The Business Improvement District term comes to an end on 31 July 2021 and in order to continue to function, is required to undertake a renewal ballot before this date. This Next Steps document highlights the feedback from our conversations with you and will provide the basis for the creation of our Business Plan for 2021-2026. Watch out for it dropping through your letterbox in the next few days.
The renewal ballot has been set for 1 July 2021 with ballot papers and the associated business plan being sent by post to you around 20th May.
We will upload all relevant documentation to our website for your information. If you would like more information or to comment on these plans, please contact Karen or Julie via info@scotlandsfooddrinkcounty.com
Annual General Meeting - 18 March 2021
The Annual General Meeting will take place online Thursday 18th March at 4pm. You will receive the meeting link via email in the next few days.
We will be joined by James Withers, CEO at Scotland Food and Drink. James will give us an update on the Food and Drink Recovery Plan and what he sees are the windows of opportunity for recovery. If you have a question for James, please let us know in advance to info@scotlandsfooddrinkcounty.com.
There remains one vacancy on the Board of Directors for members' representatives. Members interested in joining the Board should be nominated and seconded at the AGM. It would be helpful to let us know in advance to help us manage the online meeting effectively.
New Directors appointed
We are delighted to welcome Ian Smith from Diageo and David Alders from The Well Water onto our Board of Directors.
They join our Chair, Chris Luca, Louise Elder and David Strachan representing members. Also on our Board are Fiona Edgar and Councillor John McMillan.
We look forward to working with Ian and David as we develop our plans and activities.
New members join the East Lothian Food and Drink
We are also delighted to be able to welcome East Lothian Deli Box and Brose Oats to the East Lothian Food and Drink Family. Hopefully we will be able to meet them in person once restrictions ease and we are able to plan a programme of networking events across the summer.
Great Taste Awards
Great Taste Awards from the Guild of Fine Food entry process has opened.
Putting your food or drink to the test with our panel of over 500 experts is a quick way to get honest, straightforward and impartial feedback from chefs, buyers, food writers and retailers. Whether your product receives a 1-, 2- or 3-star accolade, Great Taste stars are highly respected seals of approval.
Entry is open until 1 March 2021 and the entry details can be found here:
Aldi seek out the best and brightest British distiller.
Tapping into the rise in popularity of local spirits brands - which us Brits can’t get enough of - the search is on for Aldi to find the best local spirits creators in the country.
The entries will be judged by Aldi’s expert panel of buyers with the help of spirits expert, TV Mixologist and Sunday Brunch regular Pritesh Mody.
Distillers have until 11:59pm on Monday 5th April 2021 to enter.
Flexible Workforce Development Fund Business Breakfast
The Mid and East Lothian Chambers of Commerce are hosting a business breakfast with Liam Conway of Edinburgh College who will give an update on the recently launched Flexible Workforce Development Fund
As the Scottish economy begins to recover and rebuild in the years ahead, training and developing your employees will be critically important. To support this, The Scottish Government and Scottish Funding Council have announced an extension to the Flexible Workforce Development Fund, giving SMEs the opportunity to access up to £5,000 worth of training at Edinburgh College.
Find out how to access this funding and learn more about the range of virtual training currently on offer!
The event will also give attendees the opportunity to bring networking back into their lives through virtual breakout rooms and an opportunity to share their 60 second pitch with fellow participants.
Introducing Transform Net-Zero Project: Supporting SMEs towards a Low Carbon Future.
Wed, 17 March 202 10:00 – 11:00 GMT
This event will introduce the 2 year Scottish Enterprise funded project Transform Net-Zero. Using Abertay's leading Food Innovation, Environment and Computer Games expertise to stimulate and improve SMEs innovation, preparing for new market opportunities towards net-zero.
The project will focus on low carbon innovation in the food and drink industry (water technology, energy efficiency, carbon sequestration, value from waste and energy) supporting SMEs to reduce energy, waste, water use across the supply chain whilst coming up with joint collaborations between academic and industrial partners. Providing key knowledge and expertise to make a transitional improvement to their business to unlock the opportunities for the global climate crisis.
The City Food Lecture is one of the prestigious events in the City of London calendar. Attended by the great and the good of the food, drink and grocery retailing industries it usually provides an excellent networking opportunity for those lucky enough to secure an invitation.
As with all events in recent times, this event ran online for the first time ever and, despite some teething problems, saw over 1,400 tune in to hear Mel Smith, CBE, Chief Executive Officer of Ocado Retail talk about the role of technology in modern retailing.
Mel captivated the audience with her tales of the penetration of online grocery shopping which has almost doubled from 7% share to 13% over this last 12 months and forecast to double again over the next few years. She predicts that behaviours established through the pandemic are likely to remain with shoppers and consumers for the next few years. She also talked about Ocado Zoom which is a London based delivery service which can deliver your shopping to your door within 40 minutes ! Now this is very much a London centric business but what they are driving in terms of technology will change the market place - maybe not tomorrow but sometime in the future.
To see the amazing technology that powers Ocado, check out this video
Your next newsletter will be emailed on 5 March 2021
