Wendy provided an overview of her company and the services it offers and took a wide range of questions from the floor.

If you require any further information the website address is www.ways2win.co.uk

1. Introduction

John Vieth noted apologies for absence and ran through a summary of the last 12 months.

• Interesting range of speakers including; Business Link, Local MP, PardoeBevins, Sedgemoor District Council and others.
• Visits to House of Commons & London Eye, more recently, Cannington Cold Store and CCTV.
• Represented ABI at several partnership meetings and reviewing how our organisation can work with them and develop for our members.
• Raised our profile and produced publicity flyers and our website continues to develop.
• Socially, we have enjoyed:-

Presidents Dinner at Blackmore Farm with guest speaker Roger Evans.

Charity golf match which raised £500 for St Margarets Hospice.

Dunster Show with excellent hospitality and entertainment from Nigel!

Indoor Bowls at North Petherton, I have joined and am currently having lessons

Society 4 Ball at Enmore Park (Pardoes, Team Growers and Wendy)

2. Accounts

Norman Hucker presented a summary of the annual accounts.  A copy of this can be supplied to members on request.  All costs are currently covered and there is a small balance in the account.

3. Election of Officers

Wendy White explained that whilst traditionally the President selected a successor, John wished to offer a vote to the members.  This resulted in a resounding vote to re-elect him, so no hung parliament or coalition!.   It was agreed that Norman & Wendy continued in their roles as Treasurer and Secretary.

Nigel Davies (Pantec Engineering), on behalf of members, thanked John and his team for all the hard work undertaken.

4.Moving Forward – 2010/11 President – John Veith

John reported success of the “bring a guest” which has helped increase awareness and membership during 2009/10.  We plan to continue this arrangement & members are reminded that there is a £10 fee towards the lunch for each guest.  We all learn from each other, enjoy the networking, visits and social occasions with partners or colleagues.   The association is well respected in the town and has a good history.  We will continue to be a voice with the local authority, lobbying MP and working with potential investors into the area e.g Morrisions, EDF, Building Schools for the future.

We need to be involved in the beginning to understand the impact on employment and infrastructure.

5. AOB

• Dates for meetings in 2010/11 will be advised and posted on website.
• We have speakers in place for remainder of 2010. Please pass ideas/volunteers for future speakers/visits/socials to Wendy.
• Wendy is now webmistress, having completed further training.  Half of our members have information on the Company Profile Page so please contact Wendy if you want to add information about your business. Photographs of individual members could help other members put a face to a name, now we are a larger gathering.  There is also the opportunity to add video clips etc.
• The Somerset Railway Trip is fully booked with reserve list in September 2010.
• Usually, we do not meet in July/August but this year we will be planning a visit to ACC Chemicals so there is not such a long break.  Wendy will advise dates shortly.
• John asked that Grace be said at each meeting.
• Next meeting 18th June – Speaker Wendy Wills – MD of Ways2Win.  Both Wendy and I will be away, so Norman Hucker will be in the Chair.

There being no other business the meeting closed at 2.30pm

They are a 24/7 service monitoring 170 CCTV cameras in Bridgwater, Burnham-on-Sea, Cheddar and North Petherton.  They also work in partnership with Taunton Deane Borough Council and South Somerset District Council, monitoring the CCTV systems in Taunton, Wellington and Yeovil.  All CCTV images are recorded 24/7 and are kept for a minimum of 31 days.

The CCTV operation is also the control centre for 5 retail watch schemes and 5 pub watch radio schemes, controlling in excess of 250 radios.

Images from the CCTV control centre are patched through to the Avon & Somerset Police control room in Taunton and to the police station in Yeovil.

They have installed a state of the art ANPR system in conjunction with Avon & Somerset Constabulary.  This system is used to read number plates of vehicles at various in our CCTV enabled area.  These vehicle details are checked against the police national computer for any warning markers on the vehicle.  If a vehicle is identified then a police unit is despatched to deal with the incident.  This system is NOT used for speeding offences.

Last year the CCTV control room assisted in over 18,000 incidents, and from these they wee able to assist in the arrest of nearly 1500 people, a very significant amount in any context.  They exhibited to the police over 1400 pieces of evidence to be used in court.

The control centre often give presentations to groups such as the Bridgwater Industrialists, local neighbourhood watch groups, street pastors, college students and any visiting dignitaries to the area.

If you would like to arrange a visit, please contact the CCTV manager at Sedgemoor District Council.

Our President has signed up and is currently taking lessons, so watch this space!

The vision for Bridgwater is that in 2060 the town will be energy conscious, known for its ambitious approach to sustainability and low carbon living.

Bridgwater will be seen as a place that has been re-energised into a confident town through its strong, innovative architecture, its vibrant town centre and its revitalised neighbourhoods – encouraging a greater sense of local community, well being and civic pride.

The vision includes a range of regeneration projects designed to revitalise place and inspire investment and growth.   For example, making the most of the River at the heart of the town, exemplary schools, connected transport, improving housing, delivering its flooding solution, the Parrett Barrier, and providing outstanding health and recreation facilities. Bridgwater will continue to attract new investment, maintaining its new position, as a regional centre of enterprise excellence.

Doug Bamsey represents Sedgemoor District Council as a member of the Bridgwater Industrialists and is town planner by profession, having graduated with a Geography Masters from the University of Toronto.   He has over 25 years experience in local government across a diverse range of local authorities in the south east and south west of England.   He has been a Corporate Director at Sedgemoor for over 10 years. He has lead responsibility for the Council’s economic development, planning policy, development management and housing enabling activities.  Doug has taken the leadership role and responsibility for a wide range of development and regeneration projects.  This has required effective partnership working with national, regional and local organisations and the community.  These projects have resulted in substantial community benefits. For the last 2 years he has led the Council’s response to the Government’s and the nuclear industry’s emerging proposals for a new nuclear power station at Hinkley point. More recently, he has also taken the lead in responding to National Grid’s associated proposals for transmission line upgrades.

If you have any thoughts to offer, please go to website:-

bridgwaterchallenge.org.uk

OR the LDF consultation website at: sedgemoor.gov.ukldf

Aimed at business owners or managers of established businesses, the Business Advice

Clinic is a free, one-to-one 90-minute meeting with an experienced Business Link Adviser.

They will review, in confidence, key areas of your business and any issues you are facing -

identifying activity and support that will help improve performance.

The clinic will help generate a clear set of actions ready for implementation and can cover activities such as:

• Increasing sales and customer service

• Identifying new products or markets

• Reducing costs and improving productivity

• Managing people and developing skills

• Implementing plans for growth

Contact Details -  Direct line 0845 602 3657 ext 8402  Email: Liz.Oram@blpeninsula.co.uk Website www.businesslink.gov.uk/southwest

A range of relevant topics were covered.  These included:-

• Changing terms and conditions of employment
• Fair reasons for dismissal
• Restructuring and reorganising your workforce
• Retaining talent, remembering Survivor Syndrome

For further information please refer to website –www.pardoesbevins.co.uk

A lively debate on current topics was enjoyed by members and their guests.

The meeting finished with a vote of thanks to the BI Hon Secretary Wendy White. Who went the colour of her jumper and was for once, lost for words!

Photos by Timeless Images (Bridgwater)

A full coach of members and guests left Bridgwater at 6.3Oam. We arrived in London to glorious sunshine. After passing through strict security we were met by Ian Liddell-Grainger and introduced to our tour guide. We received a fascinating tour of the Commons and House of Lords, soaking up the history as we walked around. It looks so much bigger on the television!  All too soon we were off to our leisurely lunch at a nearby Italian Restaurant. This was followed by a “Fast Track” flight on the London Eye and a 4D film. With clear skies we could see for miles and enjoyed identifying local landmarks from our birds eye view. After some time at leisure to visit other local attractions we were off on the coach home. A note of thanks goes to our Secretary Wendy White for organising such a memorable day and to Ian Liddell-Grainger and his secretary, Claire Gibson, for inviting us on a tour of the house.

One of our new members Chris Spencer (Partner Pardoes) hand the honour of making the toast to the ladies.

Whilst the dinner is the key social event of the year for the association, our President “John Vieth” took the opportunity to review the progress of the Bridgwater Industrialists and the opportunities on the horizons for our members and the wider local business community.

John said “Taking a quick look back upon 2009, the last 12 months has seen a rapid economic decline, leading to the longest recession since the 1930s. This meant some difficult decisions had to be made, but that’s what stands us apart as managers, directors and proprietors. Now we are all looking for the first shoots of recovery and hopefully some may have seen a recent upturn.

Local business potential looks very rosy. There are amazing opportunities for the area, much better than most.  For example –

‘Building schools for the future’, developing 4 secondary schools costing £100m, which is great for local business and even better for further generations.

We are building a new hospital and all the associated services.

There is Challenge Bridgwater, which has created a vision and now we must find a way to convert this vision into reality.

And of course, new power stations, which cost £5bn each and we are having 2. This will have a truly massif influence on the local economy, EDF say they spend 1.5% in the local supply chain, but that’s only £15m, we can do better than that.

Individual companies must make their own approaches; perhaps we are stronger as a group, should we form a consortium or even a joint venture? Whatever the route to market we must take full advantage.

This town has truly great opportunities, for business and for the community. It’s up to us to make them happen and to cash in on them.

The association has also enjoyed a great year:–

We have had good attendance at our meetings and a steadily growing membership. In the social calendar we enjoyed the hospitality at the Dunster Show where we watched a display of trick horse riding. We also saw a flying display of Eagles and Hawks as a vulture circled ominously above certain parts of the crowd.

We had a Charity Golf match at Enmore, raising £500 for St Margaret’s Hospicea in memory of our dear friend Ken Dewer.

We had a fantastic trip to the Palace of Westminster. The guide made the tour a fascinating experience and the London Eye was great fun also. It was a great day out.

We need to continue to encourage new members, then in turn we can influence decision makers, take advantage of the opportunities that will arise, we will make changes happen, for we are being heard and noticed and we can be proud of our town and help it’s prosperity.”

You can live in real market towns and villages, enjoy short commute times and make the most of the countryside, the coast and the clean air.

At the heart of the £90 billion economy of the South West, Somerset has the highest business start up rates outside of London.  Our economy is a magic mix of multinationals and niche entrepreneurs with markets worldwide.

The Into Somerset Team is here to work with businesses relocating to Somerset.

Which areas of the site people access and how long they spend on each page.  We can identify which pages are more appealing and which we could improve.

All members are encouraged to provide data for the website with links to their own sites.

The showground was full of a wide variety of vendors selling an interesting range of goods and produce, much of which was produced locally.  Nobody left the show empty handed!

Thanks go to Nigel Wixon and Steve Varcoe from Enmore who helped us raise £500 for such a worthy cause.

1) New Members –Welcome to Keith Jones, European Silicones Finance Director of Amber Chemicals ;Chris Sidaway representing Sedgemoor District Council and Harley Brown MD of PC Comms. (appologies)

2) Review of the last year by our President.

3) Review and adoption of the last year’s accounts by Peter Fletcher, Hon Treasurer.

and setting of new subscription fee for 2009

4) Announcement of our new Honorary Treasurer, Norman Hucker; taking over from Peter Fletcher.

5) Announcement of our new President, John Vieth; taking over from Graham Bentley.

6) Announcement that Graham Bentley will stand in for Wendy White; temporarily in the secretarial role, but Wendy White will remain the official Honorary Secretary.

7) A few words from the new President.

Charity Golf event, Friday 26^th June 2009 12 noon

9) Palace of Westminster trip

Graham Bentley (President) – Jasun Filtration

John Bloomfield – Innovia Films

Nigel Davies – Pantec Engineering

Ian Dyer – FSB

Len Eden – Hydrax

Chris Fairbrass – Fairway Office Supplies

Peter Fletcher – Hon Treasurer

Wes Harford – AM Sensors

Terry Green – Hon Member

Norman Hucker

Keith Jones – Amber Chemicals

Gary Mansfield – Trelleborg Industries

Chris Sidaway – Sedgemoor D.C.

John Vieth – British Nuclear Group

Apologies:

Doug Bamsey – Sedgemoor DC represented by Chris Sidaway

Peter Best – Amber Chemicals represented by Keith Jones

Harley Brown – PC Comms

Steve Trelfa – Bridgwater College

Jack McWilliam

Wendy White – Hon Secretary

Spencer Laycock – British Energy

• Review protection & to reduce risk of accidents in the workplace.
• Develop laws and set standards
• Measure trends
• Provide information (via website/visits etc)

How this is done:-

• Inspect premises (can do free consultations) Inspections should be every 3 years, but staff shortages and funding may extend this period.  They have a database of businesses and will often select a visit via postcode.  Or if an incident has been reported.
• Investigate Accidents
• Monitor ill health e.g Asbestos

Outcomes:-

• Provide advice & guidance
• Power to serve notices
• Issue of prohibition notice (stop work)
• Prosecute and fine

RISK ASSESSMENTS

People are often afraid of doing these, but we all  make risk assessments every day.  If you cross the road you ensure there is nothing coming before you step out. There are many companies out there who “specialise” in particular areas but common sense can be applied in your workplace.

• Look at risk
• Who could be harmed
• How
• How can you reduce risk.

It is very important to document risks and review on a regular basis – if anything changes.

HSE work with local authority – Local authority partnership projects.

Remember – GOOD HEALTH EQUALS GOOD BUSINESS.

Mr Neil Parish is one of three Conservative MEP’s for The South West of England and Gibraltar and is Chairman of the European Parliament’s Agriculture Committee.

An extremely interesting talk was given by Mr Parish at our meeting. It was an eye opener to find out about the internal struggles of the European Union within Brussels and Strasburg.

It was clear to our members that the EU has a significant affect on commercial business development and some members were keen to express the effect of bureaucracy on small businesses.

Mr Parish had a good understanding of small business and farming as he had previously managed his own family farm.

All were appreciative of his visit and he has said that we may be able to arrange a visit to Brussels in the future.

Ken had been President of The Association of Bridgwater Industrialists until April this year and previously in 1975, 1991 and 2006-7. Even when he was not President, he was still working behind the scenes to attract new members and invite guest speakers

Ken was a charming well liked man, who found time to be involved in many organisations in Bridgwater; He was Chairman of Governors at Haygrove School, Chairman of the Enmore and District Gardening Club a Rotarian and an excellent Skillter!

He was also a past Chairman of the Bridgwater Conservatives and was the agent for former Bridgwater MP Tom King. He was awarded the OBE in 1993 for Political and other services.

Ken was married to Doreen for 59 years and had two children, Neill and Fiona of whom he was very proud.

He will be missed by all of us in the Association and beyond and we will be talking about him for many years to come.

A minutes silence was held at the opening of the Association’s AGM in memeory of Ken.

Members of the Association of Bridgwater Industrialists (20 Club) visited Hinkley Point A Site to see at first hand the progress of decommissioning being made on the Site, which ceased generation in May 2000.

The Membership of the Industrialists is drawn from Directors of Industrial and Commercial firms in Bridgwater and the surrounding area. Sedgemoor District Council and Bridgwater College are also represented. The group meet to keep abreast of current day concerns of employment and the successes of the area and Mark Lesinski, Site Director of Hinkley Point A Site was delighted to welcome them.

This year marks the association’s 50^th anniversary and John Vieth, Commercial Manager at Hinkley Point A and member of the Industrialists Association, organised the visit to highlight their activities and the positive forum they offer in the town.

Tim Watkins, Lead Team member at Hinkley Point A , gave a complete review of the history of the station and explained the recent changes and challenges associated with decommissioning before an extensive site tour. For some there was a distinct sense of nostalgia on arriving at the turbine hall to find it completely bare of machinery.

A vote of thanks for the hospitality and thoroughness of the tour was given by the Association of Bridgwater Industrialists president, Mr. J. K. Dewar O.B.E. who later commented “knowledge of how Power Stations work, their safety and security measures and world wide knowledge base makes me much more comfortable about living close to Hinkley Point. We need reliable power generation now and in the future. Every option available has its price to the community, employment and the environment. There will always be arguments for and against. Hinkley Point can demonstrate a professional well managed operation that is open with the community and business partners. It also has an impressive safety record”

Picture shows group at Hinkley Point A.

Back row Left John Vieth (British Nuclear Group), Kennedy Dewar O.B.E (President Bridgwater Industrialists), Tim Watkins (Hinkley Point), Geoff Day (A.C.C Ltd), Doug Bamsey (Sedgemoor District Council), Chris Fairbrass (Fairway Office Supplies),

Front Row: Graham Bently (Jason Filtration PLC), Wendy White (Hon.Secretary), Peter Fletcher (Bridgwater Industrialists), Wes Harford (Am Sensors Ltd), Len Eden (Hydrax Ltd), Terry Green (Bridgwater Industrialists)