Select Lncolnshire Forum Notes November 2018

Select Lincolnshire Forum

Lincolnshire Brewing Co.

Thursday 1^st November2018

10:30 – 12:30

Minutes

 

Attendees:

 

Alex Turnbull - Select Lincolnshire

Sally Mundy - Lincolnshire Agricultural Society

Emma Haigh - Lincolnshire Agricultural Society

Leisa Pickles - Find me the Leads Ltd

Louise Wright - The Old Granary

Alex Wright - Knapton Wright

Joe Blissett - South Ormsby Estate

Barbara Daughtrey - A Little Luxury Ltd

Laura Daughtrey - A Little Luxury Ltd

Rachel Green - Wolds Cottage

Mathew Thompson - University of Lincoln

Gemma Sisson - Lymn Bank Farm

Robin Dennett - Dennetts Ice Cream

John Carlisle - Lincoln Tea and Coffee

Charles Patrick - Meat Inc

Debbie Scott - Cogglesford Mill, NKDC

Judy Lyon - Lincolnshire Co-op

Mike Holman - Ferry Ales Brewery

 

Apologies:

 

Amy Conyard - Bottomley Distillers/Pin Gin

Peter Batchelor - Rilmac Holdings

Mark Heywood - Hilton Lincoln

Gill Hartley - Treetops Cottages & Spa

Brian Hartley - Treetops Cottages & Spa

 

1. Welcome, Introductions and Networking

Welcome and introductions introducing members to the forum and thanks to Lincolnshire Brewing Co. for allowing the use of their venue

2. Notes from last meeting

No notes from last meeting, all minutes now posted on the Select Lincolnshire members Facebook group.

3. Select Awards 9th October – Feedback and thanks

Feedback from the awards. The general consensus in the room was that they enjoyed their evening and thought the awards went well.

Asked what would people change and what would they keep. Asked if we were to move the venue then what people would think, reason behind the idea being so more guests could attend in a bigger venue and to offer somewhere that possibly offers accommodation for those that have to travel a long distance. Most of the feedback suggested that the same venue should be kept due to all the hard work put in by Minster School and Caron. It was suggested to have the awards slightly earlier in the year, e.g. early September. It was also mentioned that spirits should be available to purchase on the bar. It was also suggested that when deciding the winner of a category, we should visit all finalists beforehand. Mentioned that Select had the capacity to do this previously when there was more funding however we are looking to source additional funding for this come 2019.

4. Events

Chamber Events

A reminder that all Select members can attend Chamber events.

We have Lincoln Business Network, 15^th November @8:00am. £14.40 member cost. £30 non member cost including Vat

Is your Business Brexit ready, more dates added for Spalding, Boston and Grimsby. Free to attend. If interested then visit our website or email alex.turnbull@lincs-chamber.co.uk

Lincolnshire Chamber AGM, 4^th December 17:30pm, Doddington Hall - free to members

Christmas Drinks and Canapes, 12^th December 16:00pm Gainsborough GC, 13^th December Lincoln 16:00pm Doddington Hall. £18 member, £30 non member cost including Vat

Further upcoming Events

 https://www.lincs-chamber.co.uk/Pages/Events/Category/chamber-events?Take=18

 

Lincoln Castle, Christmas Emporium - Ellen Kelman

Christmas Emporium at the Lincoln Castle from 15th December – 22nd December 2018. The Castle are still looking for stall holders to take up a spot for the week. Select members receive 10% off a stall which makes it £900 for the week. For any further info or to submit your completed application form please contact Ellen.Kelman@lincolnshire.gov.uk. Visit the Lincoln Castle Website for more info.

Sausage Festival 13^th October

Asked who attended and if it was worthwhile. General feedback was good and positive which was consistent with previous years.

Sally Mundy – Lincolnshire Showground/LAS

Opened the floor up to Sally who is the Sponsorship and Trade Sales Manager at Lincolnshire Showground/LAS to speak about events that happen at the showground such as Lincolnshire show and the food and gift fair. Also mentioned discounts that Select members receive to exhibit at events such as these. Sally mentioned how in previous years there was a lot more prominence for Select members at Lincs show and how it would be good to get this back. Alex mentioned that this would be great if we can find the funding and Select are very keen to get this going again.

Select Workshops

Mentioned plans to run Select Workshops in 2019 for all Select members which will include          things such as food photography, marketing tips, recipes and Select awards assistance as this    was suggested as something that would be useful at the previous forum. We also have plans           to run a meet the buyer event for Select members in 2019.

Select Lincolnshire Website

We are in the process of finalising the Select Lincolnshire website which will be www.selectlincolnshire.co.uk. Plan is to be up and running end of 2018/early 2019. We’d like to encourage members to continue to send in as many news stories as possible so we can dedicate the website heavily to members.

Select Committee

We are also interested in starting a Select committee in specific areas which will hopefully help us to run more events in other areas which is sometimes not possible due to the lack of capacity. An example was used to suggest all Louth members could come up with an event to plan which we can fund, run, and promote (within reason). We need to know specific dates which would be good in certain areas and who would be interested in getting involved. Members were happy to get on board with this so we will trial the first event in Louth by compiling a Louth Select Committee. Please email alex.turnbull@lincs-chamber.co.uk to get involved in this in your local area.

Food and Gift Fayre 1^st/2^nd December

We will not have a stall this year due to staff commitments elsewhere so we have no one available to man the stall on the weekend. Despite this, we will be profiling members who will have stalls and someone from our office will be attending the Friday evening preview evening. 10% Discount for Select members. We’d encourage anyone who is exhibiting to hand out Good Taste magazine and extra distribution has been ordered for those who are.

Foodie Friday

Asked if anyone has been attending Foodie Friday and if it was worthwhile. General thoughts were that this was not well attended and was not worth Select being involved in.        

Visit England Awards

2019 is the 30th anniversary of the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence. Under review as they look to modernise them therefore we will look to modernise the Select awards too in line with this. The Awards will champion innovation in tourism, inspire business excellence and provide enhanced benefits for everyone involved. We will be working with our partners to redevelop the Awards with a view to launching a new competition for 2019/2020 at a special event during English Tourism Week (30 March – 7 April 2019).

For any queries email - VEAwards@VisitEngland.org

Attendees at this particular forum do not tend to enter however please let us know if you’d like to let us know if you’ll be entering so Select can support you where possible.

Be My Guest Event – 13th November. Butlins, Skegness

Still a few spots left if interested in exhibiting. Prices are usually £495+VAT (Stalls etc). Discount for Select members makes it £100+VAT. Lincolnshire Business Week 15th – 19th October. Primarily for people in the hospitality industry, pubs, hotels, b&bs and campsites. Exclusive deals, seminars and a good opportunity to network. Visit www.bemyguest.live/lincolnshirecoast for more info, supported by business Lincolnshire and the EU. Guest speakers such as Andrew Kerrigan from Sills and Betteridge and Paul McCooey (Director) from Duncan and Toplis amongst many others.

Attendees advised that they would not be able to attend due to the time of year and getting ready for Christmas and various Christmas markets however they wish they could. Suggested that a webinar may be useful for such events which Select will take on board for future external events.

Lincolnshire Business Week

Asked if anyone did anything or got involved with this. Congratulated Lincolnshire Brewing Co. for their award at the Lincolnshire Media Business awards. It was mentioned on this point that more should be done on Lincolnshire Day with our members which we can look to work on next year.

Caterex 6^th & 7^th February 2019

Upcoming event at Richmond Holiday Park, Skegness. Asked the room if they’ve ever attended previously and if it was successful. Members advised that this was not a well attended event and was not worthwhile Select attending.

We have been offered a Select area for 2019 and can have a stand for £38-£45 for 2 days. It was suggested that we do this for 2020 however this is too late notice for most members. If there is still interest for 2019 then please email alex.turnbull@lincs-chamber.co.uk

Lincoln City – Fan Zone

Lincoln City are Chamber Members. Have a Fan zone. They allow local producers to sell on match days but will take 20% of takings. Asked if anyone like to get involved with this. Some members thought that any sales inside the ground were restricted to the club’s outsourced catering company. Will find out from LCFC what the deal is with this and promote to members. We would ideally like to get Select produce being sold inside the ground either via stalls or via their catering company.

Email venue@lincolncityfc.co.uk if interested

Lincoln Event – Christine Davis, Creative Occasions

Met with a lady called Christine Davis from Creative Occasions who would like to run an event on the 17^th February 2019 called Lincoln Hospitality. They have already secured around 10 exhibitors and this will be between £75-100. Christine would like to host this at the Engine Shed. Select will be looking to assist in the running and promotion of this event and will be looking to get Select Lincolnshire exhibitors. There was interest from a couple of           attendees however please email alex.turnbull@lincs-chamber.co.uk if you would like to get involved either via exhibiting or sponsoring.

5. PR & Marketing

 

Social media - Just a reminder to tag us in any of your posts on social media. This way we will see it and retweet, re-post etc. Over 10000 followers on the Select twitter page, 2000 more than the chamber.

Also, the Select Lincolnshire Members closed facebook group only has 30 members in. Please search and invite yourself in, we will then approve, and you can utilise this to connect with other members.

Minutes are now on the FB members group, easily readable and accessible for members.

Twitter: @lovefoodlincs

Facebook: LoveFoodSelectLincolnshire

Facebook Group: @Select Lincolnshire Members

Instagram: @lovefoodlincs

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/select-lincolnshire/

 

Spotlight Table – As always, we have the spotlight table in Commerce House if you would like to display your products. The cost is £5 a week and you can set this up on a Friday afternoon for the following week. Please email kim.smith@lincs-chamber.co.uk to book this.

6. Mathew Thompson – University Of Lincoln (See further info at the bottom of the page)

Mathew presented to the room what The National Centre for Food and Manufacturing are doing at the University’s Holbeach campus and how they can help other businesses with their innovation platform.

 

Further info:

https://www.lincoln.ac.uk/home/holbeach/

https://www.lincoln.ac.uk/home/holbeach/greaterlincolnshireagri-foodinnovationplatform/

Email:

MaThompson@lincoln.ac.uk for further info.

 

7. Rachel Green – The Gourmet Collective

Rachel talked around her new project The Gourmet Collective.

Further info:

www.gourmetcollective.co.uk

rachel@rachel-green.co.uk

 

8. Lincolnshire Brewing Co. – Grains and Malts

Ben from Lincs Brewing Co. provided a talk on the different grains and malts used in the brewing process and what they do. Also mentioned the regular tours which are going on at the Brewery.

Further info:

www.incolnshirebrewingco.co.uk 

claire@lincolnshirebrewingco.co.uk

 

9. AOB

Mentioned that the Good Taste magazine would be distributed to members within the next week and we’d encourage you to give these out at future events.

 

10. Future Select Forums – Venues/Dates/Speakers

Please email alex.turnbull@lincs-chamber.co.uk if you would like to present at the next forum or offer your venue.