What the BPA can do for you
Whether you are a manufacturer or supplier there is little doubt about the benefits of belonging to your industry specific trade association and for the nursery sector, the Baby Products Association (BPA) is the voice of the industry. The BPA is a non-profit making membership organisation with the sole aim to promote and support its members and represent the nursery industry as a whole. It provides help and advice to companies on a number of issues and also lobbies the
Government on subjects which are poignant to baby products. For example, in 2009 the BPA successfully lobbied the government to reduce VAT to 5% on Isofix car seat bases.
Another significant benefit to BPA members is the preferential rate offered when exhibiting at the two UK
nursery trade shows – Harrogate Nursery Fair in the spring and the Baby Show for Trade in the autumn. Additionally, the BPA organises a UK Pavilion at Europe’s largest nursery trade show – Kind + Jugend, providing the perfect platform for numerous companies to launch into European markets and can provide access to funding too. The BPA has also negotiated a number of preferential membership rates from important industry service providers such as Croner Consulting, which offers business advisory services delivering expert advice on a number of key topics. BPA members have access to a free helpline on subjects such as
Employment and Personnel, Health & Safety, Debt Collection and Credit
Management. More details can be found on the BPA website at
www.thebpa.eu Encouragement for budding inventors
The baby products industry probably attracts more entrepreneurs than almost any other UK business sector as parents from a diverse range of backgrounds discover gaps in the market and come up with clever ideas to fill them. The BPA strives to encourage this innovation and since the launch of its Concept & Innovation Awards, has seen numerous entrants to the scheme successfully launch their idea to the marketplace.
Products which have proved successful include the Wean Machine by Jackson Beazeley which won the 2008 Concept & Innovation Award and is now stocked in many major high street stores, and Chillipeeps which won in 2009. This product was successfully launched at the 2011 Harrogate Nursery Fair attracting immense interest from retailers and distributors
66
from across the globe. Claire Mitchell, inventor of Chillipeeps, commented: “Entering the BPA Awards was the single best step we made during the development of Chillipeeps, as having received fantastic feedback from industry professionals we decided that it was viable to take the product to market.” The deadline for the Concept & Innovation
Awards is generally in early July, after which shortlisted entries are invited to present their products to a panel of industry experts. The finalists are then given the exciting opportunity of staging their product idea at the Baby Show for Trade at which the overall winners are also announced.
For more information about the BPA Concept & Innovation Awards visit the website at
www.thebpa.eu or call 0845 456 9570.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68