New BFPA President and BFPDA Council Chairman Elected at 2021 AGMs

17 Jun 2021

BFPA’s 35th AGM was held virtually on 26 May and was attended by many BFPA and BFPDA members. New BFPA President, John Farmer of Flowtech Fluidpower plc was elected to serve for two years, and Rob Woodley of Derek Lane & Company Limited, the new BFPDA Council Chairman, was voted in for a similar two-year term of office at the 32nd AGM of the BFPDA. The new incoming Vice President of the BFPA is now Rebecca Galley of Hydroscand Limited, and new Vice Chairman of the BFPDA is Stefan Gunter of Abdex Hose and Couplings Limited. We wish all our new officers every success in their roles and look forward to working with them.

Current officers of the BFPA and BFPDA (2021 – 2023) are:

BFPA President John Farmer of Flowtech Fluidpower plc
BFPA Vice President Rebecca Galley of Hydroscand Limited
BFPDA Council Chairman Rob Woodley of Derek Lane & Company Limited
BFPDA Council Vice Chairman Stefan Gunter of Abdex Hose and Couplings Limited

 

John has spent over 30 years in fluid power and five years involved with the BFPA. Amongst other strategic topics on the agenda, John intends to champion education, recognising first-hand the ever-increasing challenge the industry faces in relation to talent management and succession planning.

John commented; “It may not be fashion or high-tech IT; however, the fluid power industry provides numerous exciting opportunities, not just in engineering, but across multiple disciplines including sales, marketing, supply chain, logistics and increasingly data and IT, and education needs to start at a grassroots level”.

As a disciple of fluid power John will make it his mission to spread the word and in turn will encourage members to donate time, to spend in schools and colleges, raising awareness about fluid power and breathing life into the industry.

Rob commented; “I have got to know many fellow Council Members, Vice Chairmen and Chairmen over the years, all of whom have done an excellent job, I only hope that I can at least equal the sterling work they have achieved. My aim will be to take the baton from our previous Chairman, Nigel Thomason and the great work he has done along with Vice Chairman Andy Connell. It goes without saying that the legacy of work Nigel has achieved in his tenure has been extremely important. The enforcement of best practices, training, codes of conduct and added value to the association has set a benchmark for the future and should not be overlooked. We are all experiencing unprecedented times, but I am sure with the back-up of the whole BFPDA team at Chipping Norton, and the wider BFPA Board & BFPDA Council we can raise the profile and promote the BFPDA further.”

Outgoing officers Hans Waltl and Nigel Thomason were thanked for their service and awarded lifetime Fellowship of the BFPA.

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