PBA
Paper and Board Association
(Formerly Paper Agents Association – founded 1924)
Executive Committee
Minutes of meeting held at
Côte St Pauls, 26, Ludgate Hill, London, EC4M 7DR
on Thursday 21st November 2013 at 2.30 p.m.
1. Present: Mr Paul Woollett, President, who presided, Mr Pat O’Brien, Mrs Nicki Moran, Mr Peter Beckwith and the Director, Mr John Paine.
2. Apologies for absence. There were none.
3. Minutes of the meeting on 19th September. These were approved and signed by the Chairman.
4. Matters Arising. Mr Beckwith reported that the agreement with the Stationers’ Company regarding the study to be entitled “European Digital Media Landscape to 2020” had now been signed and the signed copy was handed to the Director for safe keeping. He was instructed to transfer the agreed £15,000 on receipt of an invoice from the Company.
5. Relations with Other Trade Associations.
· NAPM. Mr Uwins reported that he had been in touch with Tim Elliott the current President of the NAPM who had been positive about some sort of affiliation with the new P&BA. Mr Uwins would be talking to other members of the NAPM to canvass opinion. Mr Woollett reported that he had been in discussion with several members of the NAPM Boards Division, some of whom were actively considering resigning from the NAPM. He confirmed that the departure of two large members had left the NAPM with insufficient resources to maintain its existing administrative structure. In discussion it was suggested that to attract members of the NAPM to join the P&BA a discounted subscription offer might be appropriate. Members agreed however that this would not go down well with existing members and the suggestion was ruled out.
· CPI. The Director confirmed that he had received an invoice from CPI for £3,430+VAT in respect of the affiliation fee for 2014. This represented some 12% of our budgeted subscription income for 2014. The Director was instructed to contact the Director General of the CPI with a view to mitigating this charge. It was felt that not only was the charge excessive in relation to our own income, but that the benefits offered by the CPI in return were few and of most interest to members of the Corrugated Case Materials Section. Other sections felt that they derived very little benefit from the arrangement.
· General. The President reported on a further development involving the P&BA, CPI, BPIF Cartons, Pro-Carton and the NAPM, (The group could potentially also include the NPA and the Newspaper Society as well as the DMA and FIPP.) There had been meetings to determine whether it was possible to establish a structure which would enable the industry to speak with “one voice” when confronting issues or dealing with Government. It was recognised that the CPI had the necessary skills and contacts to lobby effectively on behalf of the enlarged group. There were issues to be resolved, in particular who from the P&BA should serve on any committee that might be established. It was however agreed that the P&BA should be prepared to fund its share of any particular relevant projects which presented themselves.
6. Committees.
· Statistics. There was discussion regarding the need to re-establish the credibility of the Association’s statistics and Messrs Beckwith and O’Brien will explore the possibility of acquiring statistical information on a commercial basis if necessary to supplement our existing arrangements. There are a number of known sources, but the name of Martin Glass was mentioned and he will be contacted.
· Environment. It was confirmed that Mr Ross Bradshaw had agreed to head up the Environment Committee (he is not currently a member of the Association, but remains a Director of PEFC). Other names mentioned as suitable candidates to serve on the Committee were Mr. Paul Edwards of Sun Paper, Mr Matthew Terry of Metsä Board and Mr Stuart Andrews of Sustainable Options Ltd., an environmental consultancy and potential Associate Member. In addition, Mr Uwins recommended Mr Danny Doogan of Denmaur Independent Papers as being a useful contact on environmental affairs. (Denmaur are members of the NAPM).
· Website. It was agreed that the website should be a priority and Mr O’Brien agreed to review progress. The Director to provide access to the new site to enable him to review and edit as necessary.
7. Presentation for meetings and EGM on 22nd November. Mr O’Brien had prepared a draft presentation for the meeting the following day and members reviewed it slide by slide discussing details and making changes where appropriate. Its content and presentation were finally agreed by all members present. (A copy is available from the Director if required).
Arrangements for the EGM were discussed and agreed. It was confirmed that the new Director, Mr DeLittle would be present.
8. Any Other Business.
· Various comments had been made during the meeting about the importance of Competition Law Compliance particularly as it might affect new members and associate members. It was agreed that we should contact our solicitors and ask them to review the current Compliance Memorandum, to update it if necessary and to explore whether any changes were required arising from the re-structuring of the Association. It might also be appropriate to have compliance once again as a seminar topic. The Director will contact Mr Cyrus Mehta of Nabarro, who has advised us in the past.
· The President commented that the President’s badge was no longer appropriate as it referred specifically to the “Paper Agents Association” rather than the “Paper and Board Association”. In any event the wearing of badges at functions was falling into disuse. He proposed that it should be offered to the Stationers’ Company for their archive. Members agreed unanimously.
9. Date and venue for next meeting It was agreed that the Committee would meet on the 8th January 2014 at a venue to be arranged.
Chairman
8 January 2014