Both BPCA and CEPA took advantage of their members attendance at PestEx and held their formal annual meetings during the event.
BPCA Annual General Meeting
| The British Pest Control Association (BPCA) Annual General meeting is usually a pretty staid affair – and so it was this year – with the exception of one item – the discussion concerning the accounts. It was pointed out from the floor that over the last three financial years BPCA has shown an increase of revenue of 3% yet an increase in costs of 45%. This has caused a reduction in members’ funds of £140k. Chief executive officer, Oliver Madge, assured members that these funds had been invested in future developments e.g. on-line learning, which would bear fruit this year. He gave a firm commitment that expenditure would be in line with income for the current financial year. The meeting voted for the following new executive board members: Martina Flynn from BASF Pest Control Solutions becomes the new president, Henry Mott from Conquer Pest Control was elected deputy-president and Ross Graham of Graham Environmental Services becomes the honorary treasurer. David Heaton of K&S Fumigation Services, Paul Hoyes of Killgerm and Iain Whately of EnviroGuard (UK) were elected as the chairmen of the fumigation, manufacturers and servicing committees respectively. John Charlton of John Charlton Associates, Richard Jones of EnviroCare GB and Will Golland of Bell Laboratories were re-elected. Richard Strand of Pest Information Consultancy and Lewis Jenkins of Check Services were elected to the board unopposed. In her presidential acceptance presentation, Martina said that although there are several notable on-going initiatives within the industry, her aim was to draw together all the key influencers so as to enable the industry to speak with ‘one voice’. |
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CEPA General Assembly
| On Thursday 23 April the European Pest Management Industry Association (CEPA) held its General Assembly meeting.
Reviewing the year, CEPA director general, Rob Fryatt, reported on what had been another successful and consolidating year. Membership had increased, events had been well attended, the interface with other industry bodies had strengthened and the standing of CEPA with the European Commission had risen. After four years at the helm, Robert Stuyt stood down as president. Gunnar Ackerblom from the leading Swedish servicing company, Anticimex, was elected president and will be joined by two vice-presidents – Frá©dá©ric Verwilghen (vice president of the Belgium pest control association) and Patrick Verniá© from Bayer (representing the manufacturer’s college.) In addition, CEPA held two seminars during PestEx. The first was presented by Richard Strand and was aimed at opportunities available to the smaller national associations. The second updated members on the progress made on the European industry standards project with CEN. CEPA was very pleased to welcome as a guest at the meeting, Junichiro Katayama, the president of FAOPMA, their sister organisation in Asia. Junichiro offered all delegates a warm invitation to attend the forthcoming FAOPMA conference and exhibition to be held in Beijing on 25-27 November 2009. |
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The CEPA General Assembly was held
Gunner Ackerblom, centre, with Patrick Verniá© (right) and Frá©dá©ric Verwilghen