On 17 and 18 January 2019 the newly formed Members' Council had its first meeting during a two-day session.
Besides a personal introduction, the Members' Council discussed the detailing of its tasks, the structure of its committees and ways in which the dialogue with the cooperative members can be conducted. Furthermore, an introduction to the Management Board, the Management Team (MT) and the Supervisory Board (SB) took place.
First point of contact
The Members' Council also appointed a chair during the two-day session. The members of the Members' Council elected Marcel van Tol as the chair for a period of three years. Marcel is the co-owner of Firma M.Q. van Tol and grows summer flowers and forced shrubs in the region Rijn and Veenstreek.
Marcel was also part of the Pilot Members' Council and chaired the FPC Summer Flowers. As the chair of the Members' Council, he is the first point of contact for the Management Board and the SB. In addition, he is responsible for good cooperation within the Members' Council and the functioning of individual members and the Members' Council as a whole.
Marcel van Tol: "First of all, I would like to thank the former chairs of the Pilot Members' Council, Jan Mantel and Sjaak Buijs, for their hard work over the past years. I am convinced that the members and the company can strengthen one another when it comes to the development of our cooperative. By seeing each other as sparring partners and trusting each other, it is possible to continue expanding the marketplace in such a way that members can achieve the best prices in the market. My personal objective is to further develop the interaction within Royal FloraHolland and the cooperative. Openness, transparency and expertise are the cornerstones for achieving this."
Kick-off and follow-up
The two-day session was a kick-off to the collaboration with the MT. Each MT member provided a strategic update about his or her portfolio and there was room for initial discussions about this with the Members' Council. The Members' Council is meeting again on Thursday 21 March. Before that date, the committees of the Members' Council will have their first meetings.
Source: Royal FloraHolland