1. To hold AGM of the BedPosts Business Club and set out plans for the future of the BedPosts movement..
2. To advise accommodation providers of how to comply with aspects of current legislation.
3. To provide advice on practical aspects of business management.

Invited participants:	Owners and managers in the independent serviced accommodation sector including hotels, B&Bs, guesthouses, inns, restaurants with rooms, cottages, apartments
Date:	Tuesday 20th January 2015
Time:	09.30 am to 10.00 am registration & coffee; Conference closes 04.30 pm; Optional Q&A to 05.00 pm
Lunch:	2 course buffet served during conference
Venue:	Warwick Castle, Warwick, CV34 4QU
Ticket price:	£47 per head (£42 Business Club members) includes lunch & tea/coffee; car parking (normally £10); tour of Warwick Castle (normally £18) the following day
Car park:	Parking is free for delegates, subject to availability. The Castle has agreed that a few free parking spaces will be available on the Wednesday for anyone needing one for the Castle visit (normally £6) included in the conference ticket price.
Other events:	Optional social events in the evening and following day will be charged for separately.

Time	Content	Facilitator / Presenter
09.30	Arrival - Welcome cuppa and Registration
10.00	Club AGM - For Members and Non Members alike. Report on activities for the last 12 months with chance to comment	Roy McGregor - Chair, BedPosts Dennis Pearson - Treasurer, BedPosts
10.30	New Allergen Regulations - effective Dec 2014	FSA slide presentation
11.30	Break: Tea/coffee and biscuits
11.50	Booking direct or with OBAs - One person's experiences Discussion on pros and cons of OBAs, love 'em or hate 'em, live with or without them	Sarah Bent - Bowers Hill Farm, Broadway
13.00	Lunch
14.00	Days Gone By - life as it was in our industry three decades ago as compared to now. Discussion on changes plus guest expectations and how to manage them	Mary Marrow - Firs Cottage, Llanrwst
14.30	Fire Risk Assessments - Peter applies his advice within his, and his partner's, own B&B business at Cowley House, Broadway	Peter Reading - Director, Cotswold Fire Consultants Ltd
15.00	Insurance - a chance to question the NFU Mutual (well-rated on forum)	Mark Birtles - Sales Development Consultant Chris Close - Commercial Insurance Executive
15.30	Break: Coffee
15.50	BedPosts Business Club - looking forward, help us to help you. Thoughts for B5 location in Jan/Feb 2016. Prize raffle.	Roy McGregor - Chair, BedPosts
16.30	Conference officially closes; optionally stay on for Q&A and/or join BedPosts BreakAway members for dinner (extra cost)
16.30	Forum Q&A (optional) - for those seeking advice on how to use the BedPosts forums to their full capacity.	Ben Gooding - Director, Internet Results Limited
17.00	End

The conference is part of a one-, two- or three-day programme and conference participants are invited to join in other activities as desired:

1. Monday 19th January 2015 - Chance to visit The Hospitality Show at the NEC; only 30 mins drive north-west of Warwick. Free entry.
2. Tuesday 20th January 2015 - Full day conference from 10.00 am; Three course evening meal to be arranged.
3. Wednesday 21st January 2015 - Full day and evening of organised leisure activities.

For further information go to bedposts.org.uk/club/breakaway.htm

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BedPosts started as an Internet Forum in 2006 as a method of communicating with and seeking help from fellow-accommodation providers over badly-drafted EU legislation - The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 - resulting in overzealous interpretation and application by the UK Fire Services.

After discussion of hundreds of different topics and a substantial increase in numbers, the membership decided to progress from talking together to also doing things together. They chose the name BedPosts, having two meanings, a pun on the fact that members post messages on forum noticeboards.

• The membership numbers are over 1000, mainly around UK but a handful abroad.
• In addition to mutual support, BedPosts has been successful in using its purchasing power to negotiate the supply of products and services for its members at discount prices.
• BedPosts has relaunched its website with more than 2000 pages and a new focus. The focus is on presenting members' accommodation to the general public to secure more business for members during the troubled economic times ahead.
• On 8th October 2013 the BedPosts Business Club was launched which offers advanced assistance for members including a Customers Reviews scheme

BedPosts is a mutual and democratic organisation characterised by frequent voting on its forum. At the conference, the Chairman will appraise members of the plans for BedPosts' future which take into account the votes and consultations.

BedPosts.org.uk, and its system of daily or weekly newsletters, is both a focal point of members' activities and a means of advertising their businesses to the travelling public. Main Features:

• 2000+ town/village pages containing advertisements of members' accommodation on the sister site BedPosts.uk
• Linking system from members' websites which will drive these pages to the top of search engine rankings
• System of automatically passing excess demand to one another
• Community software including forums, blogs, pages, chat, downloads, calendar and maps

Membership of BedPosts is free of charge, the costs of its major expenditure, the website, being met from advertising revenue.

Membership of the BedPosts Business Club is £50 per annum.