Roving Robey

IT’S GOOD t aWhether the meeting is face to face or online, there huge value in speaking with colleagues and peers, says Tom Robey TO l k

September saw the return of Merchandise World’s peak season event in Milton Keynes and as co-hosts the BPMA team were present. Located next to the Eco World stand, it was a great to have a chance to catch up in person with members and familiar faces. With a 10% increase on visitors from last year’s September show, the event was a success that has solidified its place in the industry calendar.

BRIMAN MEET UP

The following day, the British Manufacturing group (Briman) met for a seasonal meeting. As well as group discussions on industry wide economic challenges currently faced, guest speakers covered interesting topics on succession planning, employee retention strategies, sales and online product indexing possibilities.

Later in the month, I accompanied trade suppliers to both Heathrow and Manchester shows to meet many a BPMA member distributor.

Coming soon is the latest ‘In conversation with…’ session on 20th October. This time, my BPMA webinar welcomes Eat My Logo, will be accompanied by Geiger to look at the future of confectionery products in the promotional merchandise sector. If you are interested in taking part in these sessions, please contact me directly.

TAXING TIMES

A week later, we’ll have spoken with HMRC for a special industry session to explain more about plastic packaging tax to members. There is also an upcoming session with Open Energy to speak to the industry about the energy cap and what happens after the six-month support package ends.

Coming up in person, the BPMA is holding a Professional Development Day in Milton Keynes. November sees a postponed Juniper Trading factory visit, tying in to the BPMA Education platform.

And I promise to take as many photos as possible at the very much anticipated BPMA Member Networking Lunch at Gaucho’s in Birmingham on November 15th.

All our events are listed on the BPMA events page online, so please head on over and register to save your places. Tom Robey is BPMA Membership Director