The 2015 AEA Conference, staged once again in the magnificent surroundings of 1 Great George Street, Wesminster, home of the Institution of Civil Engineers, attracted more than 160 delegates from across the industry.

It was the first AEA Conference for new AEA Director General, Ruth Bailey who opened the conference with her vision and plans for the coming years for AEA.  “We have a wonderful Association, full of history and tradition, with great staff and committed members.  We need to look after our existing members, but reach out to the many companies and organisations who are not yet AEA members and set out our stall in a much more pro-active way” she said

Chairing the meeting, was incoming AEA President, James Woolway, managing director of Opico Ltd. His election as President for 2015-6, in succession to David Sturges, was confirmed at the AEA AGM which preceded the Conference. The Vice-President is Richard Fox-Marrs of JCB who was due to take up the Presidency this year, but had to step aside for 12 months due to current business commitments.

Lead speaker was the very entertaining Hamish Taylor, who set the tone for his speech with its title Trains, Planes  . . and Toilet Cleaners.  A description that summed up his business career with British Airways, Eurotunnel and Proctor and Gamble (amongst others).

His theme was to always look outside your business for ideas and inspiration. He cited several instances where people too close to the business often overlooked simple feedback or the experiences of others.  “We introduced the single zig-zag queuing system at airports after talking to Disneyland about how they handled queues for their attractions. We talked to the designers of luxury yachts about designing flat-bed seats on aircraft for their solutions to fitting beds into confined spaces.”

Keynote speaker was Richard Markwell, managing director of AGCO’s EMEA region, and current President of the European Farm Machinery association CEMA. “We are in the forefront of the challenge to produce more food in the next ten years than we have for the past 10,000 years -  since the start of agriculture as we know it” he said.

“To do that, we need a supply of good quality, well-educated staff. We cannot rely now on the traditional supply chain from the farming community with less than 7% of farmers under the age of 35.  That said, the opportunities within our sector have never been better. Feel proud of your industry, tell others, and particularly tell the politicians”

Lunchtime speaker was the Reverend Richard Coles, a man with a fascinating back-story. One time member of 1980’s group Bronski Beat and then The Communards, in a musical partnership with Jimmy Somerville. He described his life in music and the route to religion in the early 2000s.  He was ordained in 2005 and is now parish priest at St Mary’s, Finedon, near Peterborough.

As ever, the AEA day concluded with the traditional apres-Conference mix and mingle at the Westminster Arms, with industry folk filling the pavement outside on a beautiful April day.