Next year the consortium will have been in existence – in various guises – for 40 years, and chief executive Neil Basnett’s overarching message at The Elite Conference for Independents in Cork was that “Elite matters” to its members, which currently total 61.

“There must have been valid reasons to have formed all those years ago in a West Midlands pub, but we are very aware that we have to retain our relevance for suppliers and members alike,” he said.

“It’s all too easy to spend far too much time chasing new members and fall into the trap of neglecting the needs of existing ones.

“In order to look after both interests properly we have perhaps not achieved as much as we could have done over the last few years, owing to the limits of our resources at head office.

“Another pair of hands to assist with business development both on behalf of the consortium and existing members is required and we have already started the process of recruiting the right person for this role.” Elite’s head office recently went through the process of producing a brochure for agents enquiring about membership.

Basnett said “the same simple message” has endured throughout the years: “Are you in the right consortium?” He added that Elite offered the best commission available; that its marketing materials were open to members to promote their business’s name rather than the consortium’s; that the consortium was “small and friendly” [Basnett said he would never want more than 250 members]; and that Elite had a transparent structure, with the board of directors voted in.

“Some other consortia’s subscription levels are good but their commission levels are not so good,” he said. Basnett also insisted that Elite’s partnership with Advantage continues to thrive. “Commercially, all our members are 1-1.5% better off in their earnings as a direct result of the partnership.”