British Furniture Confederation
Encyclopedia
The British Furniture Confederation (BFC) is a lobby
Lobbying
Lobbying is the act of attempting to influence decisions made by officials in the government, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying is done by various people or groups, from private-sector individuals or corporations, fellow legislators or government officials, or...

 group that represents the furniture
Furniture
Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...

 and bed making industries of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. It ensures that the views of its members are heard by Parliamentarians
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 and government Ministers and is active in Westminster working on behalf of the industry.

Structure

The BFC was founded in 2006 under the chairmanship of Martin Jourdan. It brought together an alliance of trade associations and unions to speak with a single voice to government. The BFC’s founder members included the British Contract Furnishers Association/ Office Furniture Manufacturers Association (BCFA/OFFMA), British Furniture Manufacturers (BFM), ProSkills, the Furniture Industry Research Association (FIRA), the National Bed Federation (NBF), the Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers
Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers
The Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. The organisation was formed in 1951, and the City granted it Livery status in 1963. The Company generally promotes the trade by awarding scholarship to students of the craft.The Company ranks...

 (WCFM), the Association of Master Upholsterers & Soft Furnishers (AMUSF), and the General & Municipal Boilermakers Union
GMB Union
The GMB is a general trade union in the United Kingdom, and has more than 600,000 members. Its members are drawn from many sectors, with particular strength amongst manual workers in local government and the health service...

.

After restructuring in the summer of 2008 its slimmed down Executive Board became responsible for the daily decision making of the group. The Board now consists of Chairman Martin Jourdan, Jessica Alexander (NBF), Roger Mason (BFM), Hayden Davies (FIRA) and Peter Smith (BCFA). The BFC’s Company Secretary is Pete Beele (FIRA).

The Executive meets in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 every two months to discuss issues of concern facing the industry. Along with consultants from public affairs firm PoliticsDirect they plan the BFC’s response to government announcements, initiatives and legislation, as well as general political issues affecting the industry.

Issues of interest

The BFC seeks to lobby the government on a number of issues affecting the furniture industry. It has met with Government Ministers, their relevant Shadows and Members of Parliament from across the political spectrum to lobby on a wide range of issues, such as access to European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

 Funding, procurement
Procurement
Procurement is the acquisition of goods or services. It is favourable that the goods/services are appropriate and that they are procured at the best possible cost to meet the needs of the purchaser in terms of quality and quantity, time, and location...

 of furniture, skills provision, and business support for the UK furniture industry.

All Party Parliamentary Furniture Group

The BFC is a prominent member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group
All-Party Parliamentary Group
An all-party parliamentary group is a grouping in the UK parliament that is composed of politicians from all political parties.-All-party parliamentary groups:...

 on Furniture, an association of MPs, Lords and industry representatives who seek to promote the sector within Westminster. The Furniture Group is chaired by Madeleine Moon
Madeleine Moon
Madeleine Moon is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Bridgend since 2005, succeeding Win Griffiths, who retired from politics.- Early life :...

 MP (Bridgend
Bridgend
Bridgend is a town in the Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of the capital, Cardiff. The river crossed by the original bridge, which gave the town its name, is the River Ogmore but the River Ewenny also passes to the south of the town...

) and meets on a twice monthly basis in the House of Commons when Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

 is sitting.

The group questions senior politicians on policy related to the industry, such as the Rt Hon Angela Eagle
Angela Eagle
Angela Eagle is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Wallasey since 1992. She served as the Minister of State for Pensions and Ageing Society from June 2009 until May 2010. Eagle was elected to the Shadow Cabinet in October 2010 and was appointed by Ed...

 MP (Financial Secretary
Financial secretary
Financial secretary is an administrative and executive government position within the governance of a State, corporation, private or public organization, small group or other body with financial assets....

 at HM Treasury
HM Treasury
HM Treasury, in full Her Majesty's Treasury, informally The Treasury, is the United Kingdom government department responsible for developing and executing the British government's public finance policy and economic policy...

); the Rt Hon Stephen Timms
Stephen Timms
Stephen Creswell Timms is a British Labour politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for East Ham since 1994. He is a former Cabinet Minister having served as Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2006 to 2007...

 MP (Minister of State at the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform was a United Kingdom government department. The department was created on 28 June 2007 on the disbanding of the Department of Trade and Industry , and was itself disbanded on 6 June 2009 on the creation of the Department for Business,...

); and key stakeholders, such as Ian Harrison from the East Midlands Regional Development Authority. In June 2008 the Group hosted a reception and exhibition in the House of Commons to display and celebrate the work of the UK furniture industry.

External links

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