North Laine Traders Association Minutes NLTA AGM 11th Match 2008

At 6.10 Sharon Thomas welcomed those present to Komedia and invited new traders to introduce themselves - they included Lynette from Revamp, Pete from the Brighton Coffee Co, Marissa from Dolphin House/Children’s Clinic, Laurent and Peta from Natural Paints and Helen from MyHotel.
Apologies: David Lepper M.P., Maddy Carr, Geoff Ellis, Brian Pedley.

B.I.D. report
Soozie Campbell reported on the following items;

Treasurer’s report
David Hall presented the 2007 accounts and reported that we had received over £1500 so far this year in 2008 membership fees. (Accounts were available at the meeting and are on the website).

Election of Officers
Sharon thanked Peter for being secretary for the past 8 years and explained to those present that Peter was moving and would not be able to stand again as secretary. As no nominations had been received for the position, the street reps committee at their last meeting have asked Peter to continue producing newsletters and disseminating information to members for a period of six months for a fee of £100 per month. Peter has accepted and those present voted him as NLTA Co-ordinator.
Sharon Thomas was proposed as Chair by Donna Rix Martin, seconded by Pat Mernagh and voted in by members. David Hall was proposed as treasurer by Kevin Daly, seconded by Lynette and voted in by members. The Street Reps were proposed en masse as shown in issue 86 of the newsletter by Colin Grainger, seconded by Chris Macdonald and voted in by members.

The NLTA street reps committee have included Jubilee Street into the NLTA area. Helen from MyHotel thanked us and reported that they would be opening on March 18th. She also offered to host occasional meetings at the hotel.
City In Bloom have asked us to hold a best commercial frontage competition and put our winner forward to a city wide competition. Peter and Donna to liaise with Stella Richardson at B & H council.
Lynette from Revamp asked for better signs and/or maps around North Laine. We have tried unsuccessfully in the past but Cllr Davey offered to help.

Sharon Thomas then thanked Colin Grainger and Komedia for their hospitality and introduced our guest speaker.

Guest Speaker
Jonathan Love from Business Link explained his job as a business advisor and talked about his work producing free action plans for local businesses. He then invited questions and after 25 minutes of lively Q and A Sharon brought the meeting to a close at 7.30. Sharon thanked everyone (31) for attending.
Jonathan can be contacted on 07711487162
or by e-mail at; jonathan.love@businesslinksussex.co.uk


			NLTA AGM Minutes	11th March 2008
			NLTA AGM Minutes	11th March 2008

			North Laine Traders Association Minutes of the 2008 AGM at Komedia on the 11th of March 2008

			At 6.10 Sharon Thomas welcomed those present to Komedia and invited new traders to introduce themselves - they included Lynette from Revamp, Pete from the Brighton Coffee Co, Marissa from Dolphin House/Children’s Clinic, Laurent and Peta from Natural Paints and Helen from MyHotel. Apologies: David Lepper M.P., Maddy Carr, Geoff Ellis, Brian Pedley. B.I.D. report Soozie Campbell reported on the following items; Media coverage over Christmas and ongoing promotions including Easter. The Unique website is now fully functional and will be promoted soon. In discussion with Churchill Square Soozie is trying to make use of their cardboard bailing and recycling system for traders in the B.I.D. area. Bullit Couriers are working on a letter/parcel system to help replace the Trafalgar Street post office when it closes in April. Mail volume is the key. The three B.I.D. reps in North Laine are, Andrew Fisher, Richard Calman and Gren Nation.
			Yearly review Peter Stocker gave a report which included the following items; Financially the year appeared to have been varied from a strong start to the credit and banking problems of late August and September. Many traders had reported a busy Christmas but only over 8-10 days. Membership had remained high and the offer we have has improved again by updating the website and carrying much more information on the members only section. The 100% North Laine bag project, managed by Eddie Start was launched on the 16th of October and has been very successful. The first 3,000 bags are now sold or out in members’ shops on sale. Continued interaction between other traders associations and councils has been prompted some good sharing of best practice and information. The website has been particularly admired and traders from Colchester, Ipswich, Derby and Albrighton are looking into setting up similar sites. We have also had a lot of interest from councils, (our own included), regarding sourcing sustainable bags. Southern Water have almost finished the replacement of the old Victorian mains and have improved their timing and effectiveness as they have progressed. We have been in discussion with City College over the £120 million plans for a new campus in Pelham Street and look forward to seeing plans at consultation in May.
			Peter then went on to talk about this year and Sharon’s wish to explore the idea of a an SDC for North Laine. Peter is to accompany a Brighton and Hove council delegation travelling to Kensington on Thursday 13th and report back. He then thanked our many partners who included – David Lepper, Brighton and Hove Council and Cllr Ian Davey, Brighton Business Forum, North Laine Community Association and our own Street reps.

			Treasurer’s report David Hall presented the 2007 accounts and reported that we had received over £1500 so far this year in 2008 membership fees. (Accounts were available at the meeting and are on the website). Election of Officers Sharon thanked Peter for being secretary for the past 8 years and explained to those present that Peter was moving and would not be able to stand again as secretary. As no nominations had been received for the position, the street reps committee at their last meeting have asked Peter to continue producing newsletters and disseminating information to members for a period of six months for a fee of £100 per month. Peter has accepted and those present voted him as NLTA Co-ordinator. Sharon Thomas was proposed as Chair by Donna Rix Martin, seconded by Pat Mernagh and voted in by members. David Hall was proposed as treasurer by Kevin Daly, seconded by Lynette and voted in by members. The Street Reps were proposed en masse as shown in issue 86 of the newsletter by Colin Grainger, seconded by Chris Macdonald and voted in by members.
			Website Update Brian Pedley had produced a report that Peter read out; The North Laine website (www.northlaine.co.uk) has recorded over 276,000 individual hits since its launch. Quarterly results show strong growth, quarter 1. 2007 = 24,300 hits and quarter 1. 2008 over 56,000 hits. Our busiest week was the second week of December 2007 with over 7,000 dedicated hits. Brian also reported that he would be working on a member’s message board and has added Fire Assessment information to the members section of the site. Brian was thanked for all his hard and effective work
			A.O.B. The NLTA street reps committee have included Jubilee Street into the NLTA area. Helen from MyHotel thanked us and reported that they would be opening on March 18th. She also offered to host occasional meetings at the hotel. City In Bloom have asked us to hold a best commercial frontage competition and put our winner forward to a city wide competition. Peter and Donna to liaise with Stella Richardson at B & H council. Lynette from Revamp asked for better signs and/or maps around North Laine. We have tried unsuccessfully in the past but Cllr Davey offered to help. Sharon Thomas then thanked Colin Grainger and Komedia for their hospitality and introduced our guest speaker. Guest Speaker Jonathan Love from Business Link explained his job as a business advisor and talked about his work producing free action plans for local businesses. He then invited questions and after 25 minutes of lively Q and A Sharon brought the meeting to a close at 7.30. Sharon thanked everyone (31) for attending. Jonathan can be contacted on 07711487162 or by e-mail at; jonathan.love@businesslinksussex.co.uk









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