Reflections from BIBA 2024: The power of community

It was Graeme Trudgill’s first conference as CEO of BIBA, and it was fantastic to see the enthusiastic applause from the audience as he entered the stage and welcomed everyone. I had the pleasure of working quite closely with Graeme for the previous 18 months when he sat on the CII Broking Community Board, so I know great he is and how excellent he will be in the leading BIBA. His passion, dedication, and commitment to the profession and all who work in it is inspiring and he will make a hugely positive difference for so many people.

The theme that Graeme chose for this year was ‘What’s Next?’

But it wasn’t only ‘What’s Next’ in our evolving profession, it also connected the question to our lives from a personal perspective. We got to hear valuable insight from senior experts about how geopolitics might impact the UK, plus reports on events around the world that will influence our industry and our customers. We also had the real pleasure of hearing inspiring speakers sharing their remarkable stories of finding courage and developing resilience to move forward through personal challenges.

A panel discussion included Billy Monger, the 24-year-old British racing driver and presenter who, following a collision in 2017 that required both of his legs to be amputated, has gone on to achieve sporting success, raise £3 million for charity competing in an Ironman Triathlon, awarded a BAFTA for his BBC documentary about his story, and win BBC’S Sports Personality of the Year Award for outstanding achievement in the face of adversity. Although only 24, the wisdom and maturity that he demonstrates can be a lesson to us all, as he talked about accepting that things in life don’t always work out how we wanted, and understanding what things in life we can control, and not giving time or energy to things that we cannot control.

We also heard a very moving and honest account from TV presenter and author Vicky Pattison as she talked about the devastating impact that her father’s alcoholism had on her childhood and how it subconsciously impacted her into her adult life. Vicky had to work hard and find strength to move forward and leave behind a lot of what she had achieved, and is now working hard to raise awareness of alcoholism and the devastating affect it can have on the people around them.

Then we heard from Rio Ferdinand OBE, one of the most recognised faces in English football, as he talked about the challenges he has faced in his personal life after losing his wife and the mother of his young children. Rio’s emotional account touched on the challenges in men’s mental health and how he struggled through his own experiences. He shed a tear when he talked about the difficulties his own dad has in showing love but how unbelievable he has been in helping him with the children after losing Rio’s mum recently.

The panel was hosted by presenter Kate Garraway MBE, who has worked tirelessly to raise awareness of the difficulties faced by carers after her own experiences with her husband. She shared how it has shaped her own resilience and mindset, that being able to adapt to change is key and be prepared and accept to risk failure in life.

Throughout the session I felt a real connection with the panel, and I could feel the audience in the room were moved and inspired by the honesty and openness of the speakers. Their compelling personal stories of triumph over adversity seemed to be just what we all needed, and it reminded me how important it is that we all feel that connection and a sense of shared purpose that being part of a community can give us. Graeme and the 2024 BIBA team did a fantastic job of creating a real feeling of community both professionally and personally and I feel grateful that I was able to be a part of it.