David Pattenden, BWF President
As President I wanted to share with you that the BWF is going through some changes and I am seeking your support.
It is without doubt ever harder to run a woodworking business, with a growing red tape burden compounded by endemic underfunding of enforcement agencies, whether it be Building Control, Trading Standards or even the Fire and Rescue Services. That said, the market is growing and wood is very much emerging as the construction material of the 21st Century – the BWF is working to help us cope with the challenges and to capitalise on the opportunities.
To get you the best possible support on technical matters we now have Jon Gorf, formally of Parker Joinery, on the team. Jon will not only bring considerable experience, but also help develop the extensive programme we are pulling together on Managing Risk, to be rolled out from Members' Day on 7th July.
And the challenge doesn’t end there. We are looking at new tools to further prove the sustainable credentials of timber, campaigns to grow the use of timber in interiors and housing plus opportunities for its use in general access stairs. This is in addition to detailed research on the service life of coatings, new resources for Heritage and Conservation work, new dispute resolution support, a project on use of Beech in Fire Doors, the next wave of the CPR (which will focus on Fire Doors and Interior Doors before moving on to balustrading systems) and perhaps the most vital job of all, rebuilding our training infrastructure through our Centres of Excellence to support the future development of the sector.
This is where you come in. The guiding principle of the BWF is to “Make decisions with the best interests of the membership at heart” and to do this effectively we need your input. BWF is effectively a co-operative and we rely on a Council of Members to help shape our strategy. Now that we are stronger than ever with a broad and growing church of 600 manufacturers and over 100 associated and affiliated companies, this must be reflected in our Council with members of all sizes, from all parts of the UK and sub-sectors of our market represented. Due to a change in employment and the unfortunate passing of Gordon Nelson, we now have vacancies on our Council and we would like you to consider volunteering, giving your input to help change the world of joinery for the better.
The Council is an opportunity to give and gain and I personally find the network useful, value the discussions and appreciate the deeper insight that the Council provides. I know my colleagues on the Council are similarly passionate and are dedicated to ensuring that, as a sector, we don’t waste time and energy repeating the same mistakes and fighting the same battles in isolation. The Council commitment is not too onerous and we are blessed with a dedicated and energetic staff team that are all too willing to do the heavy lifting. The Council meets three times a year (the next meeting is in Towcester near Milton Keynes on 6th July to coincide with the AGM), the afternoon before this year’s Members’ Day and meetings last no more than half a day.
It would be great to get you involved in this way and if you feel that you (or a colleague) can spare three afternoons a year to help guide the work of the BWF and the development of the woodworking sector, please do not hesitate to drop me an email on president@bwf.org.uk and I will arrange for further details to be sent. If you want to mull it over, perhaps you could grab me or one of my fellow Council Members at the AGM or Members’ Day to discuss further.
