PPG Industries enjoys another successful event at the ABP Ireland, Dublin and Belfast meetings & expos
The bodyshop industry in the Republic and Northern Ireland turned out in great numbers last week, to support the third PPG and NEXA AUTOCOLOR® sponsored ABP Club Ireland National Meetings and Expos, which were held at the Croke Park Stadium, Dublin and the Europa Hotel, Belfast.
Continuing from the success of last year’s event, the ABP National meetings and expos attracted a wide selection of bodyshop operators, suppliers and industry partners from right across Ireland.
Dublin Meeting & Expo 7th – 8th
The event kicked off on Monday 7th, with a pre-meeting dinner at the Croke Park Hotel in Dublin courtesy of PPG and NEXA AUTOCOLOR®; where guests enjoyed a relaxed open BBQ and a great networking opportunity. The pre-meeting dinner was well attended by bodyshops and work providers and received superb feedback.
The main event sponsored by PPG and NEXA AUTOCOLOR® took place at the Croke Park Stadium in Dublin, where many key industry suppliers set up trade stands for attendees to browse before, after and during breaks in the main conference proceedings. These featured new product and service innovations that drew much interest with attendees at the event. Many of the accident repair equipment suppliers reported healthy interest, as well as PPG and NEXA AUTOCOLOR® offering the latest in paint technology to Ireland bodyshops.
David Cresswell, Chairman of the ABP, introduced an impressive line-up of key note speakers and addressed the Dublin meeting with an overview of the UK market, pointing out some issues that UK repairs are currently facing.
The first speaker was Alan Nolan from SIMI, who gave an encouraging presentation about the Irish automotive industry. Looking towards the future, new technology and improving key to key time will be the main generators of growth.
Osvaldo Bergaglio CEO of Symach, presented his company’s highly impressive Fixline total bodyshop solution, and Volvo Body & Paint Development Manager UK, Steve Plunkett, showed the latest developments of the company’s accident avoidance technology as well as the increasing success of Volvos repair network.
The last two speakers spoke about the important issue of training and development in the industry. Declan Allen of DIT highlighted the latest developments in meeting the training needs of the repair sector, supported by PPG’s supply of paint and training expertise. Brian head of Solus advertised the availability of apprenticeships to bodyshops, getting across the benefits of the different programmes offered that now better meet bodshop needs.
Overall the PPG & NEXA AUTOCOLOR® sponsored event received positive feedback from everyone who attended.
Belfast 9th
From Dublin to Belfast, the second part of the ABP National meetings and expos continued at the Europa hotel the following day.
The afternoon session began with a relaxed afternoon tea and coffee reception with a chance to view the trade strands and network with a wide section of bodyshop suppliers, operators and industry partners.
The meeting began with David Cresswell introducing the guest speakers and a review of the Northern Ireland bodyshop market. New speaker Colin Hagan, from the award-winning Riverpark Training Centre, spoke about the types of apprenticeship funding and what they provide to employers. Colin Hagan, awarded Rebecca Wilson who won a Bronze medal for car painting in the recent WorldSkills contest held in Brazil. Rebecca also attended the meeting and spoke about her experience in representing the UK in WorldSkills and what has been happening since her success in the competition.
PPG & NEXA AUTOCOLOR® would like to thank all delegates who attended the meetings in Ireland and thank ABP for helping make it possible.