I am honoured to be elected as the first President of our new Association and look forward to working with fellow members of the Management Council on an ambitious 2001 agenda.

Congratulations to everyone connected with the organisation of the Promoting Performance conference held prior to our AGM. This was a new departure for the Association and very professionally done. Thanks also to the excellent speakers and for the support of so many members.

One of the presentations that I was looking forward to at the conference was the DTI sponsored report into Sector Competitiveness in the UK Construction Equipment Industry. This was presented by David Phillips and Chris Barrow-Williams of Off-Highway Research. In summary, the outcome for the industry was positive with a great deal to be proud of. At the same time, there were many references to can do better and indeed must do better if we are to remain competitive in world markets.

The summary, which is available on request from Sharna at the CEA offices, highlights the strengths and weaknesses of our industry sector plus a series of 15 recommendations for action. The first was that we should adopt the automotive industry’s lead of helping their supplier base achieve higher levels of performance by following their SMMT Master Class example - precisely the route we were taking with the Promoting Performance conference.

The DTI report focused a number of issues on the CEA and we will need to respond to those challenges as part of our new agenda. Fortunately we have some very effective internal working committees to help us. Our Export Marketing Group and Technical Committee are all strengths that we can build on - and indeed need to be promoted in a bid to attract more members.

One of the key recommendations to come from the report is the role that the CEA should play in assisting smaller member companies in all aspects of exporting - sales, marketing, finance and distribution. It is suggested that larger member companies be encouraged to accept some responsibility for helping the smaller companies to get established in the key export markets.

Our Export Marketing Group is already helping to do just this with no less than 125 different smaller companies exhibiting at the Bauma exhibition in Germany next month as part of a CEA sponsored British Group.

With the greater focus on SMEs, I am sorry that Terry Hawthorn has decided to stand down as Chairman of our Component Suppliers Committee after eight years. Many thanks on behalf of the members for your support, Terry, and we look forward to working with your successor in tackling some of the issues raised in the DTI report.

The formation of the new Construction Equipment Association provides a springboard for us to move forward. Hopefully the adoption of the new name will be seen as an indication of a more open, member-friendly organisation, capable of creating a higher public profile that will help us gain support for issues we believe are important.

Finally, a big "thank you" to our outgoing President, Bob Sutton, for his significant contribution to the FMCEC over the last 12 months. We will miss his wise contribution to the Council and wish him well in North Carolina.

NEIL ALLEN - JCB Sales Ltd - CEA President

NEW CEA OFFICERS

Neil Allen is supported by the new 1st Vice President, Dan Willis of Gomaco International Ltd. Dan is also President of the Concrete Equipment section of CECE. 2nd Vice President is David Redhead, MD of BSP International Foundations Ltd. David is also Co-Chairman of our Export Marketing Group (EMG). Paul Ross of Caterpillar (UK) Ltd was officially elected as a Council Member at the AGM and is our other EMG Co-Chairman.