ACFO looks to the future at 2011 conference

Key issues confronting fleet today and in the future will be under the spotlight at ACFO's annual conference and AGM.

The environment, technology, residual values and the future of the automotive industry will all be addressed by specialist experts along with an initial impact assessment on business mobility during the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Taking place on Tuesday, May 17, 2011, this year's event is being sponsored by Kia Motors - Business and is taking place at the Heritage Motor Centre and Museum, Gaydon.

The conference will kick-off with environmental expert Don Potts and will continue with: Richard Gane, head of the UK automotive group at PricewaterhouseCoopers, focusing on the future of the automotive industry; Richard Cuerden, technical manager at TRL (Transport Research Laboratory), looking into the future role of technology in road travel; Mark Norman, operational development manager at used car pricing experts Cap, will aim to forecast future vehicle residual values; and David Silvey, road freight interface manager, Olympic Delivery Authority, will provide an insight into the impact of next year's Olympic Games on business travel.

ACFO director Stewart Whyte said: "Once again a top quality and highly relevant conference programme has been compiled, which should be of interest to all fleet decision-makers whether they are professional fleet managers or ‘run the fleet' against a background in HR, facilities, finance or procurement.

"The event will provide members and guests with the opportunity to hear the views of world-class experts and obtain answers to key questions to enable them to further improve the operational effectiveness and efficiency of their fleet."

ACFO has a six-strong board of directors and there are two vacant positions arising from the retirement by rotation of Brian Ingham and Phil Redman. Both of them are offering themselves for re-election as directors.

Additionally, Damian James, who was co-opted on to the board of directors last year, is standing for election. The result of the ballots will be announced at the AGM.

Throughout the day there will be excellent networking opportunities for members and guest fleet operators from across the UK.

All the necessary paperwork has now been distributed to current members. There are some opportunities for non-member fleet decision-makers interested in ACFO's work to attend as guests, by contacting the Membership Secretariat Office (in Petersfield) on 01730 260162/ info@acfo.org.