The 2018 Bathroom and Kitchen Business Conference, delivered by the BMA, was hailed as a huge success by delegates that attended the event at the Vale Hotel and Resort, in the Vale of Glamorgan.
170 delegates attended the conference and enjoyed the line-up of speakers that focused on a theme of ‘building a new future’.
Key note speaker Iain Duncan Smith, MP for Chingford and Woodford, explained why he thought that leaving the European Union could be good for the UK as it would open up new trade opportunities with the rest of the world.
His speech provoked some lively debate from the floor led by the conference facilitator, financial journalist Sally Bundock.
James Lawrence (aka plumberparts) talked about how to harness the success of YouTube as a brand.
Behavioural therapist William Higham from The Next Big Thing provided an insight into how businesses can track changes, influences, attitudes and consumers’ needs in order to adapt and provide new revenue streams.
Claire Curtis-Thomas, CEO of construction product industry certification body British Board of Agrément – BBA, gave a presentation about how the government’s attitude to compliance is changing.
Mark Berrisford-Smith, head of economics for HSBC UK commercial banking, considered how businesses can prepare for economic changes both in the run-up to Brexit and following the UK’s departure from the EU.
Inspirational speaker Richard McCann closed the conference with an emotional talk on overcoming adversity. He spoke about the murder of his mother by Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe when he was five years old. He told the audience how his ‘I can’ attitude helped him overcome his struggles in life and led him to achieving much more than he ever imagined.
The BMA also announced the final results from the recent consumer research, ‘Behind the Bathroom Door’. The study, a first for the industry, looked at real time behaviour in the bathroom and analysed the factors that influence consumers when buying a new bathroom.
Yvonne Orgill, BMA CEO, who also announced her intention to step down from the full time role as CEO in 12 months’ time, said: “I am grateful to all of our speakers for providing such timely and informative insights into the most important issues of the day.
“Once again the conference has proved to be an unmissable opportunity, the feedback has been extremely positive with some wanting to book places for next year already.”
