IAAF promises lively post-Brexit flavour to Conference

The IAAF will adopt a post-Brexit theme at its Annual Conference next month, with a host of influential key speakers from across the automotive industry taking centre stage to discuss important issues involving ‘tomorrow’s’ aftermarket and future technology.

The Conference – sponsored by Autoparts UK – will be held on 7 December at DoubleTree by Hilton, Milton Keynes and aims to examine current issues from both the UK and Europe, highlighting the many changes that are taking place across the industry from a technical, legislative, market and Brexit perspective.

The theme – ‘Facing a post Brexit world in the automotive aftermarket’ aims to address all these issues and produce a lively debate for conference guests.

The Conference will be facilitated by Johnny Herbert, widely recognised as one of the greatest all-round racing drivers in the history of motorsport.

An array of speakers will be invited to engage the audience of around 100 attendees, most of whom will include parts suppliers, distributors, garages, as well as representatives from the industry and aftermarket trade press.

Dr Julia Saini, vice president consulting of Frost & Sullivan will be addressing the Conference on the importance of the UK aftermarket to the UK economy and Brexit’s impact on the sector, followed by Quentin Le-Hetet, general manager of GIPA discussing how global influences are impacting on the distribution structure of the UK aftermarket. Alistair Preston, co-founder of Whocanfixmycar will be tackling the rise of online service providers & the impact on the UK aftermarket and Caroline Lake, Founder of Caroline’s Cars will be talking about life running a garage in 2017 and the main challenges for the future.

As the Conference heads into the afternoon session, technology will be very much the focus as Olaf Henning, corporate executive vice president of Mahle Aftermarket speaks on how F1 technology is being used to drive developments in the automotive parts aftermarket. The audience will also get to hear about future technologies and their impact on the aftermarket from Steve Nash, chief executive of IMI and Neil Pattemore, technical director of Figiefa will follow, sharing his view on the latest technical threats emerging from the UK and Europe, before the conference draws to a close with president of the IAAF, Lawrence Bleasdale.

Wendy Williamson, IAAF chief executive said: “This year’s Conference is anticipated to be a lively one and we hope shall provide some valuable, fresh insight to our members, as we cap off a rollercoaster year for the industry and UK economy in general. We have a fantastic mix of talks lined up from some excellent speakers, and no doubt Johnny’s presence will only heighten the sense of anticipation. The audience can expect a thoroughly engaging and enjoyable day.”