This major decision for the future of the Vegan Society follows many months of extensive research and discussion in response to a strong view on the part of the society`s council, staff and others that their current location seriously hampers recruitment of staff and volunteers as well as limiting the society`s effectiveness in engaging with the media, government bodies, commercial organisations and other groups to promote veganism.
After deciding that a move to London was not financially viable, Birmingham was chosen because it is our second city, due to it`s central England location, great transport links and it`s multi-culturalism.(detailed reasons for the move can be seen below).
With The Vegan Society on our doorstep, the future of veganism and vegan campaigning in Birmingham and across the Midlands now looks very bright indeed! In the meantime there are several things you may be able to help The Vegan Society with.
CONTRACTORS
Are you one of the following: builder, plumber, electrician etc.
If not - can you recommend someone that is?
VACANCIES
The Vegan Society are recruiting.
If you are interested in working for them - please send them your CV.
Please send all information direct to Dave Palmer at the Vegan Society - Dave.Palmer@vegansociety.com
VEGAN SOCIETY RELOCATION - WHERE TO, AND WHY
At the Council meeting on July 16th 2005, it was decided by an overwhelming majority to relocate the Society's offices from the Hastings area on the south coast to the Midlands, and specifically to Birmingham. The move is expected to take place not less than six months and not more than twelve months from now - i.e. between January and July 2006. Proceeds from the sale of property currently owned by the Society, together with a portion of its reserves, will be used to purchase new offices in Birmingham of around 1000 square feet - substantially larger than the current accommodation.
This major decision for the future of the Society follows many months of extensive research and discussion in response to a strong view on the part of Council, staff and others that the current location seriously hampers recruitment of staff and volunteers as well as limiting the Society's effectiveness in engaging with the media, government bodies, commercial organisations and other groups to promote veganism.
The possibility of relocation to London was considered in detail following a meeting of Council and staff in January this year at which it was decided to investigate relocation to the capital if costs could be kept within an agreed budget. Local contacts were consulted and useful feedback was received. After careful exploration of options to reduce costs, it was concluded in March that the much higher salary and accommodation costs outweighed the potential benefits of a move to London and that the risk to the Society's financial stability could not be justified.
The search for other options to achieve comparable benefits at a lower cost focused on areas with a substantially lower cost of living than London, with good transport links to London and other major centres, and with a substantial number of vegans and a large student population. After further research and discussion, the following shortlist was drawn up based on those criteria and including suggestions from both staff and Council members: Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Hove, Leicester, Nottingham. Southampton.
Information on cost and accessibility was gathered for each location, together with feedback from vegans in the area. The information confirmed that both office space and housing were much cheaper than London for all the short-listed locations, though two - Cambridge and Hove - stood out as markedly more expensive, with housing costs 50 per cent. higher than in Birmingham, Leicester or Nottingham. Prices in Bristol and Southampton were somewhere in between. The south coast locations had the longest journey times to reach a cross section of major UK cities, while Birmingham had the shortest overall.
In addition to the objective considerations above, at the Council meeting on 16th July different people presented the case for the different areas, emphasising issues such as attractiveness as places for vegans to live and opportunities to engage with the local community to promote veganism. In the case of Bristol and Birmingham, written feedback from vegan activists in the area was a useful addition to the discussion.
Southampton and Cambridge quickly fell off the shortlist as no Council member was convinced that either was an appropriate choice for the Society's future headquarters.
Despite high costs, Hove was seriously considered as the Brighton area was seen as an attractive location for vegans, while proximity to the Society's present south coast location would minimise disruption for current staff. After a good presentation and considerable debate, however, it was concluded that the advantages were outweighed by considerations such as the high cost of living in the Brighton area and its impact on both housing and salary costs, together with the non-central location in terms of the rest of the country. Hove was therefore also dropped from the shortlist.
This left three Midlands locations (Birmingham, Leicester and Nottingham) and Bristol. The general view was that any of these four locations would be good locations for the Society, but a firm choice needed to be made to end uncertainty for current staff and to begin the detailed specific work to relocate.
A powerful presentation drawing on detailed feedback from the area secured Birmingham's position as the preferred Midlands location, so the final choice was between Birmingham and Bristol. There was a strong feeling that a headquarters in the heart of England would be fertile territory for expanding the promotion of veganism and breaking away from the Society's previous rather white middle class south-eastern image. Somewhat higher costs and less central location were disadvantages for Bristol and despite a persuasive description of its attractions as a vibrant and flourishing vegan centre, Council decided by a large majority that Birmingham - four times the size of Bristol and with no major vegan or vegetarian organisation currently based there - was the preferred location.
Birmingham is therefore the intended future base for the Vegan Society. A summary of comments from the area and points made in the presentation to Council is given below.
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Detailed information and comment in favour of Birmingham
Birmingham is the biggest UK centre outside London. It is a central UK area well serviced by rail, road, air and coach. It boasts the most modern shopping centre in Europe and a further £4 billion has been earmarked to develop the South side of the city centre. This area will house students, private dwellers, more canals, central library etc - if the Vegan Society could get a place around this area this would set the organisation up for the rest of the century.
Birmingham International Airport is also good at providing flights across the UK - cheaper than rail. The area is also serviced by Coventry airport along with other smaller airports. It has three central rail stations: New Street, Moor Street and Snow Hill. Snow Hill also boasts a tram service from Birmingham to Wolverhampton. There are also express coaches that go from town to town rather than stopping at regular bus stops. Buses run extremely often throughout the West Midlands, operated by a host of companies at competitive prices. Taxis are quite cheap too.
It is an attractive place to live. Broad Street (Birmingham's Golden Mile) has 220 clubs, bars and restaurants. Then there's the Arcadian Centre, Chinatown, The Mailbox, Symphony Hall, the International Convention Centre, the National Indoor Arena, the National Exhibition Centre, The NEC Arena, probably half a dozen main cinema complexes, dozens of gyms, many major historic sites, the Jewellery Quarter - to name just a few. There are 20-odd vegetarian and vegan restaurants within easy reach across the region and hosts of other restaurants that will cater for a veggie diet. It has three Premiership football teams, one of which - Birmingham City - on two occasions held a veggie tasting event - on match days!
Birmingham gives ready access to 3 million people all within striking distance and to many different ethnic and religious backgrounds including Jains and Hindus. This gives a large pool of potential recruits and volunteers. It has a strong vegan tradition, including one of the longest established exclusively vegan shops in the UK, the One Earth shop.
This is a major University City area and the universities are packed with veggies and vegans. Then we have part-timers, weekenders etc. So a list of helpers could be put onto a database and they could help the VS out when needed in the office, mailings, events etc. Housing and office space should all be cheaper too.
It is a major media centre. The best selling newspapers in the Midlands - the Post and Mail Group - have their main office in Birmingham. TV is represented in Birmingham by BBC Midlands and Central TV.
There is affordable office space in central locations and of the size that the Society needs.