Federation of Manufacturing Opticians chairman Barry Dibble called on the whole of the optical profession and industry to join the FMO in its goal of bringing about fewer, exhibitions and conferences that are both affordable and staged for the good of the sector.
Addressing the FMO annual lunch Dibble said 2014 had been a year of growth for the organisation with more members and renewed interest from companies seeking to join the FMO. He said Optrafair 2014 had produced an outstanding result which had contributed to the well-being of the FMO and the charities and organisations it supports. This had been created an increased workload for which which he thanked the chief executive and office support staff.
'It is our aim to bring about fewer, well-organised, consolidated exhibitions and conferences at an affordable cost and I would urge you all to support the FMO in this worthwhile objective for what we believe is the good of the sector,' he said. Much of the profits from the event would be returned to optics through training, education and the benevolent fund and running the FMO as the industry's voice. He said a commitment had been made to keep costs down and 70 per cent of the floor space was sold for the 2015 Optrafair in Birmingham.
Dibble went on to present cheques to the Optical Workers Benevolent and Vision Aid Overseas plus awards and thanks to FMO officers. Honorary life memberships were also awarded to Optical Confederation chairman, Chris Hunt and to FMO administrator Sandie Fisher.
The lunch also marked the retirement, after 65 years in optics, of Malcolm Polley, until recently FMO chief executive. Guests watched a moving presentation of Polley's achievements over the years before rising to their feet to applaud his contribution to optics.