Trade Association Update: January
This is part three of our member reflections on 2022. I hope you enjoyed a good Christmas break and look forward to working with you in 2023.
Chris Aylett, CEO from the Motorsport Industry Association
What have been the highlights of your year, as a sector and as an association?
Exceptionally high demand for motorsport and high-performance engineering solutions, local and international, has meant excellent revenues for all involved in this sector. As varied sustainable technologies are needed to resolve future net-zero ambitions of many sectors – aero, auto, marine, defence etc, our R&D based business community is in ‘pole position’ to benefit. Based on our this success, the MIA launched a new trade-only show in the Silverstone Wing
What are you most proud of in your sector and how has your association been supporting/leading your members?
The agility and flexibility of our motorsport-based supply chain across Motorsport Valley® UK, coupled with the fast on-time delivery of high-quality results is a matter of great pride. The Motorsport Industry Association (MIA) has to reflect that kind of performance in every way, immediately answering all kinds of requests for help and links from all our members, large or small, to other sectors for collaboration.
What are you most excited about for 2023?
A new, major conference and showcase – based on the commitment from Formula One to a fully-sustainable series by 2030 – will be delivered by the MIA on March 21st at Gaydon. This visionary EEMS Sustainable Motorsport Conference will involve international technology leaders sharing their knowledge and plans to deliver fully sustainable motorsport over the next few years. This will compliment our CTS 23 Show in October at Silverstone.
John Pearce, CEO of Made in Britain
Made in Britain has grown again this year, adding 130 new SME and larger manufacturing businesses to our community, all using the official licenced mark on their goods and in their media, to help build trust in the provenance of locally made products.
It has been another extraordinary and challenging year, but reading the 1000s of stories published on the MiB news site it’s hard to conclude anything other than this being the most resilient and pathologically optimistic sector.
With an average company lifespan of 40 years, we know they are resilient, having braved the many other economic and geo-political crises. 7/10 of our members are exporting already. Much more of that would do the economy a great service, if enabled and helped properly.
We launched the Made in Britain IMPACT AWARDS, to recognise all the extraordinary efforts our members are making to reduce their negative impacts on the environment, whilst increasing the many positive effects on local economy and communities. Our members see sustainable actions as a commercial imperative, not a PR exercise.
Mixed feedback on what 2023 might bring. I looked at my business plan from this time last year – there wasn’t a war or 10% inflation written into it.
We do know we all will have to try harder to mainstream transparent, responsible business that serves people and protects the natural world.
Huw Edwards, CEO UK Active
What have been the highlights of your year, as a sector and as an association?
Overall highlight for ukactive has been getting back to a full year of, in person, engagement with our members and partners, from our Conference and Awards to a comprehensive programme of network engagement. We also published our strategy – vision 2030 – that set the ambition of over 5 million new people using our members facilities and services by the end of the decade.
What are you most proud of in your sector and how has your association been supporting/leading your members?
Incredible proud of the resilience and collaboration of my members around the cost of living and energy crisis. Members have been doing everything to support their customers keep access to essential facilities, and also the incredible collaboration in helping ukactive show Government the impact of energy crisis, the implications, and what support is required
What are you most excited about for 2023?
Really great opportunity to work with CBI and other partners on where ukactive members can play a positive role in addressing and solving a series of issues in the No10 in-tray, including the mental health crisis in children and young people, and growth in people of working age who are economically inactive, and operational pressures on the NHS.
James De La Vigne, CEO of the Employee Ownership Association
What have been the highlights of your year, as a sector and as an association?
We’ve seen extraordinary growth in the employee owned (EO) sector in the UK. There were 500 EO businesses in 2020, and in June of this year we hit the 1000 mark. Numbers have continued to soar since. We now represent more than 650 members – 184 of which joined this year.
Following the pandemic, our annual conference returned this year – bigger and better than ever. Over 600 attendees gathered in Liverpool to celebrate successes, share insights, and learn from one another.
Our Ownership Hub network, which launched in South Yorkshire in 2021, continues to expand. Recently, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan announced funding for the London Ownership Hub, which will start operating in the new year.
Our regional Ownership Hubs, in partnership with Co-operatives UK, aim to expand successful employee and worker ownership by raising awareness, upskilling professional advisors, and facilitating access to tools and learning that support businesses in the area to pursue these models.
What are you most proud of in your sector and how has your association been supporting/leading your members?
We’re incredibly proud to see the positivity, resilience and innovation with which our members have responded to the current economic downturn. We’ve seen a lot of evidence indicating that EO companies were better able to weather the difficulties that the pandemic brought, and this seems to be the case for the current crisis.
We’re also proud of how much our own team have accomplished. We’ve adapted to the rapidly growing sector whilst expanding and improving our offering to members. We’ve widened the range of opportunities to learn, share and connect, whether it be in-person or virtual events, blogs, case studies, videos, podcasts, one-to-one discussions with our membership team, or exclusive resources on the members EO Hub on our website.
What are you most excited about for 2023?
The EO sector is in a really strong position, with growing awareness and excitement about the model. We can’t wait to support the continued growth of the sector next year, and welcome new businesses to the EOA community. We’re also looking to transform the quality of the experience members have when they engage with us over the next year as we continue to grow and meet the demands of this vibrant, thriving sector. We’ll be expanding our digital offering in particular – watch this space!