Midland Regional Board

Midland Regional Board

Thursday 5 June 2008

Minutes

Midland Regional Board

Thursday 5 June 2008, Midland Business Centre, Meriden

MINUTESCONFIDENTIAL

Present:

East Midlands:Graham Masters, Phoenix Print Finishing Ltd (Chairman)

Leicestershire & Northamptonshire:David Taylor, Automedia Ltd

Co-Opted:Mark Fearon, The Lemon Press

Mark Jones, A1 Paper Stationery Ltd

John Martin, Spectrum Print Direct

Steve Ray, Reynolds Press

Lynne Tomlinson-Hands, Tomlinson Ltd

Attending:Steve Walker, BPIF

Michael Gardner, BPIF

1.WELCOME & APOLOGIES

The Chairman welcomed those present to the meeting.

2.APOLOGIES

Apologies had been received from Bob Loach, F F Allsopp Ltd, Kevin Paszek, Tungate Group, Ian Houston, Jones and Palmer, Ross Mitchell, Wood Mitchell Printers Ltd, Teri Baron, Rotary Printers (Stourport on Severn) Ltd, and Nigel Lyon, Pinstripe Press.

3.PRESENTATION

Michael Gardner gave his presentation on the new structure of the BPIF. He explained why the BPIF needed to make the changes and that the aim had been to reduce overhead whilst maintaining frontline services.

Steve Ray asked whether that was possible given the BPIF had reduced its numbers and had introduced a further tier of management. Michael explained that the new tier of management referred to, was in fact, existing management but with more responsibility. In the previous structure only one executive director was responsible for membership and it was impossible for an individual to cover all the regions. With three executive directors now in charge of the regions the BPIF was putting its emphasis on membership whilst keeping up the strength of its advisory services.

Michael also added that the new structure would create closer ties with the Midands and the South West, which would improve response rates when covering for sickness absence or holidays.

Steve Ray also expressed a concern that the regions views would not be as vociferously made with the new structure. Michael stated that on the contrary the Region now had himself an Executive Director and the FD as an advocate.

The discussion concluded with the meeting giving thanks for Derek Pollards contribution to the BPIF and the Midland Regional Board and wishing the new Regional Director, Steve Walker, success for the future.

4.ELECTIONS

Graham reminded members that we are still seeking a Deputy Chairman and suggested that if anyone was interested they should contact Steve Walker

5.MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING/MATTERS ARISING

Steve Walker asked for the meetings views on the National Wage Award. Most of the meeting felt that the settlement was reasonable as it was only slightly more than the mandate given by the regional board. Graham Masters added that the view of the negotiating team was that the union had understood the difficulties the industry were facing and that it was quite an achievement to have produced settlements significantly below the RPI, two years in a row.

6.SUMMARY OF BOARD MEETINGS – 22 January & 5 March 2008

These had been distributed to members prior to the meeting. There were no questions.

7.SUMMARY OF NATIONAL COUNCIL MEETING – 12 March 2008

John Martin asked whether companies had resigned from membership due to the increase in BPIF subscriptions. Steve Walker stated that there was no evidence of this even with the difficulties in the industry.

8.REPORT ON GOVERNMENT & INDUSTRY COMMITTEE – 8 January & 29 April 2008

These had been distributed to members prior to the meeting. There were no questions.

9.REGIONAL DIRECTOR’S REPORT

This report had been tabled.

Steve Walker reported that the region had ended the year slightly down on budget but the KPI’s had been largely achieved. He added that this had been quite an achievement given the staffing issues encountered.

Steve also asked how the meeting wanted the region to report its performance in future, because in his opinion the current report was too complicated. The meeting agreed that there was little need to report on many of the budget figures such as the ‘status of billing’ and asked Steve Walker to come up with a new format.

West Midlands Business Link

Steve Walker said that he and Gil Reid-Robbins had met with West Midlands Business Link who had funding available for Business Improvement projects and the implementation of ISO standards. This was virtually guaranteed for companies within objective 2 areas. Board members asked whether this was available in the East Midlands and whether it applied to their own individual companies. Steve Walker said he would meet with the appropriate body in the East Midland and report back at the next meeting. He also said he would take up the individual members queries and obtain answers for them in the next few days.

Drupa

Steve Walker also reported on a very successful trip to Drupa. Most delegates had enjoyed the tranquility of the hotel in Monshau, however a few companies felt that the hour and a half trip to Dusseldorf was a drawback. He added that all the delegates had found the trip extremely worthwhile and had put a lot of effort into planning their itineraries. This had been slightly to the detriment of the scheduled BPIF appointments but these had still been extremely informative to those who were able to attend.

HR Activity

In Judith’s absence it was reported that the level of assistance required for help with redundancies was extremely high in the first quarter of 2008. More calls were also being received concerning payment of the wage award and queries about the changes to holiday entitlement due to come into force by April 2009. There was also a high level of queries concerning TUPE transfers due to the extent of mergers and acquisitions within the industry.

Staff

Steve Walker stated that Theresa Latham had returned to part time working but that her doctor had recommended she have her second hip operation sooner than planned. Whilst this was good news in the long run, it did mean that she would be out of action again from the end of June.

He also announced that Nicole Hughes had joined the Midland Office on 2 June. She would be supporting Cathy Priddle in administering the Central Region and the Legal Team.

10.FINANCE REPORT

Michael Gardner gave a full report on the BPIF finances, including the progress of the move to limited status, the possible VAT claim and the pension deficit. He said that although the previous financial year had seen losses, the new year had started well and the BPIF were above budget.

11.STATE OF THE TRADE

The Chairman went round the table asking for the board’s views on the state of trade. It was fairly unanimous that trading conditions were very difficult. The industry was facing raw material and wage rates increases but with very little opportunity for passing them on to customers. Many companies were encountering extremely low prices from competitors and there was an expectation that many more companies would be going out of business.

12. SPECIAL ITEMS

1. The Future of District Association Meetings. Steve stated that a Regional Forum had been arranged for the midland region in April, on the subject of the new Colour Standard BS 12674/2. Unfortunately this had to be cancelled due to lack of numbers. However he explained that this may have been due to the fact that a similar seminar had already been held in the midland area some months earlier. The next forum was to be in October and would be held on the subject of Carbon Foot printing, which was likely to be well attended.

1. BPIF/Printing World Excellence Awards 2008 The awards were being held on 30 June and tables were still available

1. YMP Report This report had been tabled. There were no questions.

1. SIGs Update Michael Gardner outlined the major points from the Special Interest Group review. He said that they would be centrally co-ordinated by Mike Hopkins, but the individual groups would be run by the Regional Directors (with the exception of the Midland Regional Director who already had commercial products). The SIGS would also need to be self financing going forward.

1. BOSS Regionalisation Steve Walker reported that he had met with Eddie Cheshire the Boss Heart of England Chairman and invited him to the next regional board. He had also been to the Heart of England Golf Day and was looking to combine this with a BPIF event. It was hoped that there would be a good deal of synergy between the Boss and BPIF midland events.

1. BPIF Trustees Michael Gardner explained that the BPIF needed to appoint member trustees in the event leases had to be signed. Graham Masters agreed to take up this responsibility.

13.ANY OTHER BUSINESS

There was no other business.

14.DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING

Thursday 2 October 2008 at Midland Business Centre