New EAMA Chairman From Bradman Lake

Graham Hayes, chief executive officer of the GBP35 million Bradman Lake Group has been elected chairman of the Engineering and Machinery Alliance (EAMA) in the UK.

Graham Hayes, chief executive officer of the GBP35 million Bradman Lake Group has been elected chairman of the Engineering and Machinery Alliance (EAMA) in the UK.

The alliance, of which Picon is a founder member, comprises six associations representing over a thousand firms operating in value added engineering, mostly as SMEs.

Graham Hayes (56) has held senior positions in packaging companies on both sides of the Atlantic for 20 years.

Most recently he has turned Bradman Lake from important but small player into one of Britain's premier packaging machinery groups, with production units in the USA and Germany as well as in the UK and recent acquisitions that have turned the BL Group into a supplier of integrated packaging systems said Picon.

John Brazier, the chief executive of Picon and a founder member of EAMA commented: "Graham brings a wealth of valuable experience to the EAMA cause, which since its inception has made great strides in attracting the attention of Government on the important issues affecting SMEs in the manufacturing industries.

For printers and suppliers alike, there should be tangible benefits from EAMA's work in the future." Commenting on his appointment, Hayes said: "Manufacturing should be at the heart of Government's economic policy.

It provides the main-spring for improving the nation's quality of life by developing new and innovative products, many of them never seen by the general public who are the ones to benefit from them." He continued: "I look forward to bringing a positive message to Government about this mostly unsung sector of British enterprise.

These small and medium sized businesses are the lifeblood of UK manufacturing industry, bringing new products to market and supplying OEMs.

We are competing well but could do a lot better if only Government would craft its policies to help support and release the dynamism and energy inside UK firms today.

Hedging them about, as they are doing now, with ever more complex regulatory requirements stifles progress here and indirectly fosters investment elsewhere, with consequent undesirable effects on the supply chain." EAMA's previous chairman, Michael Legg, retired in July 2004 after serving for nearly three years.

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