AD Guild’s own sole discretion and without obligation; any such assignment or transfer shall be null and void. AD Guild is free to assign any of its rights or obligations hereunder, in whole or in part, to any third party as part of the sale of all or substantially all of its assets or stock or as part of a merger.

12. Amendments

Any amendments to these Terms will be at the sole discretion of AD Guild. Any such amendments shall be published on the AD Guild website from time to time.

13. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with them or their subject matter or formation shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the law of England and Wales. The courts of England and Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with these Terms or their subject matter or formation.