I’d like to express how pleased I am to be taking the Chair of the Accessible Retail Board in its 15th year of existence.

Firstly, to make you aware of some changes to the Board that have now taken effect.  I will start by thanking Philip Bell-Brown not only for his commitment and passion to being Chairman for the last 18 months but also for agreeing to remain on the Board as a retailer representative, for which I am very grateful.  He will be joined by Grahame Smith, Property Director at Mothercare, who has joined the Board to further increase that important retailer representation.  In addition, I am very pleased that Rob Lawson has agreed to be my deputy this year and also take this opportunity to welcome Nick Duffield who will fill the landlord gap left by Michael Neal who stands down after 5 years of committed service.

Your Board remains focused on it’s three main objectives of lobbying, networking and charitable work.  We have worked very hard in delivering these objectives and lobbying will continue to be a crucial element of what we do for the membership going forward.  You will be able to read more about some of the things AR has been up to in a piece written by Will McKee our Chief Executive in this newsletter update.  In an election year and with a recovering market, the Board will continue to focus on key issues on behalf of members and support them in this regard.

Our hugely successful events calendar is once again full of opportunities for members to network with one another.  Aside from the established annual golf day and renowned Christmas lunch, we once again have an exciting annual conference in October to look forward to.  The monthly drinks are proving more popular than ever and we will this year be running these through the summer at an outdoor venue.

On top of that, the professional evening in May is fully booked and we are also looking forward to another well attended AGM and study tour to be held in Cambridge this year.  Further details of events can also be found in this newsletter.

Finally, you should all be very proud to know that in December we gave our 47th Sunshine Coach to the Variety Club.  This is an amazing feat and one that we wish to grow further in 2010.  It is certainly humbling to realise the good we can do as an industry body whilst we are enjoying ourselves and having fun at events like the Christmas lunch, just by giving a little.  You’ve certainly made a lot of children across the country very happy over the last eight years and long may it continue.

All that remains is for me to wish you all the best for the coming year and I look forward to seeing many of you at the various AR events soon.

John Maddison
AR Chairman
 

I’d like to express how pleased I am to be taking the Chair of the Accessible Retail Board in its 15th year of existence.

Firstly, to make you aware of some changes to the Board that have now taken effect.  I will start by thanking Philip Bell-Brown not only for his commitment and passion to being Chairman for the last 18 months but also for agreeing to remain on the Board as a retailer representative, for which I am very grateful.  He will be joined by Grahame Smith, Property Director at Mothercare, who has joined the Board to further increase that important retailer representation.  In addition, I am very pleased that Rob Lawson has agreed to be my deputy this year and also take this opportunity to welcome Nick Duffield who will fill the landlord gap left by Michael Neal who stands down after 5 years of committed service.

Your Board remains focused on it’s three main objectives of lobbying, networking and charitable work.  We have worked very hard in delivering these objectives and lobbying will continue to be a crucial element of what we do for the membership going forward.  You will be able to read more about some of the things AR has been up to in a piece written by Will McKee our Chief Executive in this newsletter update.  In an election year and with a recovering market, the Board will continue to focus on key issues on behalf of members and support them in this regard.

Our hugely successful events calendar is once again full of opportunities for members to network with one another.  Aside from the established annual golf day and renowned Christmas lunch, we once again have an exciting annual conference in October to look forward to.  The monthly drinks are proving more popular than ever and we will this year be running these through the summer at an outdoor venue.

On top of that, the professional evening in May is fully booked and we are also looking forward to another well attended AGM and study tour to be held in Cambridge this year.  Further details of events can also be found in this newsletter.

Finally, you should all be very proud to know that in December we gave our 47th Sunshine Coach to the Variety Club.  This is an amazing feat and one that we wish to grow further in 2010.  It is certainly humbling to realise the good we can do as an industry body whilst we are enjoying ourselves and having fun at events like the Christmas lunch, just by giving a little.  You’ve certainly made a lot of children across the country very happy over the last eight years and long may it continue.

All that remains is for me to wish you all the best for the coming year and I look forward to seeing many of you at the various AR events soon.

John Maddison
AR Chairman