Agenda item

To include a presentation from Rob Collins, Managing Director of Waitrose.

Presentation from Waitrose

The Mayor welcomed Rob Collins, Managing Director from Waitrose to speak about the Lexicon opening, Waitrose’s  approach to apprentices and the anticipated impact of Brexit.

The Managing Director advised the meeting that Waitrose had a long association with Bracknell as they had originally opened their headquarters here in 1972. At the time it was a modern distribution centre at the heart of 30 stores. He reported that Bracknell continued to be an integral part of the business with four thousand business partners working there. 100 shops were distributed to from the Bracknell site which equated to a third of the estate.

He explained that traditionally apprenticeships were offered opportunities to get into a role however Waitrose’s approach was different as they supported partners to develop skills and progress through the organisation. They recognised that partner’s skills needed to change to respond to technology and changes in customer demand. There were 80 apprentices in the business last year with 500 expected next year and a plan was in place to see thousands by 2020 in both their shops and the headquarters.

The Managing Director emphasised that in relation to Brexit there were a lot of unknown factors but what was known was the significant impact of the exchange rate on cost of goods and recruitment of workers for seasonal work. In relation to food and farming he stated that Waitrose’s approach would remain unchanged e.g. high animal welfare, workers to be treated decently, soil would be bought with care and that the United Kingdom should maintain the lead on food and farming. Waitrose had four key priorities: food safety, animal welfare standards, clarity of food labelling and competitiveness of UK market. He believed there would also be opportunities to build upon areas where Waitrose already excelled.

He recognised that their Bracknell store opening was the first phase in the regeneration of the town centre. He congratulated Bracknell Forest on their vision for the town centre. Since its opening they had seen a 14% increase in footfall. Waitrose were planning to open a new development kitchen at the headquarters site in 2018. He concluded by thanking the Council for making the business feel welcome.

In response to Members’ queries, the Managing Director made the following points:

·         Since 2009 Waitrose had reduced Waitrose packaging by 50% and had agreed that by September 2025 all plastic would be fully recyclable or compostable.

·         Waitrose was working to reduce obesity by reducing salt in its products and had worked on reducing sugar in the last two years by 10 to 30 % whilst retaining flavour. He considered that Waitrose had lead the way in food labelling and had further exciting plans in 2018 to focus on health.

·         He reported that Waitrose was working on innovative new packaging solutions and to educate customers to change their expectations.

·         He stated that they had achieved an 80% reduction in their carbon footprint with initiatives such as water cooled refrigeration which was more expensive to install but had a lower CO2 footprint. They were also working on ways to reduce carbon footprint associated with their vehicles  and reducing mileage travelled.

·         It was explained that partners within Waitrose stores were able to decide which charities and local organisations would be included in the community matters token boxes. 

The Mayor thanked Mr Collins for attending and providing an insight into the Waitrose business.

Naming Waste Truck Raffle

The Mayor was pleased to announce that a raffle had been held to name two waste trucks and the official naming ceremony would be on 5 December 2017 when the names would be revealed. The Mayor thanked the Council’s staff for their brilliant support of her charity, the Firefighters Charity.

Charity Event – Fuego Experience

The Mayor thanked those who supported had supported her charity night at Fuego on 21 November 2017 where there had been wonderful food and entertainment. The successful evening had raised £3,375 for the Firefighters Charity.

Mayoral Charity Collection days

The Mayor reminded members present that the Charity Collections rotas had been sent out to all councillors requesting participation in the event. The collections would be held at the Meadows on 7 December and in the Lexicon on 16 December 2017. The Mayor was pleased to confirm that College Town Junior School would be singing carols in the Meadows and cast members from Camberley Theatre’s Peter Pan would be attending. The Mayor hoped that she would be joined at the Lexicon collection by the Community Choir and cast members from South Hill Park’s Beauty and the Beast production.

Firehouse Curry Night

The Mayor asked Members to join her for her next Charity event, a Nepalese Curry Night  being held at Bracknell Fire Station on 27 January 2018 with the Bracknell Nepalese society providing the entertainment.

Mayor’s Business Forum

Members had been sent a ‘save the date’ for the Mayor's Business Forum which was being held on 23 February 2018 with a focus on Apprenticeships. Expressions of interest were being requested by 31 December 2017.

Celebration of Success Awards

The Mayor reflected that she had spent a wonderful evening at Garth Hill College on 23 November at their Celebration of Success Awards evening. 

Coral Reef Official Opening

Councillor McCracken, Executive Member for Culture, Corporate Services and Public Protection was pleased to announce that the Countess of Wessex had officially opened the refurbished Coral Reef on 29 November 2017. He reported that she had had a tour of the site including the new flumes, talked to staff and said that she was looking forward to bringing her family for a visit. He added that the refurbished site had a new roof, restaurant, reception, changing rooms and Sauna area plus five new flumes and had seen 75,000 visitors in its first six weeks. This represented a 34% increase on the same period before the refurbishment. He thanked everyone for agreeing to the investment for this key site.

The Mayor gave certificates of thanks for their involvement in the project to:

·         Councillor McCracken as Executive Member

·         Vincent Paliczka, Director of Environment, Culture and Communities

·         Damian James, Programme Manager and

·         KamayToor, Capital Projects Manager

Visit England

Councillor McCracken, Executive Member for Culture, Corporate Services and Public Protection was proud to report that the Look Out attraction had retained its accreditation in the Visit England visitor attraction quality scheme. He reported the brilliant achievement that not only had the site received 200 points overall from a possible 225 points but in the staff category they had received 98% of the marks available.  

Care Quality Commission (CQC) review

Councillor D Birch, Executive Member for Adult Services, Health and Housing reported the outcome of the Care Quality Commission (CQC) review of Bracknell Forest Council’s adult social care services and health and wellbeing board in September. Councillor D Birch added that this was undertaken whilst the service was continuing on its transformation programme. He stated that this was part of central government’s request to carry out local area reviews in a bid to free up hospital beds across the country. The review looked at how effectively the local health and care system works to ensure a resident’s health and care journey into and out of hospital is provided in a timely and effective way. The CQC inspectors looked at the council’s joint working with health partners as well as care providers in the voluntary and private sector. Whilst the review was intended to identify any gaps or problems the conclusion was that vulnerable people in Bracknell Forest received safe, good quality health and social care when they need it.

National Productivity Investment Fund

CouncillorTurrell, Executive Member for Planning and Transport congratulated Neil Mathews, Head of Transport Development and Stuart Jefferies, Transport Strategy & Implementation Manager for their successful bid to secure funding to extend the dueling of the A322 Downshire Way.

National Takeover Day

CouncillorDr Barnard, Executive Member for Children, Young People and Learning thanked everyone who was involved in Takeover Day which had been held on Friday 24 November 2017.

Christmas Carol Concert

CouncillorDr Barnard, Executive Member for Children, Young People and Learning was pleased to report that the annual School’s Carol Concert event had been attended by 20 primary schools and had seen the largest choir at the event to date. He thanked everyone for getting involved with special thanks to Berkshire Maestros who took the lead organising this event for the first time.