The past few years have been interesting ones for the industry with growing concerns about the role of domestic energy use in the battle to reduce the impact of climate change.  There have also been moves to improve the safety of products placed on the European markets and to ensure their safe, and environmentally-friendly, disposal at the end of their life.  And then the global financial crisis pushed the UK into a recession from which the domestic appliance industry, in common with many others, struggled to emerge, only to be faced by rising fuel costs, erupting volcanoes and too much snow.

AMDEA, which represents the manufacturers of large and small domestic appliances and over 80% of the domestic appliance industry, has continued to keep its members up to date with emerging legislation and changes to standards and to talk to legislators, civil servants, and other bodies about issues that concern our industry. The role of chairman is a vital one, offering an industry perspective for the trade association and it is important that the postholder represents not just their own company but the interests of all the other members.  And AMDEA’s members cover a broad spectrum including major white goods, small electrical appliances, and components.  

Our last chairman, Uwe Hanneck, came to the UK in 1972 to set up a British subsidiary for Neff.  He moved with them to France but returned to the UK to work for F W Wrighton and Sons before returning to Neff and becoming the CEO of BSH UK in 1990. 

Uwe has led AMDEA through the swathe of new environmental legislation being introduced – new ecodesign regulations, new waste equipment regulations, new chemical legislation plus revisions to existing legislation, such as energy labelling.   During his three successive terms of office, AMDEA took on several new members and forged strong alliances with other trade associations, particularly with CECED (the European Committee of Domestic Equipment Manufacturers), and other bodies with overlapping interests.

Uwe was a key player in the launch of AMDEA’s Time to Change campaign which aims to provide consumers with information about the energy use of their appliances and offer an idea of how much money (and energy) they might save by replacing their ageing appliances with newer models.   He also took a keen interest in WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) legislation and chaired the compliance scheme REPIC.

His successor is John Morrissey, the managing director of Indesit Company for the UK and Irish markets.  John joined the company in 1995 as commercial director following a stint as sales and marketing director for Hoover Candy Group.

He plans to expand the membership still further to promote the idea of AMDEA as the single voice for the industry and to ensure that future regulation and legislation at the local and European level is implemented in a fair and coherent way.

He takes over at a point where the new Energy Labels for fridge-freezers, washing machines and dishwashers (and televisions) are about to become compulsory, and as the Ecodesign Regulations are removing the least energy-efficient products from the market. Several recast and new directives are about to come into force with consultations expected by the end of the year on transposing directives on Restriction of Hazardous Substances, WEEE and Consumer Rights. 

In the next few years we expect to see even more regulations covering the environmental impact, performance and safety aspects of our products.  The challenge for AMDEA is to support our members in their efforts to meet these requirements.