Member Engagement
Two regional member meetings took place in early March and are reported here. March also saw meetings take place in Liverpool, Manchester, London Gatwick and Northern Ireland – reports from these meetings will follow in the next issue of BIFAlink . March Member meetings in Anglia and Southwest
Charlie Frost, Albacore Systems, gave a presentation on ‘Why freight forwarders should care about cyber security’, covering the most vulnerable risk areas and best practice approaches to protect your business. Steve Freeman, board member of the Rail Freight Group and chairman of RailX, updated the meeting on the latest initiatives and available capacity on UK rail freight. He explained how the digital platform and train booking app, RailX, enables booking capacity on UK container services, providing access to intermodal rail across the UK. Adnan Zaheer from iCustoms provided a follow-up to his presentation at the last meeting with different examples of where and how AI is being used by forwarders, the practicalities of implementation and how long implementation might take. The BIFA team gave updates on all policy areas, the Heathrow Cargo redevelopment programme, Member Engagement and Training & Development, including the launch of BIFA bitesize e-learning modules accessed via the BIFA portal.
Anglia, Felixstowe The Anglia regional meeting enjoyed a good turnout of close to 70 Members at a new location, the Trimley Sports & Social Club. Personnel at the club were very welcoming and Members endorsed the venue, so we will probably be returning for our next meeting on 24 June. Guest speaker on this occasion was Darren Wright, founder of Veterans into Logistics, a charity that helps ex-military personnel find positions in the logistics industry. Darren gave a very moving talk on his life after posting to Afghanistan, his subsequent medical discharge and the reason for setting up the charity following the suicide of his close friend and comrade Jamie Doyle. Updates followed from Border Force on ENS (S&S GB), BIFA director general Steve Parker, MCP plc and the Felixstowe Port Users Association (FPUA). Members were reminded about upcoming events, including the BIFA National Conference, the
Charity Golf Day and the FPUA/BIFA Christmas Ball. The meeting closed with the opportunity for networking over an excellent buffet lunch. Southwest, Avonmouth Kindly hosted by Davies Turner, the Avonmouth meeting featured four external speakers. Border Force gave an update on the launch of the new Safety and Security regulations that mandate pre-arrival information for all consignments entering Great Britain, emphasising that entering accurate data is crucial to avoid shipments being delayed. It said the most common errors involve: • Identity of means of transport crossing the border, • Container or trailer number, • Mode of transport at the border, • Place of loading, • Place of unloading, • Goods description, • Countries of routing, • Expected date and time of arrival at Customs office of first entry, • Notify party.
BIFA Members are reminded that they are entitled to attend any of the regional meetings held throughout the UK. Check the event listing on the BIFA website for upcoming events
Notice of Annual General Meeting
Notice is hereby given that the 36th Annual General Meeting of the British International Freight Association (BIFA) will be held at 1 pm on Thursday 15 May 2025 at Warwick Conferences, Coventry, in order to: 1. Receive the Report of the Board of Directors. 2. Receive the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2024 and the report of the auditors thereon.
3. Appoint auditors and authorise the Board to fix their remuneration. 4. In accordance with the Association’s articles, to note and approve the election of officers of the Association. 5. Transact any other business which may properly be transacted at an Annual General Meeting. Steve Parker Director General 31 March 2025
A BIFA Member may nominate an attendee, although there will be a limit on numbers once a quorum is achieved. Please email s.parker@bifa.org NOTE: Any Member entitled to vote at the above meeting may appoint a proxy to vote on a poll in his or her stead. A proxy need not be a Member of the Association.
A form of proxy is available to download from the BIFA website www.bifa.org
20 | April 2025
www.bifa.org
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