Leading BMMG delegation for meeting with IT Minister Kenneth Baker
A nice cool and pleasant day. Up very early and left at 6.00am to arrive early at the St Ermin’s Hotel, Caxton Street, London. We had booked the Lancaster Room for a breakfast meeting of the BMMG which was very well supported and funded pro forma at £5/head!
In company we had John Marshall of Gemini, Mr Dane of Control Universal, Eddy Bleasdale of Bleasdale Computer Systems, Mr Humpidge of Kalamazoo, Henry Goldstein of Plessey Microsystems, Howard Sayles of Rair, Nigel Searle of Sinclair Research, Nick Willard of Systime, Graham Clifton of Transam, Bill Unsworth of U-Microcomputers, Chris Shelton of Shelton Instruments and afterwards, joining us as guests, Alan Ball of Trivector and Chris Curry of ACORN.
A brief walk to Ashdowne Place and we settle into a large meeting room where Mr Ed Carmichael, Mr Tony Keston and Dr Loveland join us with The Minister of Industry and Information Technology, Kenneth Baker. First we introduce ourselves individually and then I ask John Marshall to present the important aspects of the BMMG 5 point plan before personally putting the case of the iniquitous differential tariff duty rates that act as a disincentive to manufacturing micro-computers in the United Kingdom.
The Minister expressed support for our membership drive to increase representative status, also welcomes the BMMG initiative to expand export opportunities in Europe. Also has no hesitation in agreeing with our strategy of mutual cooperation with other bodies such as the CBI, CSA etc. He does not comment on the creative public procurement aspect of the 5-point plan but we do not press him on this issue. With regard to our major concern on tariffs and in answer to his question as to its real impact; Bleasdale, Sinclair and Rair all offer concrete evidence of its impact on production site decisions. He voices a willingness to take up this issue and push it to a speedy conclusion. He awaits the results of the NEDC working party but notes that there may be resistance from the component manufacturers and also from French and German companies because the microcomputer industry is not so well developed as here. He will also look into the recent and acute problems posed to our members by the closer US examination of export licensing and closer scrutiny by the UK Department of Trade.
Back to the office via a McDonalds in North London and there to find June back at work. Stressing a little and weeping slightly, I soon help her to forget things by the workload and urgent personnel matters. Then to draft letters for NEDC, The Minister, and releases for the Financial Times; prepare for tomorrows interview with Peter King and the trade press.
The news tonight is of the Lebanon, with Israel withdrawing its troops slightly and the country still in turmoil, even the previously unharmed Beachland Hotel is bombed by inter-Christian sect rivalry. The MPs have voted themselves a large pay rise and the crashed BA helicopter is brought ashore and transferred to Farnborough for crash investigations.