Last month, BAGMA ran the first of its 100th Anniversary conferences at Askham Bryan College near York.
The Association said the excellent facilities offered by the college Conference Centre helped make for a successful and comfortable day for the 50 guests that took advantage of the free event.
Brian Sangster
BAGMA President, Brian Sangster, opened the day with a welcome to those attending and with a potted of history of BAGMA. Ian Snowden form Askham Bryan also welcomed guests to the college and provided an overview of college activities.
The main morning session included a presentation from Keith Christian, BAGMA Director, on the Business of Trade Associations and an overview of BAGMA activities highlighting BAGMA’s engagement with its membership.
Keith was followed by presentations from BAGMA’s insurance partner Towergate covering Cyber Security and the need to be aware of the General Data Protection Regulations as well as presentations from BAGMA Bank, bira Direct and Safety Aide, BAGMA’s health and safety partner. An impromptu question and answer session followed Safety Aides presentation leading up to lunch.
Guests attending included dealer principals and staff from a variety of companies both agricultural and garden machinery businesses, college lecturers and a group of students from the college.
The afternoon covered industry topics with presentations on the new Trailblazer Apprenticeship schemes and the many changes the government were making to this process and where the future of apprenticeships will lie. On a more technical and legislative note, Tom Price from the NFU covered various aspects of transport law and changing legislation in this area.
Closing the afternoon session was a very comprehensive presentation on the effects of Brexit and how it is affecting the industry.
The next BAGMA Mini Conference will be held in BAGMA’s Four Counties Region at Ledbury Rugby Club on the 13th December. A similar line up of speakers and topics will be covered.
As a finale to BAGMA’s 100 years this event will also include a Christmas lunch and is free to attend.
