BID Board Meeting Minutes – 4 December 2018
Minutes of Board Meeting held 17:30 4 December 2018 at Saffron Walden Golf Club
| 1. Directors Present | |
| Jim Brewin (JB), Ian Hudson (IH), Gary Hyams (GH), Julie Redfern (JR – appointment pending), Shara Vickers (SV – appointment pending). | |
| 2. In attendance | |
| Fiona Bates (FB – SWBID Ops), Simon Jackson (SJ – UDC), Louise Scutt-Richter (LSR – SWBID Ops). | |
| 3. Apologies | |
| Lucy Clarke, Claire Hunnable, Craige Quantin, Richard Booth (Adams Harrison), Paul Fairhurst, Nicola Brooks, Cllr Barbara Light, Cllr Howard Ryles | |
| 4. Minutes of previous meeting (6 November 2018) | |
| Approved subject to identifying directors in attendance. | |
| 5. Update to BID company set-up | |
| IH confirmed that the bank account had been set up and VAT registration applied for. An initial meeting had been held with the company’s accountants Croucher and Needham to set up account, budget and invoice posting / payment systems. ACTION: IH ongoing | IH |
| SJ brought the meeting’s attention to a minor typographical error on the Operating Agreement signing page. This was amended and signed by JB at the meeting. ACTION: SJ to ensure UDC to sign and return a copy to IH. |
SJ |
| IH confirmed that remining directors would be registered as soon as Companies House approved online access. ACTION: IH to add Lucy Clarke, Craige Quantin, Julie Redfern, Howard Ryles, Shara Vickers. |
IH |
| JB confirmed that Paul Fairhurst felt unable to take up the position as director due to potential conflicts of interest. ACTION: JB to confirm with Town Council whether it wished an alternative to be appointed. If not, then it was agreed that Wendy Howell would be approached. |
JB |
| 6. Levy payment update | |
| It was confirmed that 90% of total levy due had been received by UDC. In order to protect the interests of members who had paid the levy, formal debt collecting proceedings will be commenced in the New Year. Formal proceedings will add £90 to the debt of each levy payer who is the subject of the proceedings. It was AGREED that in the interests of inclusivity Steering Group members would try to minimise the number of local firms on this list. ACTION: SJ will ensure an up to date debtors schedule is provided to IH. ACTION: ISH will circulate a list of local debtors (UDC have agreed to pursue national companies) to the Steering Group together with a “script” drawn from JB’s notes. AGREED: Steering Group members will divide the list and visit individual debtors before mid January. |
SJ IH ALL |
| JB confirmed that he had visited a few businesses had stated they will not pay with some success i.e. they confirmed they would pay and more importantly “come on board”. | |
| It was confirmed that the Operating Agreement covered (in GDPR terms) the exchange of information between UDC and SWBID. | |
| 7. Governance | |
| ISH confirmed IH and LSR had met with Croucher and Needham [C&N] (SWBID’s accountants) with a view to setting up suitable accounting procedures. C&N proposed using proprietary systems (Xero and Receipt Bank) and confirmed that C&N would cover any licencing fees. C&N agreed to undertake further research into the integration of project costing (e.g. Christmas initiatives) into the accounts system primarily to ensure accurate and meaningful management reporting. A further meeting will be held before Christmas. |
ISH |
| ISH confirmed that the Modus Operandi had been updated. It would be circulated for comment with minutes of the meeting. It is intended to be a “living document” with regular updates throughout the year. |
ALL |
| ISH confirmed that early in the New Year the remaining directors will be appointed, bank mandate updated and a formal invitation issued to members. | ISH / LSR |
| 8. Current activities | |
| Christmas events | |
| All activity is in play as planned. JB/FB LSR De-briefing every Monday to take lessons learned/tweaks into the follow week. All going well, the first week a problem with Dogs Trust and deliveries, but found a temporary solution for the day. Second Saturday very poor weather kept people away. See notes attached in Draft Activity Monitor (created post meeting) ACTION: LSR/IH to discuss Spend tracker to be discussed, and LSR/FB tweaking MarComms as appropriate to increase engagement |
LSR/ ISH FB |
| Business Watch | |
| SV outlined the proposal, which would be initiated with a WhatsApp group. | |
| SV circulated a draft Guidelines for use (with input from the local PCSO)
ACTION: All to feedback to SV on the Guidelines with the view to taking it round to businesses this side of Christmas, promoting on next Update email and with the Walden Local (LSR) |
ALL |
| 9. Carried forward to next meeting | |
| Accessible SW (GH), recruitment for BID manager (JB), Communication strategy (LSR), MIPermit promotion (LSR) | |
| 10. AOB | |
| SV was thanked for responding re Small Business Saturday and working with Kemi B, Wendy H and David Law | |
| JB outlined feedback from Open Meeting re: broken lighting at Swan Meadow. Members of the group voiced concerns to SJ and it was agreed that the BID would write formally to UDC to get it sorted asap. |
JB |
| LSR confirmed that the open rate for the update email is only 40%. AGREED: SWBID would trial a hard copy circulation making it clear that (due to cost constraints) this would only be temporary i.e. a email circulation is more cost effective. JB pointed out that face to face communication remained the most effective channel. | LSR |
| 11. Date of next meeting | |
| 8 January 2019 at 17:30 |
