Our members benefit from strength in numbers and the Association lobbies on their behalf in terms of regulation and legislation.
To grow and strengthen our position on behalf of our members, in 2012 we embarked on a positive programme towards merger with the British Water Cooler Association: a development for the market as a whole, with obvious benefits for all stakeholders in the industry.
Our aim was to create one set of standards, one set of technical notes and consolidated codes of conduct for the entire drinking water market.
Sadly, despite our enthusiasm for this logical and progressive step, and notwithstanding considerable work, negotiation and agreement by the Executive Committees of both Associations, the planned merger floundered.
Having overcome differences of opinion on many contentious yet important areas, and with five sub-committee meetings having agreed much of the detail between us, we were all confident of a merger succeeding. However, several days after the meeting, an undisclosed objection was raised by the BWCA that has stopped the merger in its tracks.
Given all the common ground found between the two associations, myself and all members of the Executive Council of the EDWCA are extremely disappointed that the merger stumbled and we still believe that it would be in the best interests of the members of both for there to be a singular point of focus for the industry. But merger with the BWCA is not the only option for progress.
To strengthen the offering for our members and to ensure that membership continues to represent a valuable and meaningful proposition, we are looking at a number of possible options.
Based on our close association with the European Vending Association (EVA) and our strong relationship with the UK Vending Association (AVA) – the organisation with which we co-host the AVEX trade show – we have entered talks to evaluate the potential synergy between the EDWCA and one of the vending industry associations.
The vending industry is a much larger and more mature market, and aligning ourselves with a trade association in this market would, we believe, very much strengthen our offering for members.
While the market differs, the roles for a trade association are very similar, both in terms of the standards we seek to uphold and the legislation that we observe. We share the same market of customers and consumers, understanding and appreciating each others’ expertise.
While it’s too early to speculate on the potential outcome for a future merger, the EDWCA remains committed to embrace any opportunity that represents the best interests of its members. As the chairman of our Technical Standards Committee, Kieran McKenna, frames our aim: “One industry, one voice, one message of continuous quality improvement.”
This opinion piece is to be published in issue 43 of Cooler Innovation, available early March 2013.
This is a personal blog and views expressed are his own.
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