Bathroom Manufacturers Association News
BMA Lends its Supports to NTG
As well as running its own Bathroom Academy initiative, the BMA has committed its support to the kitchen and Bathroom National Training Group.
Speaking at the last NTG board meeting, which was held in March at the Milton Keynes Head Office of BSHG the BMA Commercial Director Yvonne Orgill said, “part of the BMA’s Training, Education and Qualification plan is to work with organisations that provide training for the Industry and we see a value to the work that the NTG is beginning to do for the Industry. If the BMA can add value to the work of the NTG, we are very pleased to do so.” Both Yvonne Orgill and BMA Training Manager Richard Moss, sit on the NTG management board.
BMA chief, Yvonne Orgill, speaks at PMI in April
Yvonne Orgill, Commercial Director of the Bathroom Manufacturers Association in the UK, was invited to speak at the Spring meeting of the American Plumbing Manufacturer’s Institute, which was held in New Mexico in early April.
The PMI were keen to share the experience of the BMA in the work that the UK association has done in the field of water efficiency in the bathroom.
“The BMA and the PMI signed a memorandum of understanding in October 2004 when”, Orgill says, “climate change is affecting water supply in the USA just as it is in the UK and sharing our experience can only add value to the work that both organisations are doing in this vital field.
BMA to launch its Special Needs press campaign at House of Lords
This year’s annual National Home Improvement Council (NHIC) House of Lords luncheon on 22nd May is being held in association with the Bathroom Manufacturer’s Association and Armitage Shanks.
The BMA will take the opportunity to introduce its Special Needs initiative to the press and will give a précis of the results from its recent survey on bathrooms for people with Special Needs.
The aim of the survey is to ensure that manufacturers of bathroom products have a full understanding of the latest requirements, both at home and away from home, of people with special needs and the people, who care for them.
Speaking for the BMA, Commercial Director Yvonne Orgill says, “as well as contact with the press, the House of Lords lunch will be attended by members of both houses and will give the BMA the opportunity to put its message to members of the Government. We want to ensure that they know how seriously bathroom manufacturers take design that includes people with special needs.”
More Corporate Sponsors back BMA Academy
The Bathroom Manufacturer’s Association’s Bathroom Academy has seen a number of Corporate Sponsors pledge their support to the BMA member’s investment in training and its underpinning certification programme.
“This initiative has been supported very well by the publishers of the bathroom press,” says the BMA Training Manager Richard Moss, “it is also beginning to be supported by other far-sighted Industry stakeholders”.
Corporate Sponsorship has come from DMG World Media, which publishes kbbreview and kitchens bedrooms & bathrooms magazine as well as organising the B & K Expo exhibition and the Industry Awards. CMP Business Media, which organises the kbb2006 exhibition are also corporate sponsors, as are Fifth Element Publishing, which prints the Designer magazine and organises the Kitchen Showcase, other support has been pledged from Essential Publishing, which prints trade publication essential Kitchen & Bathroom Business as well as a number of consumer magazines including Essential Kitchens Bathrooms and Bedrooms Magazine.
Non-publishing supporters includes CAD company Articad, which produces CAD programmes for both bathroom and kitchen planning and has committed a number of its employees to read for their Certificate in Bathroom Studies.
The BMA also has a number of College partnerships, which are supporting its career path initiative for plumbers on NVQ training schemes.
“The pilot schemes have gone really well,” Moss told us, “and support from companies such as those mentioned is welcomed by the members of the BMA, who are investing heavily in the training opportunities that the Bathroom Academy offers”.
Moss expects a number of other Corporate Sponsors to join the BMA’s Bathroom Academy initiative in the coming months.
Bathroom Manufacturers Association Tel:01782 747123 www.bathroom-association.org
To register on the Certification programme contact: phil.lumley@bathroom-association.org.uk
