Comment / Fast out of the blocks

A very belated happy new year to you. In HFMA terms, that means our local branches in South Central and Yorkshire and Humber have already run successful and well attended conferences; our Agreement of NHS balances book has been published and is a roaring success; and very soon we will be sending out our first call for bookings for the 2013 annual conference, just two months after the last event. 

I won’t spoil the announcement of some of the speakers we have already secured, but it is well worth putting your booking form in early. All prices for 2012 will apply for 2013, so no increase – and as usual the best packages are those that are out first.

I was very pleased with the 2012 event, but we mustn’t get complacent. It’s vital we keep our showpiece event relevant and exceeding delegates’ expectations. That theme runs throughout everything we do.

For 2013, the association faces several challenges. We are heavily committed to our royal charter application and the approval of key documents at the annual general meeting paves the way for us to push on with it. I’d like to thank all those who got us over the line on that – our application is with the Privy Council.

Just before Christmas, the association took another giant step in its development: we purchased a 128-year lease on two floors of a building in Rochester Row in Victoria, central London.  This is part of an investment strategy to which the board committed last year about making our assets work for us. 

These premises – 6,000 square feet – will be converted into state-of- the-art meeting space and will be used by the association for conferences, meetings and events. It’s a fairly small building with a capacity of about 120 delegates. However, we believe it will provide some great meeting space for us. Furthermore, while our own usage anchors the business case, we will look to let out the space to other organisations when we’re not using it. Our market research tells us this has the potential to bring in a healthy return for the association.

We are hoping to have it open later in the year, although because we have inherited some tenants in part of the space we may not be fully operational until 2015. As well as having six or seven meeting rooms, there will also be a small members’ centre where, if visiting London during office hours, you as a member can find a desk and grab a coffee.  We hope these side benefits will further support the association’s aim to be more high profile and established. I would emphasise that we are not moving from Bristol, where the bulk of our staff will remain.

Times are tough for finance staff and we know you expect us to be at the top of our game. The association is making significant investments to ensure we can best meet the challenges and support members. For example, we have beefed up our research capacity significantly, we are redeveloping our online presence and reviewing our marketing and membership promotion. There will be plenty more about these issues in future columns – and you’re always free to drop me a line at any time.

To contact the chief executive, email [email protected]