Over £14,000 was raised for charity during the Gala Dinner that concluded the BMF All Industry Conference in Barcelona last week.

The funds will be split between the BMF’s nominated charities for 2025: Variety, the Children’s Charity, and The Educational Frontier Trust (TEFT), which provides free education for vulnerable children in Kenya.

John Newcomb, BMF CEO, said:  “Our Gala Dinner always provides a glorious finale to the Conference. This year’s dinner, held at the historic La Llotja De Mar, one of the finest buildings in Barcelona, was attended by 450 people whose generosity has added another fantastic sum to our charities. 

“The entire conference raised the bar once again for our bi-annual All Industry event. I want to thank our brilliant speakers, our returning host, Mark Durden-Smith, and the BMF team for working so hard to ensure that delegates had a great time and went home with plenty of food for thought, as well as new contacts.”

The conference was praised by merchant, supplier and service delegates, and the whole merchant industry received a glowing tribute from one of our keynote speakers, Ellis Watson, who led one of the best-received sessions of the weekend.

Watson, whose presentation looked at disruption and the benefits it can bring, commented on the strength of the relationship between the BMF and its members, saying: “I’ve been booked three hundred times in two decades for a huge, diverse range of gigs around the world, with every type of company and business model, including a lot of trade associations.  

"I have never, ever worked for a trade association that is so engaged with its membership. I received the most extraordinary reception from the audience. It's rare to get quite that level of engagement with an audience. Still, I know it’s because it’s equally rare to have such an extraordinarily effective relationship with an association and its membership.”

Amongst the delegates commenting on the event, Martin Stables, Group Chief Executive of IBMG, said: "Thanks as ever for organising what I think was the best conference in our industry’s history! Fantastic in all ways."

Ian Stokes, Managing Director for Knauf UK, added his congratulations, saying: “Terrific conference. Well done to the team. Fab speakers, great hotel, super location and superb organisation.”

Steve Duke, Commercial Director Northern Europe at Knauf Insulation, welcomed the personal approach and connections, saying: “Great conference, great speakers and amazing social events. I came away with a real feeling of gratitude to be involved in such a fantastic, people-based industry. With all the hype about digitalisation and AI, everyone measures themselves against the titans such as Amazon and Google. I think we should celebrate that we are one of the few remaining industries where people really matter. It’s the personal connections and personal approach to service that sets our industry apart. We should be proud of that rather than feel the pressure to mimic the global digital giants."

Keith Wright, Managing Director for Joseph Parr, Rochdale, looked back on an “Awesome weekend. We really do work in the world’s best industry. Thanks so much for all the time and energy put into making it such a memorable weekend. Too many laughs to remember!”

Darren Gray, Head of Enterprise Sales Ireland for Intact Software, said: “From arrival to departure, I felt it was the best organised and beneficial event I have attended to date. To refer to it as the ‘BMF family’ is a very apt term. A conference of like-minded people with a shared goal of being the best in their field.”

Read a full report of the BMF Conference in the July/August issue of BMN, due to be published on 22 July.