Growing value, growing reputation - Scotland Food and Drink

Free “Sales
Manager for Hire”
Do you need help to review and develop
your sales strategy Not sure how to
approach a key multiple or food service
provider Scotland Food & Drink is
delighted to offer its members a day’s
free access to an industry expert (worth
£450) who can assist in a variety of
areas from negotiating with multiple
retailers to reviewing marketing
strategies and accessing practical
skills and know-how.
Our Sales Manager for Hire days are
provided by industry experts.
Discounts and
Support at National
and International
Exhibitions
Scotland Food & Drink provides
discounted stands in a prominent
branded pavilion and enhanced support
at a number of national exhibitions.
In addition, Scottish Development
International (SDI) offers preferential
rates for Scotland Food & Drink members
on exhibition costs at all international
exhibitions that they attend.
Refrigeration Support
and Carbon Trust
Loans Advice
ACE Refrigeration has a vast amount of
experience and an impressive customer
base, including food and drink companies.
Members can benefit from the following
free of charge:
• UK Site Survey to assess current
refrigeration use, gauging efficiency
improvements and cost savings.
• Eligibility assessment for Carbon Trust,
interest-free loans to finance and invest
in energy saving projects (from £3,000-
£500,000). Energy savings offset the
loan repayments (includes completion of
application form for Carbon Trust Loans
on customer behalf).
• Advice and design assessment of the
potential use of Enhanced Capital
Free Intellectual
Property Review
The value of and benefits to be gained
by a member from its intellectual
property cannot be underestimated –
but often are. Intellectual property takes
many forms including, amongst other
things, trade marks, patents, copyright,
database rights and know-how.
Scotland Food & Drink has been working
with leading Scottish law firm, McClure
Naismith LLP to assist in addressing this
issue. Together we have developed a user
friendly IP review questionnaire to assist
members with identifying the intellectual
property that is most important to their
business.
This represents an immediate cost
saving of approximately £1,000. In
addition, McClure Naismith will offer
discounted and/or capped rates for
future business.
Free Legal Advice
All members of Scotland Food & Drink
are entitled to one hour’s free legal
advice (worth £250) with top legal
firm Maclay Murray & Spens. This
service is offered from any of MMS’
offices (located in Aberdeen, Glasgow,
Edinburgh or London) and can also be
conducted via telephone conversations
if these locations are inconvenient.
This offering covers advice on any
legal matters that are of concern to
a member.
Free PR Advice
Members are entitled to up to £500
worth of free consultation with
3x1 Public Relations as part of our
member benefits package. This benefit
encompasses advice in a face to face
meeting or by telephone with a senior
consultant depending on location.
Further assignments qualify for a 10%
discount off the agency’s standard rate.
Business Mentoring
One of the main benefits of joining
Scotland Food & Drink is that you are
joining a network of businesses that
are committed to growing the food and
drink industry in Scotland. Your fellow
member companies have a wealth
of expertise in the food and drink
industry and many are keen to share
their expertise to help others grow. If
you or your colleagues have any issues
which would benefit from input from
other members or if you would like to
volunteer as a mentor, please get in
touch with us.
Research and
Development (R&D)
Tax Relief/Cash Back
This is a UK Government tax incentive
to encourage more R&D work to be
undertaken by UK businesses. For food
and drink companies this covers product
or process innovation. Most companies
are surprised at the range of activities
that can qualify for relief. Johnston
Carmichael are able to make claims
on behalf of Scotland Food & Drink
members and they have never had an
R&D claim rejected by HMRC. They have
recently achieved an extraordinary £3m
of accumulative R&D claims with more
than 20 companies.
Foreign Currency
Service
No1 Currency is an Edinburgh based
foreign currency specialist providing a
consultative and cost effective approach
to international bank transfers. They
produce a morning market update which
has a core focus on sterling against
the euro and US dollar. No1 Currency
looks to provide the most competitive
quotes possible for members’ currency
transactions. Typical savings for business
clients can be anywhere between 1% and
3% of the transaction value. Additionally,
they will waive all UK sending charges for
members, helping to further reduce the
cost of international payments.
Utility Savings
Managing Utilities provides a specialist
procurement and management
service in the deregulated utilities
and telecommunications market. They
provide Scotland Food & Drink members
with free independent advice in making
substantial savings on their gas and
electricity costs, as well as protecting
your business from the forecast longterm
price increases. Their approach
to cost savings, extensive experience in
the corporate commercial sector and
unrivalled relationships throughout the
supply chain enable them to deliver a
comprehensive service and add to your
bottom line.
Free E-commerce
Website Review
Scotland Food & Drink member
Webage is offering members a unique
opportunity to access their e-commerce
review. Analysis will cover a range of
items from navigation and imagery
to security and shipping policies.
Webage are already aware of the main
benchmark parameters so will very
quickly be able to ascertain where your
website is under performing.
Know the Law
Training Sessions
Ensuring your people know about the key
legal issues relevant to your business
can make it run more effectively. Brodies
LLP, corporate and commercial law
practice, believe in creating a culture of
sharing knowledge and up-skilling and
now offer a range of training sessions
and workshops to help Scotland Food
& Drink members achieve this. The
seminars and workshops are provided
free of charge. The Brodies team will
visit your office premises to deliver the
sessions.
Technical/Quality
Training & Quality
Systems Support
SFQC (Scottish Food Quality
Certification) specialises in the
inspection and certification of food
production, processing and service.
With accreditation requirements
becoming increasingly crucial to
customers, Scotland Food & Drink
members can benefit from a whole range
of discounts, such as a 10% renewal
discount for BRC-certified businesses, a
15% group discount for those that have
multiple businesses working with SFQC,
a 10% discount for carrying out organic
processing audits and certification and
a £150 discount for SME businesses
wishing to access SALSA mentoring.
Food Technology
Support
Need some help with any aspect of
product development Food Innovation@
Abertay is offering a 10% discount to
members on a variety of its services
including new product development
and reformulation; sensory analysis;
product analysis and shelf life
testing; food hygiene; food safety and
HACCP; marketing and consumer
research analysis; and food styling and
photography.
Product Development
Support
If you are thinking of developing a new
product or need to modify an existing
one, then you can take advantage of
hands-on help from an experienced
product development professional.
This service is focused on recipe
development and complements the work
of the Food & Health Innovation Service.
Members qualify for a discounted one
day consultation with our NPD expert
at a cost of £100. Any further work
undertaken will receive a 15% discount.
Environmental
Performance Review
Sustainable Food & Drink’s review
covers environmental initiatives, ways
to develop bespoke environmental
action plans and how to engage with
stakeholders. The consultancy available
through Sustainable Food & Drink will
help members with a range of services,
cutting costs and unnecessary wastage
to benchmarking performance.
Sustainable Food & Drink is based at
Glasgow Caledonian University and has
EU and Scottish Government funding
to help Scottish food and drink SMEs
improve their competitiveness by cutting
carbon footprints and unnecessary
environmental costs.
Allowance products (this can equate to
a discount on goods of up to 28%).