Bacta has confirmed that it is moving its 21st April National Council meeting from London to Leeds with members invited to meet with the Council over lunch and participate in an informal Open Forum.

The initiative which is part of Bacta’s restructuring and modernisation programme voted on by the membership last year, provides an opportunity for the trade association to show how the National Council operates, provide analysis on the latest White Paper developments and canvass opinion on the key issues which are impacting members businesses.

Announcing the development National President John Bollom said: “Historically I think there was probably a degree of mystery surrounding the work of National Council and how it operated.

“The new National Council is very much a working board with individual members using their specialisms and skill-sets to deliver on behalf of Bacta and its members.

“This streamlined structure means that we are much more agile as an organisation with the capacity to respond quickly to the issues of the day something which has been particularly important in relation to the White Paper.”

He added: “The new Bacta is very much a listening organisation and the Open Forum will provide an opportunity to not only update on developments impacted by the White Paper but also to identify the issues which are important to members and which will help us to define the priorities moving forward.”