The BOSS Federation welcomed members to another fantastic BOSS Members' Day

Members of the BOSS Federation were invited to the prestigious Stationers' Hall in London yesterday to attend the annual BOSS Members' Day.

The morning session consisted of an invitation-only CEO Conference where delegates participated in a workshop led by Digital Management Consultant, David Taylor, who specialises in marketing, social media training, strategy & implementation. Guests were challenged to analyse their business strategies, corporate cultures, content creation, community management, social advertising and use of big data. Key take aways from the day included the importance of social media guidelines and the need to create a 'content reservoir'.

Presentations were also given by Stephen Gilbert of The Printing Charity who informed guests of a new initiative to help business supplies professionals who are experiencing or facing unemployment to find jobs; and Nick Bell of CAFOD who provided an update on the fantastic initiative instigated by BOSS and sponsored by EVO, SPOT and Office Depot that sent surplus stationery supplies to children in Sudan earlier this year to support their education.

Guests were then welcomed to the Chairman's Luncheon by BOSS Chairman and Managing Director of Durable UK, Sean Starkey, who congratulated Guest of Honour, Nigel Mitchell, on his BOSS Outstanding Achievement Award which he received at last year's BOSS Awards in October.

The 110th Annual General Meeting of the BOSS Federation took place in the afternoon whereby several Board updates were delivered:

• Current BOSS Chairman, Sean Starkey, gave an industry update on the challenges ahead.
• Vice-Chairman, Adrian Butler of VOW has stepped down from the Board.
• New members of the Board include Robert Baldrey CEO of EVO Group, Jeff Whiteway CEO of Spicers-Office Team (SPOT) and Elliot Jacobs MD of UOE.
• Current members of the Board were re-elected including Philip Beer of Hamelin Brands, Geoffrey Betts of Stewart Superior Europe, Rob Jenkins of Integra, David Langdown of XPD, and Sean Starkey of Durable UK.
• A new Vice-Chairman will be elected in the current year from the Resellers on the Board.

During the AGM BOSS CEO, Michael Gardner, directed members' attention to a document outlining the improvements that have been made to the industry since the BOSS Federation's establishment in 1905. He pointed out many of the current value added initiatives in place to support members arising from the Association Management Contract which was signed with the B.P.I.F. in 2007. Click here for your copy.

To round up the day a networking drinks reception took place in the gardens of Stationers' Hall.

The BOSS Federation are committed to providing a fantastic service to their members and later this year will be sending a Priorities for Business Supplies booklet to all Lords and MPs in Parliament to lobby government on matters affecting the industry. This will be made available to members shortly.

For more information please contact Helen Dunn, Senior Marketing Manager, at [email protected].

Michael Gardner
Chief Executive - BOSS Federation