Membership Benefits
Being a member of one of the specialist groups or associations within FETA, offers your company low-cost and affordable support for its commercial interests in the wider sector.
What’s in it for you?
Firstly, improved access to a wide range of information that may not be available from elsewhere – without considerable effort and cost.
This is achieved in a variety of ways : regular meetings and social events to offer a better, shared understanding of the sector; direct, relevant information feeds from Brussels, Whitehall departments, international organisations or technical bodies; association guidance documents by the experts in your industry.
Secondly, representation. A collective approach by a respected trade body always carries more weight in government consultations, or via direct contact with officials and politicians, than a single company pleading special interest. The collaborative action could be just as effective if it is conducted with other organisations or pressure groups that affect your business. Being part of a sector that attracts more than its fair share of regulatory interest, emphasises the need for you to be part of a wider group than can defend the industry as a whole.
A consequence of membership reflects the third area of benefit. This is reputation enhancement through the general recognition that responsible companies inevitably belong to trade associations, which promote best practice and quality standards across their membership. Member companies are listed on the relevant part of the FETA website, further promoting you as a respected enterprise.
Finally, there are direct cost savings which add value to your membership. These can arise from our affinity schemes offering discounts to members, to reduced-price standards, free attendance at seminars or sharing the cost of publishing joint industry guides.
THE END RESULT
It is said that training is an investment, not a cost. The same is true of trade association membership. A modest subscription opens up the above and more, ensuring that you influence the future of your market, from an informed position, in concert with your peers.
Membership of any group brings a greater strength to the whole than the sum of its individual parts. This is increasingly so within a trade association where competitors combine together for the overall benefit of the industry. The synergistic effect is even greater in a federation such as FETA.
FETA associations support members directly by:
- Promoting and defending the collective interests of members and the sector against, for example, pressure groups or unfair competition.
- Influencing policies, legislation and regulation that might affect the sector via excellent relations with BEIS, DEFRA, and MHCLG.
- Representing the sector at the European and International levels via membership of AREA, EPEE and EVIA plus strong links to AHRI, AMCA and EHPA.
- Extending influence through membership of national organisations such as CBI, BSRIA, Build UK and ACRIB, plus close ties to CIBSE, BESA and BRE.
- Shaping the industry by developing technical standards with BSI, CEN and ISO; Encouraging best practice and assisting in self-regulation of the sector.
- Initiating focused and sector-specific market research and statistical surveys.
- Improving trading conditions, through credit control committees, product certification schemes, and being a single point of contact to the public for enquiries.
- Offering assistance with exports via the FETA Export Club, sponsorship of overseas exhibitions and missions, plus access to Trade & Investment UK.
- Obtaining maximum publicity for the industry through sponsorship of trade exhibitions, links with the media and joint publications with professional bodies.
- Dissemination of relevant information through monthly bulletins, the quarterly meetings and the FETA website.
- Assisting education and training by organising seminars, drafting publications and providing access to the Sector Skills Council.
- Providing a wide and varied network of committees for members to debate sector and technical issues of common interest.
- Increasing members' awareness of developments likely to affect the industry by receiving, analysing and disseminating official consultation papers or draft legislation.
- Offering a direct and established link to government departments, industry bodies, other trade associations and organisations such as the Carbon Trust.
- Raising individual company profiles and reassuring customers through membership of a respected association/federation.
- Reducing members' operating costs by arranging discounts via affinity schemes.
If you care about your industry, membership of a FETA Association is a step in the right direction.