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We have just finished an excellent AGM conference in Cumbria. The feedback has been very positive with several members already looking to sign up for the 2008 event! This year, we extended the event in order to create a mini conference for members, providing more information to help us all to gain a wider understanding of our industry and our business.

For the first time we held a pre-AGM dinner and I am delighted to say that we had 150 people in attendance. We were fortunate to secure the attendance of Lord Rooker as our guest speaker. As the Defra Minister for Sustainable Food, Farming and Animal Health, he delivered a lively speech, and we also ran a question and answer session with him with subjects like NVZs, Single Farm Payments and food security to the fore.

Prior to the AGM itself, Peter Humphreys led a session where the leaders of our three business divisions - Milk Operations, Cheese and Ingredients – provided updates for members. Again we had a very useful question and answer session where members were able to gain more insight into what we achieved in 2007, and our focus for 2008 and beyond.

For those of you who were unable to attend the AGM conference, we are creating a short film of the event. Given the positive feedback we received, it is important that we look to share a flavour of the occasion with the wider membership.

2007 has been a good year for First Milk. We have integrated two businesses into the First Milk group while developing relationships with customers and winning new contracts, all in a very competitive environment. I know from my experience at Unilever that this is quite an achievement. Going forward, there will be no let up in the pace at which we build a business that our members deserve.

From the point of view of impact on our membership, the key development this year is clearly the rises in milk price – we have increased our price by over 8ppl since April. Activity to deliver a sustainable milk price will continue to drive everything we do.