Member Engagement
A small item in the June issue of BIFAlink introduced Member Engagement Director Denise Hill (pictured). In this article, Denise outlines her objectives for the remainder of 2023 Starting a dialogue with Members
welcome to attend these free events and I would encourage you to come along for a couple of hours to meet others, network and discuss current issues. Within the association there are many decades of industry experience to draw upon with our knowledgeable trainers, and I would urge you to reach out to them as others do to make the most of the benefits that membership of BIFA provides. Multimodal meetings experts in the policy and compliance team and The recent Multimodal 2023 show at the NEC provided a fantastic opportunity to meet Members from the region and beyond, and I am now working my way through a long list of actions. BIFA and its Members do not work in isolation, so dialogue with introductions have already taken place and I will report on future discussions as appropriate. I look forward to meeting Members over the coming weeks and months and would be very interested to hear from you if you have any requests for BIFA events, or ideas for activities you would like to see organised in future. Email: d.hill@bifa.org other associations is also important; a number of
W elcome to my fi rst article in BIFAlink since joining the association as Member Engagement Director a couple of months ago. First, I would like to say thank you to the team who have warmly welcomed me into the association with their support and words of wisdom. I am sure we will work well together going forward. Coming from a large multinational corporate environment to an association has been refreshing yet challenging at the same time. Whilst I do not miss the pressures of running a 24/7 operational team, which instilled in me a desire to do things at pace, the urge to action ideas straight away must be tempered with the need to fully understand the association and its Member requirements. Revitalising engagement My role is nationwide, tasked with revitalising engagement with BIFA Members, and I am currently reviewing activity and assessing how this can be progressed. As part of this process, I have begun to attend regional meetings across
“ My role is nationwide, tasked with revitalising engagement currently reviewing activity and assessing how this can be progressed. with BIFA Members, and I am
the south, being fortunate to meet Members in Felixstowe, Dover, Southampton and Heathrow. It was a pleasure to see so much debate and information sharing around both national issues such as CDS, as well as local issues affecting Members. The shared experiences and learning are what I see as the heart of these events and I am looking forward to attending future sessions. As a reminder, all BIFA Members are
Denise Hill explains how the appointment of Andrew Melton as BIFA’s regional representative for the North means BIFA is now able to start planning face-to-face events from September with the aim of setting up regular meetings in the region. Rebuilding regional representation
Mike Jones has recently taken on a new role as Policy Advisor, Environment, within BIFA and in the interim will work alongside Denise Hill to support our Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted members. Meetings in the Solent area will be covered by Denise Hill. As a reminder, upcoming Regional Member meetings are listed inside the back cover of BIFAlink. Alternatively scan the QR code to view the dates online. Put the dates in your
The North region has been without a representative for some time, and I am looking to involve as many Members as possible in that area to reinvigorate the connectivity between our organisations, port authorities, Border Force and other interested parties. I am told that, pre-COVID-19, activities in the region were well supported by Members and so I hope to see this level of engagement in future.
The Scotland and the Borders region recently saw the retirement of Len Hobbs and we are working hard to find a replacement option – if you know of someone in Scotland looking for a part- time role, tell them to get in touch. The south-east region, covering London East, Anglia and Kent & East Sussex, continues to be ably supported by Paul Newman with a regular programme of well attended events.
diary now to ensure that you do not miss out.
14 | July 2023
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