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| BFA President, Mark Ward | ||||
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Mark Ward, President of the BFA has been a retail
florist since leaving school. Mark went into business opening his first
outlet, C M Florists at the age of just 16 in 1983 and went onto open
a second shop in 1989. C M Florists are long standing Teleflorist
members having joined the relay organisation in 1985. Mark attained his
City & Guilds Floristry certificates levels 1 - 4 during the late 80's
and went onto teach floristry at St Helens College in Merseyside
for five years during the early 1990's.
Mark got involved with the BFA after attending the
associations annual conference/AGM in Solihull in 1996 and took on the
role of press/publicity director and was then elected as Vice-president in
2000, serving under the presidency of Hazel Roddis.
Mark became President of the BFA in 2002, at the
age of 35, the associations youngest ever President in its fifty year
history, and to date the longest serving one. "Becoming President of
BFA was a huge honour for me and one that I do not take lightly. I was
determined to work hard and grow the association for the benefit of all
concerned, in particular our members and I think we've achieved
a huge amount and are continuing in the right direction."
said Mark.
Over the last six years the association has
gone from a membership of just over 260 to over 2,500 members and now has
a wealth of exclusive member benefits including card processing through
Lloyds TSB Cardnet and insurance affinity scheme through Bridge Insurance
Brokers, underwritten by Royal & Sun Alliance to help members
save money on their every day running costs. Mark now also heads up the
Economic Task Force Committee in Europe through FEUPF (the European Trade
Federation) and attends at almost all of the BFA regional member hub
meetings.
Mark said "I am dedicated to this industry and
particularly to the BFA. With ever increasing competition within our
industry sector a strong trade body is essential to ensure our members are
best served in terms of affinity partnerships and through representation
to government both here and in Brussels." Mark continued, "I am
very fortunate to have a great team of fellow board directors who
seem to share the same passion and drive for both the BFA and the industry
as a whole."
Outside of the BFA Mark enjoys dining out with
friends and family and is a season ticket holder at his beloved Wigan
Rugby League Club, the Wigan Warriors and can be found at every
home game at the JJB Stadium in Wigan, his home town where Mark still
works within his business and lives. Mark commented "I'm very
proud of my roots and home town, and have the same amount of passion for
my rugby team, the Wigan Warriors, I get really involved in the game,
cheering when things go our way and shouting if we're been hard done to by
the referee. As well as enjoying the game and appreciating the skill
of the players it's also a great way for me to release my stresses of the
week."
Looking to the future Mark is confident that the BFA will continue to go from strength to strength. "Now that we have a full time secretariat, Vikki ensures the smooth day to day running of the office and keeps the web-site updated so we are able to offer the very best service to both members and consumers alike." Mark goes onto say "Our aim is to ensure that our members get the best possible from the BFA, that includes us promoting them to the consumer and the benefits of using a BFA florist. Starting this year (2008) and for the next three years the BFA will have a presence at all the RHS Flower shows, including, Chelsea, BBC Gardeners World Live at the NEC and Tatton Park, where the BFA will have our own Marquee to showcase professional floristry to consumers and give exposure to our members." You may email Mark on president@britishfloristassociation.org with
any comments or suggestions.
Hover over the images below for descriptions:
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