Insight

The British & Irish Association of Fastener Distributors has existed under various guises since the early 1940s, sometimes successful, occasionally in peril of dissolution. Today, BIAFD robustly represents the UK and Irish fastener distribution sectors; ensures its members are better informed; and plays a very active role in EFDA, of which it is a founder member.

In 1941, members of the then ‘Black Bolt & Nut Association’ began importing fasteners from Canada to support the British industrial ‘war effort’. The landscape of the British fastener market has evolved massively in the intervening eighty years. Some things, however, have not changed. The role of the fastener supply chain and, especially now, its importers and distributors remain absolutely vital to the industrial and construction industries of the British Isles.

BIAFD, however, has changed radically. Twenty years ago, it wasn’t in good shape – haemorrhaging membership, as well as facing potentially terminal financial and organisational challenges. In crisis there is choice between dissolution or renewal. BIAFD emphatically took the latter course. It completely restructured to form a lean, cost-effective organisation, focused tightly on providing the fastener industry specific support that members were unable to derive from other wider-scoped business organisations.

Membership had dwindled to less than twenty-five. Over the last two decades, the association has developed into a vibrant, committed industry organisation, dedicated to the interests of the fastener industry. In 2014, at the request of companies in Ireland, it extended its membership and added that ‘I’ to its acronym, as well as a rich additional dimension to the organisation.

Today, BIAFD has more than eighty members – major wholesalers and importers, multinational OEM suppliers, and a diverse population of small and medium fastener distributors, servicing every market sector. Together they represent more than half of fastener sales in the British Isles. UK manufacturers have also chose to join BIAFD, deriving concrete value from a modest annual subscription that has increased little in 20 years. BIAFD also enjoys the valued support of its associate members – suppliers to the sector, media and exhibition organisations, and specialist consultants.

Successive officers and directors have energetically participated in EFDA activities. BIAFD has played a significant part in EFDA’s own development into a proactive European voice for fastener importers and distributors. Regardless of the UK’s exit from the EU, that role will continue as strongly as ever.

Above all, BIAFD is deeply committed to ensuring its members are better and quicker informed – these days a defining characteristic. During the coronavirus pandemic that commitment intensified and thoroughly proved its value. One member’s recent unsolicited testimony says it all: “I just wanted to pass our thanks to the team at BIAFD for the excellent communication over the current coronavirus crisis. Its speed and quality have meant that BIAFD bulletin info and links have been our main source for everything coronavirus related. Consequently, as directors we have been able to spend more time managing our business and far less searching for this advice.”

While the health impact of the coronavirus will hopefully recede, its economic impact will continue to reverberate. The UK – and Ireland too – now imminently face the short-term challenges of BREXIT, whether or not it delivers much-vaunted longer-term benefits. Crucial issues are already firmly on the BIAFD agenda – whether customs and import procedures, regulatory transitions such as REACH and CE Marking, standards, supply chain and market analysis, or skills and training.

For twenty years BIAFD has functioned on a paperless basis, communicating electronically from a virtual office. That capability has been honed during the pandemic. News feeds have intensified; regular web conferences have maintained engagement with members; online surveys have provided research to inform government and benchmarking for members. BIAFD comments: “We sincerely hope to be able to ‘meet again’ soon, to network and socialise, an equally important part of what the BIAFD provides. However, these ‘new skills’ will continue to be invaluable as we all adapt to the coronavirus ‘new normal’.”

As one officer regularly says of BIAFD: “It may not be perfect, but it is all we have, and it deserves the support of the whole industry.” Recognising there is plenty more still to do has driven BIAFD’s success over the last two decades – it will go on ensuring BIAFD’s effectiveness and relevance as the foremost UK and Irish fastener industry body for the future.

www.biafd.org