4 minute read
A message from our CEO
ANNUAL REPORT SPONSOR ANNUAL REPORT & YEARBOOK 2021/2022 A MESSAGE FROM OUR CEO
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IT’S A PLEASURE TO WELCOME YOU TO OUR ANNUAL REPORT AND YEARBOOK 2021-22, OUR FIRST SINCE COVID HIT US SO HARD.
As President Ian McGhee has reflected in his introduction, we have endured the harshest of times with great strength of character and resilience, and while we continue to face new, different challenges, I know that all members are as committed to their businesses and their craft as they ever were. In the pages that follow we’ve set out our review of the last two years and highlighted some of our key achievements during this time. The financial result of 2021-22 is a pleasing return to profitability for the association, especially after such a troubling year in 2020-21. This hard-won outcome is the result of exceptional hard work and dedication from our small team under incredibly difficult conditions. It is to their credit that we secured such a positive outcome, and I am grateful for their talent, commitment, and dedication. 2020 was a year when we focused more than ever on supporting our members with accurate, timely and easy to digest information, advice, and guidance. The daily e-updates we began to issue at the start of the pandemic contained essential information to enable our members to keep baking, and to keep their staff safe at the same time. Over time, we settled into a weekly routine of updates that has continued; and the contents of which have thankfully moved on from COVID to a more diverse range of news, information, consultations, and allied trades updates. We know from our email system that nearly half of recipients read this update on a regular basis, but we’re always interested to hear your views on how we can make it even better. We have also made a much more proactive use of social-media over the last two years, and have a strengthened presence on all major platforms. Our engagement through these channels is increasing steadily and we would urge all members not already taking advantage of the great benefits of social media to get active: and remember to follow us, tag us, and like and share our posts freely! We also went to great lengths during the last two years to seek media coverage for our amazing members doing wonderful work every day and we achieved a high level of reporting in British Baker. I hope you agree, as I reflect on these last couple of years, that our communication to members has improved greatly over this time. The pandemic hit our training activity particularly hard, and we were forced to furlough our team for the first few months of 2020. When the country began to re-open for business the whole team got back out to re-engage with the learners they’d had to step back from and worked hard to begin identifying new learners. 2021 and into the first quarter of 2022 saw a great improvement in demand for our apprenticeship training services and the team finished the year having registered over 350 apprentices, which delivered a significant contribution to the associations closing financial result.
The biggest loss we felt was having to abandon our regular events calendar as we know how important our competitions, events and conference are to our members. Helping our members come together is something the association has been committed to since 1891 and it took a global pandemic to bring this to a halt. Despite the challenges and restrictions, we did manage to run a Scotch Pie Awards “Champion of Champions” competition in 2020 and a full judging event in 2021 – although the awards lunch scheduled for January 2022 was a late casualty of seasonal restrictions and we instead delivered the ultimate prize – to Brownings the Bakers – in a surprise visit to their Kilmarnock bakery with our host Carol Smillie in attendance. We were thrilled to return in full force for our Annual Conference and Awards weekend in May 2022. Our first since 2019. There was a definite buzz about our great new venue, and spectacular staging, as well as a programme that worked hard to bring us together as one again. As always, our thanks must go to our wonderful range of sponsors who ensure we can run such high-quality events for our members. Our 2022 conference of course, saw us install our 125th President, Ian McGhee, Production Director of McGhee’s Bakery and the third member of his family to hold this office. Ian has taken over this role in turbulent and challenging times, but I have enjoyed getting to know him and to begin working so closely with him as we seek every opportunity to represent our wonderful trade. Our thanks also go to Immediate Past President Linda Hill, whose tenure was badly affected by the restrictions of the last couple of years. Despite this, she undertook her role with great commitment and flair. Thanks too are owed to Past President Ronnie Miles, who navigated us through the first few harsh months of the pandemic before passing on the baton to Linda. Scottish Bakers commitment to its members remains at the heart of what we do, and I hope that we have demonstrated this more than ever over the last couple of years. Your voice gives us strength and credibility and, while difficult times lie ahead, I am heartened that the entire trade is as committed as ever to its craft.
