The British Pump Manufacturers Association (BPMA) – the organisation which represents the business interests of UK and Irish suppliers of liquid pumps and related equipment – recently held its first-ever ‘virtual’ Technical Committee Meeting. Conducted using Microsoft TEAMS, the meeting took place on Tuesday 2nd July, with some 25 members registering to attend.
Chaired by John Hollins of SPP Pumps (Technical Committee Chairman) and supported by Steve Schofield (BPMA CEO) and Gary Wilde (BPMA Technical Services Officer), the meeting followed the usual Agenda for a Technical Meeting, and covered a wide range of issues affecting the pump industry.
After the meeting, Steve Schofield, commented; “Whilst the meeting went very well, the ‘connection’ issues that some attendees suffered, illustrates there is still some way to go before virtual meetings can rival an actual ‘live’ meeting for intimacy and immediate feedback – something that is crucial to the topic areas being addressed by this type of discussion.”
He continued: “I fully appreciate that for the majority of companies, the current social distancing measures, brought about by COVID-19, coupled with the growing acceptance that we can all play our part in helping to protect the environment through reduced travel, virtual meetings have an increasingly valid position in the business arena. Indeed, as we all become more accepting of their place and value in our business lives, the virtual meeting will no doubt become more commonplace, and will work in tandem with live gatherings”.
He concluded: “The BPMA’s Technical and Marketing meetings will continue to be held virtually until the current restrictions allow us to do otherwise, and at that point we will ballot Members to see what approach they would like us to adopt for future meetings – virtual, live or a mix of the two!”
For further information on the BPMA or the output from its Technical Committee Meeting, please contact Gary Wilde, Technical Services Officer on +44 (0) 121 601 6692 or by email on [email protected].
