Hi John! We can’t believe it’s May already. How has the year been for you so far?
“It’s true what they say about time flying by when you are having fun! It’s been a great year so far, both personally and on a business level. I went skiing for the first time in about 15 years and came back in one piece, yahoo! I’ve also been working hard on BAPIA and really enjoying seeing things coming together, it’s so satisfying when we get such great feedback and referrals from members.”
Sounds busy! Can you choose a personal highlight out of all of that?
“On a personal level it would have to be the skiing, I always loved it and was overjoyed that I hadn’t lost the ability to stay upright. The BAPIA highlight has to be the stream of positive feedback and the support that members give us. BAPIA really is a two-way street, we work to find new benefits for members and they keep supporting us and helping us to move forward.”
What’s coming up for BAPIA over the summer months? Any campaigns or events we should all be aware of?
“Well, we actually have a couple of great projects that we are working on for later this year and 2019, I can’t tell you what they are yet but I’ll make sure you are one of the first to know. However, I can tell you that we are once again planning the GOSH 2018 day which will be our sixth year and again we expect it to be over-subscribed, it really is a fantastic day and everybody truly enjoys it and builds great relationships. We love supporting Great Ormond Street Hospital and what we do gives so much pleasure to the children, this really is our industry at its very best!”
Let’s get down to the serious stuff! What do you think is the single biggest issue facing balloon retailers and decorators today?
“Okay, this really is a serious issue. There are two different issues currently, although they do crossover. Firstly the issue of balloon bans has to be the biggest concern for retailers and decorators. We are seeing councils around the UK and indeed the world, trying to enforce blanket bans on balloons. This really is a huge over reaction to the issue by these councils because the majority of balloons are sold and disposed of responsibly and do not cause any damage to the environment. So we have to respond to this in order to protect our industry. At BAPIA we have carried out a survey of our members to find out their opinion on balloon releases and we will publish the results in the coming weeks.
The second issue for our industry is the problem of single-use plastics. Our industry uses numerous products made from plastic. As the manufacturers develop environmentally friendly versions of these products, retailers and decorators will undoubtedly have to pay more for them, as they cost more to produce. We all have a responsibility to protect the environment and unfortunately that comes at a price.”
And finally, what’s the one piece of balloon kit you’d never be without?
“Does cake and biscuits count as balloon kit? No? In that case it would be the Premium Twin Air Sizer. Yes, I am biased, but it really is a great machine that can inflate balloons that no other machine can inflate.”
Thanks John, have a great week!
