Companies are asked to apply for Associate Membership in writing.  They may then be invited to become Associate Members by the Scheme’s Board.

The Scheme Director nominated as Associate liaison may visit potential members to assess their suitability for membership.

The criteria for acceptance are as follows:

Companies should:

Apply for Membership at group level rather than as an individual, subsidiary company of a group.
Have historically registered at least 60% of their sites with the Scheme.
Be able to demonstrate a level of compliance at least 0.5 of a point above the national average on all registered sites.
Have a minimum of a 3 year history of registrations with the Scheme.

Once a company has been accepted as an Associate Member:

Members will:

• Register all sites (in excess of six weeks’ duration), paying the appropriate fee. 
• Register sites with a duration of over 18 months/78 weeks in either annual or in natural phases.
• Maintain membership for a minimum of three years.
• Pay an additional annual fee of £3,000 plus VAT (due on 1 January each year). 
• Ensure compliance with the Scheme’s Code of Considerate Practice on all registered sites.
• Ensure all company employees are aware of the Associate Membership and what this means (it is recommended that key personnel attend either a Scheme Seminar or Workshop)
• Nominate a Board member to act as contact and to represent their company at all Associate meetings. 
• Promote the Scheme and its aims to their clients.
• Provide a link from their website to the Scheme’s website.
• Encourage membership of the Scheme’s ‘Company Registration’ initiative.

The Scheme will:

• Publicise the company’s Associate Membership. 
• Issue an Associate Membership logo for use on all marketing and other company material.
• Provide bi-annual meetings/dinners to discuss Scheme issues and to meet other Associate Members. 
• Provide monthly benchmarking information and statistics comparing the Associate’s scores with the national averages.
• Assist the Associate Member company in meeting the aims of the Scheme.
• Use Associate Members’ sites for Scheme promotional activities.