Rob Stevens' Update from Management Board
Dear
Members,
I write with an update following the Management Board meeting on
Tuesday and welcome your thoughts and comments on any of the issues
discussed.
Chaired for the first time by the new President, Alan Morgan,
the board congratulated the BMF on being finalist at the Trade
Association Forum Awards for Sector Representation for their work
on the Marine Bill and congratulated the NBS on winning the
Exhibition of the Year Award.
We also welcomed Zeb Elliott and Arthur Bennett and David
Tydeman, who was unable to make this meeting, to the Management
Board. The board discussed that the hard trading climate caused by
the uncertainty which the proposed Government’s spending cuts, the
possibility of a double dip recession and the continued restraints
on credit has caused.
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The trading climate within the also BMF reflects this
uncertainty, the PSP Southampton Boat Show is doing well with all
land space sold - bar one stand due to a recent change - and
340 marina berths sold which is 62 more than last year. Advance
ticket sales are also well up on last year. So all the signs are
that it will be another success. Tullett Prebon London
International Boat Show space bookings are also doing well with
nearly 80% of the space requested. Finally I am happy to report
that membership numbers are marginally up at 1,445.
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Image: The
BMF and NBS recently won the TAF Exhibition of the Year award
for the 2009 PSP Southampton Boat Show
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The bulk of the meeting was to review where we have got with the
re-write of the Articles of Association, the BMF rules and the Code
of Practice as requested by Council. Tamzin Matthew, Company
Secretary and Director of Legal, has made good progress and
although, regrettably she leaves on 23 July, we have recruited a
very capable replacement in the form of Anne Colquhoun who will
continue to take this work forward. The aim is to take the
completed package to Management Board on 2 November and then to
Council, for approval on 7 December. I am optimistic that we can
meet these dates, but it does give us another complete cycle of
Management and Council meetings in order to get it right for the
AGM on 7 April.
The two other updates on the Agenda were, firstly, marina
training where the UK is setting up its own training and assessment
qualification. This is another encouraging development which we
will hope will become the world standard in the future. The second
was an update on how to improve Customer Service within Marine
House and the Industry. Both were well received by the board and
both will be continued to be taken forward over the year.
Finally, Mike Balmforth, BMF Scotland President, raised the
issue of improving membership and representation in the devolved
administrations within the UK. This is something that Howard and
his Federation team are already tasked to do and Mike Balmforth’s
item reinforced the need, subject of course to the current
financial constraints.
Overall it was another productive meeting, in which it was
apparent that the trading climate of the BMF is positive, but
difficult, which I believe reflects the mood throughout the
industry.