My Airmic chairmanship

Nicola Harvey has done a terri?c job and the conference will rightly be the climax of her year in office. But there is still plenty to do in getting ready for my year.

Any Airmic chairman who is ambitious to leave his mark – and I certainly come into that category – has to hit the ground running. No matter how much is done during my year, I know there will be plenty more still to achieve when I step down, so it is essential to get stuck in right at the start.

I shall spend much of the conference speaking to Airmic colleagues and partners about the year ahead, getting their ideas and hopefully their support as well. These events are always hard work, but enjoyable and stimulating. You are on duty more or less from the moment you leave your room ?rst thing – luckily, I am a morning person – until you go to bed.

Without wishing to reveal my hand just yet, I have a strong idea of where I think our priorities should lie in the coming year. The status of the risk management profession (indeed whether it is recognised as a profession at all) is of vital importance to us all. Converting the huge interest in risk management in industry into increased in?uence and job prospects for Airmic members is a challenge for us all.

Although the old skills remain essential, the changing environment requires many of us to acquire new types of expertise if we are ambitious about joining or in?uencing the C-suite. Airmic has done a number of things in recent years to help their members do just that – a fact re?ected in the conference agenda. If my term takes the process forward to new levels then I shall be a happy man.

Another aspiration for the coming year is to continue developing the international dimension of our activity, especially through our already good links with Ferma. Risk management, of course, crosses global boundaries. The average Airmic member’s activities span several different countries.

While Airmic rightly has a mainly UK focus, there is much we can achieve and learn by linking up with our friends and colleagues overseas.

Part of the chairman’s job is to act as custodian of what Airmic already does well and to follow through projects started by his predecessors: the technical work, the networking events and seminars, the special interest groups, Airmic Academy and our lobbying. I fully intend to play a part in all our activities, though they are already in safe hands.

There is a lot of un?nished business. The impressive work carried out on our behalf by Cass Business School, the new disclosure clause, a number of guides, the new mentoring scheme and our other projects all need to be followed through and communicated to ensure that they make a genuine difference.

Returning to this year’s conference, as well as the many and varied sessions, I am especially looking forward to meeting up with old friends and colleagues and attending many of the business and social events. I do, though, have a confession to make: I will not be on the chairman’s charity run at 7.30 am. Now, if it was a cycling event.

Paul Taylor is also risk director for Morgan Crucible

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