Why join the Group?
Sometimes more can be achieved more efficiently with companies acting collectively rather than individually. The Group is the vehicle for branded companies to work together to create a positive climate in the UK, where brands are both understood and valued and where a relentless focus on the consumer, innovation and investments in quality and reputation are recognised as drivers of growth, good for jobs and competitiveness and crucial to export performance.
The Group is owned by its members and is a not-for-profit organisation.
In addition to the Group’s work explaining and championing brands, there are further benefits of membership:
- A scanning role, giving advance warning of forthcoming policy issues
- A collective voice on policy matters relevant to brands and branding, bringing greater clarity, consistency and impact
- A source of leading thinking and research on brands and their value
- A co-ordinated approach to policy at both the UK and EU level
Over and above our work on policy, members have access to a range of services including senior level round-table meetings, members’ meetings on brand-focused topics, free publications, free training, preferential rates for events and publications produced by others and an information service.
The Group’s Memorandum of Association and Articles of Association can be found here.
For more information on the benefits of membership, or to add your voice to the collective, please contact us, or complete the application below.
Membership and GSCOP
The Groceries Supply Code of Practice, monitored and enforced by an Adjudicator, is improving relationships between large grocery retailers and their suppliers.
Where suppliers are subjected to unfair demands and practices, such as calls to guarantee retail margins, pay lump sums or to have money removed unilaterally from trading accounts, the Code may well apply.
Members, working through the British Brands Group, are keen for relationships between retailers and their suppliers to be fair and lawful, with some certainty surrounding trading conditions and where unexpected costs and excessive risks are not transferred from the retailer to the supplier. That encourages innovation and investments in quality and reputation from which shoppers benefit directly.
A range of relevant services are provided to members:
- An advice line on whether a specific practice may be covered by the GSCOP
- One hour’s legal advice from a leading law firm on any practice that may breach the GSCOP
- Introductory and refresher training on GSCOP and the Adjudicator, their relevance to day-to-day trading and the implications for business (apply for training course now – open to non-members)
- Raising with the Adjudicator, on a collective and confidential basis, specific trading practices that may breach the GSCOP
- Providing feedback to members on guidance issued by the Adjudicator
- Informing members of retailers’ compliance with the GSCOP and practices raised with the Adjudicator
- Regular meetings with the Adjudicator, to help understand priority issues and how the Code is being interpreted
Our brands lie at the core of our business so the Group does work that is important, giving us value we don’t believe we can find anywhere else.
Membership is an easy commercial decision for us. The value we derive far outweighs the fee we pay and the time we devote.
Which member package?
Full membership
The full members of The British Brands Group are manufacturers of trusted branded products bought daily by millions of consumers in the UK. They recognise that their brands are their companies’ prime assets and require a voice when it comes to public policy.
To be a full member, a company may be big or small and come from any product sector, as long as the production of branded products is its principal business. Fees are commensurate with UK sales turnover.
| Group UK Sales turnover £m | Membership fee for 12 months (ex VAT) £ |
|---|---|
| 1 – 25 | 1,000 |
| 25 – 50 | 1,500 |
| 50 – 100 | 6,000 |
| 100 – 250 | 12,000 |
| 250 – 500 | 14,000 |
| 500 – 1,000 | 20,000 |
| over 1,000 | 25,000 |
Brand entrepreneur membership
Brand entrepreneur membership is available to producers of branded products either with strong local brands or at an early stage of creating and building new brands.
This membership is available for companies with an annual UK sales turnover of £1 million or less. It is annual and by invitation from the Council of the Group.
Brand entrepreneur membership: free
Associate membership
Associate Members comprise organisations that are committed to brands and their value to society. They include designers, lawyers, brand consultants and other trade associations.
Annual membership is open to any organisation that supports the Group’s mission and objectives. It’s easy to join, although numbers are restricted to 50% of the full membership.
Associate membership: £1,500 (ex VAT)
To apply for membership, please complete the form or contact John Noble: T: 01730 821212 E: jn@britishbrandsgroup.org.uk.