Three interactive industry workshops to be held at the BMF All-Industry Conference in Budapest in June will give delegates an opportunity to experience one of the BMF's most popular recent innovations.

The workshops are based on the specialist BMF Industry Forums that both serve different interest groups within the merchant sector and encourage broader member engagement.

There are now over 10 BMF Industry Forums meeting on a regular basis. Three of these – Marketing, Plumbing & Heating, and Young Merchants - will be featured on the second day of the Conference, giving delegates an opportunity to hear from expert speakers and to discuss the issues that most affect them with their colleagues in the wider industry.

Delegates will be invited to select one of the Forums, detailed below, to attend in advance of the event.

Marketing Forum

This will pick up on the Conference theme of Change, Challenge & Opportunity, to discuss the impacts that changes in the marketplace are having on marketing and business development strategy. BMF's Marketing Forum is chaired by EH Smith marketing director, Mark Mallinder. Two speakers from the first day's Conference programme, Floyd Woodrow and Michael Jackson, will make a second appearance to start the proceedings before a Q&A session moderated by Conference host, Gethin Jones. The Marketing Forum is sponsored by MRA Marketing.

Plumbing & Heating Forum

Plumbing & Heating was the first specialist Forum created by the BMF back in 2014. This special session will be hosted by broadcaster and journalist, Steph McGovern, alongside the P&H Forum chair, Keith Jones. The guest speakers are Patrick Headon (pictured), managing director of Wolseley UK, and Jonathan Collier, managing director of Monument Tools, who are sponsoring this workshop. Once again, delegates will be encouraged to add their views to the debate in a Q&A session following the initial presentations.

Young Merchants Forum

You would be right to expect something different at a Young Merchants Forum. The guest speaker here is Hannah Earnshaw, one of five Britons, and 100 people worldwide, shortlisted for Mars One, a one-way mission that aims to create a human colony on Mars. Ms Earnshaw, an astrophysics PHD student at Durham University, was selected from over 200,000 initial applications. The session will be chaired by Victoria Fiddies, regional sales manager at Catnic, and hosted by Kevin Parr who heads PGS-Team. The Young Merchants Forum is sponsored by ACO.

The BMF All-Industry Conference takes place in Budapest from 15 to 18 June 2017, at the five-star Intercontinental Hotel. Broadcaster and TV personality, Gethin Jones, will host the event, which has already sold out.

Further details are available on the Conference website, www.bmfconference.co.uk.

Pictured: Patrick Headon, managing director of Wolseley UK, will take part in the Plumbing and Heating Forum