BCA Conference Held Last Week in London

The conference included the presentation of the David Poole Memorial Award to Tom Stokes of Evans Easyspace.

Business Centre Association, the UK-based trade organization, held its annual conference and exhibition last week in London at the Hilton hotel in Canary Wharf. Over 200 members were in attendance. 

More than 200 BCA members attended the event, which featured a number of distinguished of speakers, including economics expert Justin Urquhart-Stewart, Google industry head Luke McKend and marketing guru BJ Cunningham.

Chair of the BCA Julie Calder told the audience that it had been both an exciting and challenging year for the BCA, which included a lobbying campaign that resulted in the average business center saving £13,000 annually in empty property rates. She urged members to maintain the campaign by writing to their MPs.

Calder reported on the Consumer Charter and online Broker Code of Conduct, saying that excellent progress had been made, and that work had begun on lobbying government on a new voucher scheme to support SMEs and eradicate uncompetitive local authority–run business centers.

At the conference BCA's Jennifer Brooke announced Tom Stokes, Managing Director of Evans Easyspace and former BCA Chair, as the recipient of the inaugural David Poole Memorial Award. The award recognizes an individual or organization who has made an enormous contribution to the industry.

BCA was established in 1989 and specializes in providing support and guidance to owners and operators of centers, while setting industry standards.