Letter from PDA CEO, Neil Ogilvie

Dear Members,

I trust my letter finds you all well, busy and enjoying the summer, perhaps with a holiday in the offing. It’s hard to believe that it’s August already, where has the year gone?

For those of you who joined us for the Premier Trophy Awards, it was good to meet you all. Warm congratulations to the winners in all seven categories, plus Senior Apprentice of the Year, Nicole Smith, and the Junior Apprentice of the Year, Harry Davies, it was encouraging to see all six finalists of the Apprentice of the Year competition attending. The application forms for the 2023 Trophy Awards and Apprentice competitions will be available to download from our website in early September. When downloading, please do take note of the actual closing dates. The Association’s National Treasurer, Bob Smith, will be stepping down at the AGM on 22 November after many years dedicated service. If any Member feels they would like to be considered for the national Treasurer role, you will find details on page 4. With regard to the AGM, it will be the first time since 2019 that we will hold a face-to-face meeting. I hope to see as many of you as possible attending this Member-only meeting at the Coventry Building Society Arena, held during the two-day National Painting & Decorating Show. I hope that you have seen the information sent out via our social media platforms, newsletter and the magazine, regarding the Take Time Member benefit. With the cost of living increasing weekly, this new benefit couldn’t have come at a better time. Substantial cost savings can be made by simply logging on to the platform and downloading the discount vouchers for personal, family and business-related items. Simply contact PDA HQ by phone or email, and speak to one of the team to request your unique login details. You can also request individual login details for each of your employees, not just for yourself. This is just one of the many costs saving benefits now offered to you. I will have two new Member benefits to tell you about in the next magazine. You will hopefully have noted some amendments to the Association’s website recently. The homepage has had a minor facelift, along with the company profile area, both the visuals and worded content have been substantially updated. Take a look at this re-worked area and update your page as required, this is your window to prospective new clients who can use the Member search facility. If your profile is fully updated, it will be sure to impress, and potential clients can simply click the ‘request a quotation’ tab.

Whilst on the subject of the website, the Markel Law Business Hub is there if you require any kind of downloadable documents to help with the smooth running of your business. The yearly cost to you would be £189 per year were you to individually purchase this Member benefit alone! For now, enjoy the rest of the summer and I’ll catch up with you again as autumn approaches.

Neil Ogilvie

Chief Executive neil@paintingdecoratingassociation.co.uk