CONFERENCE 2007 – CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
Club Managers from all over the UK descended on Hollins Hall Hotel & Country Club at Shipley, Yorkshire, on Sunday, 7 October for our Inaugural Conference on Club Management.
The Conference Golf Cup competition was ably won by Brian Cane from UK Paper and the BICM’s first annual meeting went smoothly with unanimous acceptance of the Agenda.
The BICM Gala Dinner was a great success. Chairman of Sport England, Derek Mapp, spoke on the importance of sport relating to club life and Brian Close regaled attendees with his amusing and sometimes forthright comments on the game of cricket.
Opening the Education Programme, keynote speaker Mike Diaper, Head of Staff, Sport England, emphasised the importance of sport to us all and gave insights into how Sport England perceived how the Olympic bid could effect the growth of sports participation.
The rest of the first day was taken up by a series of in depth presentations by David Hawbrook of ABV Training who presented the British Institute of Innkeeping Award in “Responsible Alcohol Retailing.” Many delegates actually sat and subsequently passed the BII Accreditation Level I Exam at Conference.
On Tuesday, Pernot Ricard brought delegates up to date with change in the market and in Health & Safety, Nick Morrall outlined Health and Safety Online, a pc based system to establish easily measurable standards which can be assessed on or off site.
Conference was rounded off by leading legal writer and commentator Peter Coulson, who covered the Licensing Act, the smoking ban and provided an in depth examination of the Gaming Act.
During Conference, the BICM’s commercial suppliers took advantage of a Showcase opportunity during the buffet lunch on Tuesday. This gave opportunity for company representatives and club delegates to discuss the latest products, services, benefits and solutions.
The opportunity to attend Conference is not one to be taken lightly. For those on limited budgets it’s expensive and sometimes travel may be an issue, but if members want to be at the leading edge and want to know where the industry is going and want to be able to make a difference in the workplace, BICM Conference is an opportunity not to be missed. As David Harris of Harris Associates said to me as he left the building, “I attend a lot of Conferences but this is the most professionally presented one that I have ever been to.”
We will return in 2008 – watch this space!
Rob Gerrard, Conference Chairman
November 2007
