New chief executive for BFPA The president and directors of the *British Fluid Power Association are delighted to announce the appointment of Chris Buxton as their new chief executive officer. Chris, who formally takes up his role from January 2014, takes over from Ian Morris who, after 10 years in post, will be moving on to work freelance in this industry. Chris joins the BFPA from his role as CEO of the Processing & Packaging Machinery Group, incorporating Processing & Packaging Machinery Association (PPMA), British Automation & Robot Association (BARA), Polymer Machinery Manufacturers & Distributors Association (PMMDA), and UK Industrial Vision Association (UKIVA) – a role that he held for over eight years. During that time he successfully integrated four advanced engineering trade associations into one cohesive organisation. Chris joined PPMA from BAE Systems where he was responsible for their sales & marketing naval operations. The latter two years of his career at BAE were spent on secondment to the UK Cabinet Office where he was one of four UK industry representatives working on a PM-sponsored initiative to reduce the burden of inappropriate and disproportionate regulation on British industry. Prior to BAE Buxton held a number of senior management positions in the private sector including marketing director for Brown & Root Services, sales & marketing director of Dalkia Energy and Technical Services Ltd., marketing manager for Taylor Woodrow Mgt. & Engineering and regional business manager for Perkin Elmer Nuclear Systems. He is a chartered physicist and spent a number of years in research at the Royal College of Science and the MRC at Cambridge. Speaking of his appointment Chris stated: “As one of the UK’s most proactive engineering trade associations the BFPA has an excellent reputation for representing the best interests of this all-important sector and I look forward to working with the directors, the executive staff and the member companies in building upon this success and taking the organisation through the next stage in its development.” Tony Kay; managing director of member company Hydrofit FZE International Ltd. and president of the BFPA added: