BESA Early Years Special Interest Group (BEYSIG)

Terms of Reference

a. Members of the Group must be full or associate members or Launchpad companies of BESA and suppliers of products or services to the Early Years sector.

b. The Group is known as the ‘BESA Early Years Special Interest Group’ (BEYSIG).

c. As agreed by the founding members of BEYSIG, any member or Launchpad company of BESA may make a written application to the BESA secretariat to join the Group and such applications will be presented to the Group via e-mail.

d. Applicants that can demonstrate to the Group, by justifying their area of expertise within Early Years, that they fit the description defined in paragraph a), shall be admitted to membership of the Group. Members will have two weeks to comment on submissions and no comment means an application is approved. If the Secretariat receives any objections the application will be referred to the next meeting.

e. Member companies need to attend a minimum of one meeting per year. If the minimum requirement is not met, the company may be asked to leave the Group and will have to reapply for membership.

f. The Group is entitled to call meetings which will be serviced by the BESA secretariat. Any abnormal costs may have to be charged.

g. In the event of the Group deciding to undertake a course of action leading to or becoming liable to any costs or expenditure over and above the provision expressed in paragraph f) then such expenditure shall be borne by members of the Group.

h. In the event of the Group wishing BESA to undertake a course of action on its behalf such proposed action shall first be approved by the Executive Council.

i. The Chairman of the Group will be co-opted to membership of the Executive Council of BESA. The Chairman of BESA is, ex officio, a member of the Group and is entitled to attend its meetings.

j. A Chair and Vice-Chair shall be elected each year at the Group’s first meeting following the BESA Annual General Meeting. The Chair and Vice-Chair shall serve for one year and, subject to re-election each year, may serve for a maximum period of four years of continuous service in one office. The Chair and Vice-Chair shall be from separate member companies.

k. Based on one vote per member company, decisions taken at a Group meeting will be a simple majority with the Chair having a casting vote.

BEYSIG members are suppliers of products or services to the Early Years sector.

How do I join BEYSIG?

Joining BEYSIG is free and the process is an email or letter from the company, stating that you want to join the group, confirming that your primary activity is the supplying of products or services for teaching and learning in the Early Years sector.

Also that you are happy to share ideas with the rest of the BSciSIG Group and are committed to developing and taking the Group forward and finally that you are committed to a level playing field in the market. In addition you need to meet the Group’s Terms of Reference which are available on the website.

Example application letter

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to formally apply to join the BEYSIG Group.

Paragraph confirming that

i) Your primary activity is the supplying of products or services for teaching and learning in the Early Years sector.

Paragraph confirming that

ii) You are happy to share ideas with the rest of the BEYSIG Group
iii) Committed to developing and taking the Group forward
iv) Committed to a level playing field in the market
v) You can meet the Group’s Terms of Reference which are available on the website.

Yours sincerely,

Next steps

Once your application is completed please email to lois@besa.org.uk. The application will then be either presented at the next meeting or sent electronically to Group members depending on the timescale of when the next meeting is planned.