FSPA lobbying on Brexit is ‘hugely reassuring’ for sports & play industries

• Posted on Jul 17, 2017
• Blog

Beth Tarry is the Marketing Manager at Davies Sports in Manchester, a leading retailer of sports and PE equipment. Beth is also Deputy Chair of SPE, our leading Sports and PE Association.

We first joined SPE in 2012 and since then we’ve seen it go from strength to strength, representing all those businesses throughout the UK that design, manufacture and sell sports and PE equipment in the education and leisure sectors.

The Sports and PE Association’s role is an important one to us because not only are we committed to influencing the future of sport for young people in the UK, we also demand the best from our members. Without exception, our members deliver best practice, safety and excellence in sporting equipment.

For us, our membership of the FSPA is also an added advantage. As well as all the customised benefits and support that SPE provides for members, we also get automatic access to the FSPA’s benefits, offering a broader range of services  such as the Business Advice Line and the DBS checking service.

But it’s the influence of the FSPA that’s the most significant aspect to us. Joining together with other associations in the sports and play industries, means we benefit through strength in numbers and, with Brexit negotiations now underway, this strength has never been so needed.

Since we voted to leave the EU last year, the FSPA’s close links with UK government, particularly the Department for International Trade (DIT), mean that they are uniquely placed to lobby on our behalf. As one of Europe’s largest trade bodies, they work closely with their trade association counterparts overseas, particularly FESI – the Federation of the European Sporting Goods Industry.

Brexit represents a time of enormous change and uncertainty, with issues around the movement of workers, trade tariffs and standards and regulations having the potential to impact UK businesses.

Knowing that the FSPA is consulting with its members, feeding back our concerns to the relevant UK government departments and negotiating on our behalf is hugely reassuring. No other organisation can represent the very specific and particular concerns of our industry in the same way.