Tullett Prebon London Boat Show impresses Politicians yet again
The Tullett Prebon London Boat Show doesn’t just
provide the industry with an excellent opportunity to showcase what
it has to offer. It gives the BMF the perfect chance to show
Government Ministers, MPs, Peers and other opinion formers, just
how well the leisure marine industry is doing against the back drop
of these continuing difficult economic times and 2012’s Show was no
exception.
This year, we welcomed Business Minister Mark
Prisk MP to the Show on the Monday. On Wednesday afternoon Skills
Minister John Hayes MP presented certificates at our inaugural
Apprentice Graduation Ceremony (a first for apprentices anywhere).
And on Tuesday and Friday we hosted lunches for senior people who
are influential for our industry and our boat shows. This
included no less than 20 MPs and Peers from all sides of
Parliament. We also had John Cridland, Director-General of the
Confederation of British Industry, attend the Show and meet with a
number of our members (you can watch his tour of the Show and hear
his thoughts about our industry
here). This was a great result and reward for the effort
we have put into ensuring the Coalition Government knows about our
industry and getting to know new MP’s since the last
election.
We have worked hard to make the Department for
Business, Innovation & Skills understand that the UK leisure
marine industry is a UK manufacturing success story. Our
Chief Executive, Rob Stevens, is Vice Chairman of the UK Marine
Industries Alliance, a BIS initiative bringing together the wider
maritime industries. Rob has ensured that leisure marine has
high profile and it is notable that he has recently been invited to
share a platform with Mark Prisk MP at the Government’s
Manufacturing Summit 2012 being held in Bristol on 23
February.
Our External Relations Team works day in, day
out, to build the political profile of our industry by constantly
lobbying politicians. We also meet regularly with civil
servants from eight or nine Government Departments who have an
interest in our industry, often trying to solve problems that have
been brought to our attention by BMF members. You can keep up
to date with what the External Relations team are doing to
represent the industry by following us on Twitter at
@BMFBrianClark
Finally, we still want to work with you to get
your local MP to come and visit your business, and learn more about
our industry. So drop us a line at governmentrelations@britishmarine.co.uk
if you’re interested in making this happen. We will organise
the visit and join you to brief your MP on the BMF and the industry
that we support.