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Swimming Pool News reports from the UK Pool & Spa Conference at Oxford
Planning and communication key to the future says new BSPF MD
BSPF new Managing Director Chris Hayes set out three main recommendations as part of his plan to give the federation clear direction over the next two years.
In his first major trade speech since he took over as managing director in April he said it was essential to have clear goals and objectives.
He said the BSPF plan had three main recommendations:
• strategic planning and funding;
• quality of services;
• communication and consultation.
"In terms of the strategic planning and funding we are developing this plan for a five year period and by having an annual action plan, we can be flexible in changing short term goals to enable us to shape our game to meet the changing nature of our opponents.
"I am keen to drive forward effective actions that will make a difference to our industry and that is why we need to work with partners to deliver meaningful industry statistics as we have had to rely on best estimates rather than facts. The BISHTA committee has indicated it will be willing to send data confidentially to get an idea of how big the market is and by collecting some historical data it will be possible to understand what direction the trends are going.
"Our planning has been solid but I think we can improve it and we also need to safeguard our income to ensure our plans can be funded. Income sources continue to be largely from members and SPATEX profits and we must ensure the money is used wisely."
He said he was keen to focus on the workforce development plan. This development plan will be for the whole industry as training and qualification opportunities will be developed to improve our performance levels across all areas from our own back room staff to the rest of the team comprising SPATA and BISHTA members.
"As a former teacher, I am very aware of the need to provide suitable education opportunities to ensure that people within the industry and those people outside the industry can recognise the work that we can offer members in terms of vocational qualifications and formalised training. The government is committed to getting more people qualified and the industry can really enhance its reputation with an industry wide qualification.
"Some preparatory work has been done by continuing to work closely with STA, who have a range of nationally accredited qualifications themselves, we intend to formalise the training offered within the industry to ensure there are suitable opportunities for those that wish to study subjects such as swimming pool engineering and we are also looking at other roles such as retailing and supervisory roles.
"Any qualification is unlikely to be ready to be validated and ready to be taught until at least September 2009, but there are a number of modules that we must develop over the next year to see if they are fit for purpose Once the first qualification is underway, we will turn our attention to identify the other suitable roles that would benefit from qualifications and the workforce survey previously undertaken will be a big help.
"While much of this work has been aimed at SPATA it will be interesting to discuss this matter with BISHTA to identify relevant training that might complement the existing opportunities such as water treatment and information on the transporting of dangerous goods."
The third strand of the business plan is communication and consultation.
He said it was vital to get the message out to members.
"Promotional work will continue through PIP to spread the message about pool and spa ownership with aims to increase the value of coverage regionally and nationally. We aim to expand this from direct consumer promotion to include more commercial opportunities.
"We will be taking our message out to members and potential members with away fixtures in strategic parts of the country rather than expecting companies to make the journey down to Andover. BISHTA Road Shows and SPATA regional meetings will hopefully encourage greater involvement in the associations.
"We must also continue to lobby on behalf of the industry as legislation will continue to impact on what we do both from within the UK and from Europe. Issues around water restrictions and the ongoing discussions regarding Building.
"Europe is beckoning but it is not the Champions League but rather the arrival of the EUSA presidency from Spain to the UK in 2010, where we will be responsible for hosting meetings of nine European countries dedicated to sharing good practice and working together to influence European decision makers about our industry."
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Swimming Pool News reports from the UK Pool & Spa Conference at Oxford
Planning and communication key to the future says new BSPF MD
BSPF new Managing Director Chris Hayes set out three main recommendations as part of his plan to give the federation clear direction over the next two years.
In his first major trade speech since he took over as managing director in April he said it was essential to have clear goals and objectives.
He said the BSPF plan had three main recommendations:
• strategic planning and funding;
• quality of services;
• communication and consultation.
"In terms of the strategic planning and funding we are developing this plan for a five year period and by having an annual action plan, we can be flexible in changing short term goals to enable us to shape our game to meet the changing nature of our opponents.
"I am keen to drive forward effective actions that will make a difference to our industry and that is why we need to work with partners to deliver meaningful industry statistics as we have had to rely on best estimates rather than facts. The BISHTA committee has indicated it will be willing to send data confidentially to get an idea of how big the market is and by collecting some historical data it will be possible to understand what direction the trends are going.
"Our planning has been solid but I think we can improve it and we also need to safeguard our income to ensure our plans can be funded. Income sources continue to be largely from members and SPATEX profits and we must ensure the money is used wisely."
"We intend to formalise the training offered within the industry to ensure there are suitable opportunities for those that wish to study subjects such as swimming pool engineering and we are also looking at other roles such as retailing"
He said he was keen to focus on the workforce development plan. This development plan will be for the whole industry as training and qualification opportunities will be developed to improve our performance levels across all areas from our own back room staff to the rest of the team comprising SPATA and BISHTA members.
"As a former teacher, I am very aware of the need to provide suitable education opportunities to ensure that people within the industry and those people outside the industry can recognise the work that we can offer members in terms of vocational qualifications and formalised training. The government is committed to getting more people qualified and the industry can really enhance its reputation with an industry wide qualification.
"Some preparatory work has been done by continuing to work closely with STA, who have a range of nationally accredited qualifications themselves, we intend to formalise the training offered within the industry to ensure there are suitable opportunities for those that wish to study subjects such as swimming pool engineering and we are also looking at other roles such as retailing and supervisory roles.
"Any qualification is unlikely to be ready to be validated and ready to be taught until at least September 2009, but there are a number of modules that we must develop over the next year to see if they are fit for purpose Once the first qualification is underway, we will turn our attention to identify the other suitable roles that would benefit from qualifications and the workforce survey previously undertaken will be a big help.
"While much of this work has been aimed at SPATA it will be interesting to discuss this matter with BISHTA to identify relevant training that might complement the existing opportunities such as water treatment and information on the transporting of dangerous goods."
The third strand of the business plan is communication and consultation.
He said it was vital to get the message out to members.
"Promotional work will continue through PIP to spread the message about pool and spa ownership with aims to increase the value of coverage regionally and nationally. We aim to expand this from direct consumer promotion to include more commercial opportunities.
"We will be taking our message out to members and potential members with away fixtures in strategic parts of the country rather than expecting companies to make the journey down to Andover. BISHTA Road Shows and SPATA regional meetings will hopefully encourage greater involvement in the associations.
"We must also continue to lobby on behalf of the industry as legislation will continue to impact on what we do both from within the UK and from Europe. Issues around water restrictions and the ongoing discussions regarding Building.
"Europe is beckoning but it is not the Champions League but rather the arrival of the EUSA presidency from Spain to the UK in 2010, where we will be responsible for hosting meetings of nine European countries dedicated to sharing good practice and working together to influence European decision makers about our industry."
<< Back to conference index