Following its relocation to the Birmingham offices of the British Jewellery, Giftware & Finishing Federation (BJGF) BHETA is now keen to resolve the issue of a merger between the two associations.
The vote cast at July's extraordinary general meeting resulted in a 50/50 split. Without a clear vote in favour of the proposition, the merger could not go ahead. However, BHETA is now inviting members to consider the issue once more and decide if it is in the interests of the association as a whole.

A letter from BHETA president Andrew Weiss stated: "Since the EGM all parties concerned have met and continued to discuss the proposed merger, but in order to allow members the opportunity to decide the best way forward we have set up an Open Forum Meeting, to be held on January 14th 2010 at Federation House, Birmingham, to which all members are invited."

He continued: "The meeting is intended to be a full and frank discussion about the negotiations involved between BHETA and the BJGF with regard to forming a Federation, the reasons for the various terms and costs and how members feel those negotiations should proceed, if at all."

BJGF chief exec Krys Zalewska will attend the meeting, and, said Mr Weiss, in order to ensure full answers can be given at the meeting, "it would help us enormously if you were to forward any questions or queries you may have, prior to January 14th."

Members can email their questions to info@bheta.co.uk or call 0121 237 1130 and log their question with a member of the team.