BCSC - General - Francis Ives becomes President

Date: 18 Apr 2000

At the Annual General Meeting of the British Council of Shopping Centres (BCSC) at the Institute of Directors in London, Iain Watters of MEPC handed over the presidency to Francis Ives of project management and cost consultancy firm Cyril Sweett and launched the new corporate identity.

Francis Ives, the new president, is the first president to come from the world of construction. It will, according to Ives give him a different approach and influence his presidential year. The issues that Ives will focus on for his year in office include:

Focusing on the BCSC membership:

To encourage the next generation to take an active role in the BCSC, in particularly by giving them responsibility on committees and encouraging active participation in the BCSC.

To offer support to regional members by rolling out the seminar programme to the regions.

On lobbying Government:

To further lobby government on issues affecting the industry such as transport and planning.

On e-commerce:

To continue research to educate the shopping centre industry to understand the benefits and threats from the technology revolution.

These initiatives will build on the marked successes of Iain Watters' presidential year, which included:

Publication of key research 'The Shopping Centre Industry: Its Importance to the UK Economy', 'The Good Transport Guide' and 'Breaking the Log Jam'

Establishing an e-commerce Taskforce, whose objective is to identify the issues and commission and monitor vital research on this research.

Launching the web site - www.bcsc.org.uk and an on-line shopping centre information service.

Commenting on the end of his presidential year, Iain Watters said: "This has been a year of sound achievements for the BCSC. From the start of my year in office there was little doubt the Government's search for an integrated transport policy would dominate the headlines, we also had to tackle the e-commerce revolution. In what has been an enjoyable and rewarding year we have made an impact on those areas."

Francis Ives commented: "Looking to the year ahead we have much to build on. In particular I will be working with our committees to extend the seminar programme to the regions, as well as continuing the initiative to encourage younger members to take an active role in the BCSC."

The new corporate logo was also launched to reflect the changes in the corporate character of the BCSC since its foundation 17 years ago as a platform for its development in the future. The strapline, 'concentrating on the retail property industry' not only explains what the BCSC does but also allows it to embrace all members from retailing to property development and management.

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