The 52nd AGM was held on 5th April at the Britvic, Widford Factory, Chelmsford, commencing 2.00pm. Some changes in the constitution were agreed which include the merging of the position of Secretary and treasurer into the position of General Secretary. It was also agreed to have the National Chairman as a continuation role rather than a two yearly appointment. Membership fees have not increased for the past three years it was therefore reluctantly agreed that Corporate membership be increased to £180.00 p.a. Individual membership to £45.00 p.a. and Retired member’s £22.50 p.a.

BBI ANNUAL COMPETITION

The 2006 Lager and Ales competition will take place during the summer with entries submitted during August for judging 19th September. Competition entry forms and details of the various categories will be circulated during the next few weeks. It has been decided to include British Wines in this year’s competition to reflect the growth of the industry in this area.

BBI GALA AWARDS DINNER

The BBI Gala Awards Dinner for 2006 will be held on Monday 20th November at Vintners Hall, London, following the general format that was successful last year with some improvements based on feedback from previous attendees. We have changed the venue in order to make this event a more memorable occasion, and the use of Vintners Livery Hall is very much in keeping with our member’s business interests. Further details will be circulated to members in the next few weeks.

BBI VISITS

Our completed visits in the current Annual Programme are;

Cott Beverages, Kegworth. Britvic Soft Drinks, Rugby Factory. Sunny-Plast/Gerber, Bridgwater. Darley/Marstons, Burton upon Trent. Britvic, Widford.

These were all enthusiastically supported and we must compliment our hosts in making these visits well worthwhile. We also thank our Hosts for the openness and content contained within the presentations at the visits.

Reports of these visits are available in the BBI News section of the BBI website.

Future visits include;

Quinn Glass. William Grant. Britvic Beckton. Domino. Carlsberg Leeds. Greene King. Macaws(Cott).

Details of forthcoming visits are posted in the Events section of the BBI website.

NEW MEMBERS

We welcome our new members that have joined in the last six months;

Corporate:

Aquamist, Kenya. Crown Foods Ltd, Kenya. Berchi International Ltd. Sangs(Banff) Ltd. William Croxson & Sons.

Individual:

Franck Steverlynck, B&H Labelling systems, Belgium. Derek Wainwright, Darley Ltd, Burton upon Trent.

THE ORGANISATION OF THE BBI

Management Group:

National Chairman, – Colin Barker. General Secretary, – John Yates. Dinner Organiser, – Andrew Broadbent. Membership Coordinator, – Cedric Pettitt. Competition Organiser, – Barry Wilson. Website & Events Coordinator, – Brian Gibbs.

Section Coordinators:

Scottish Section, – Colin Clelland. Northern Section, – Vacancy. Midlands Section, – Cedric Pettitt. Southern Section, – Brian Gibbs.

Council Members:

Tony Knight. Allan Berry. Shayne Ford. David Batey.

BBI address is:

PO Box 374, Southampton,SO31 4WZ. Telephone number for the BBI 0776 100 5276