During 2005-2006 the FBHVC undertook a survey of traders associated with, and working to support, the UK’s historic vehicle movement which is worth £3.2 billion to the UK economy. The results showed that almost 30,000 people were employed by 2,500 businesses, but the majority of these companies did have difficulty finding new staff with the right skills and knowledge.
We have now identified around 4,000 UK companies who are, in one way or another, involved with supporting the ownership, restoration, maintenance and use of historic vehicles.
At the Federation’s AGM in 2007 Tony Davies was elected as a new director with responsibility for trade and skills. Since then the Federation has been expanding on the initial work by classifying companies according to specialist services and also offering a variety of member benefits to those companies who have joined us as trade supporters.
To reinforce our influence within the UK’s political arena (that is essential to uphold the freedom to use our vehicles into the future) we will use the results of our research to prove how valuable this sector is to the UK economy. We will continue to lobby for the encouragement of training in specialist skills for future generations; it is vital to ensure the continuation and availability of such services in the future.
In October 2009 the Federation’s conference topic will be ‘Trade and Skills’ which will help to demonstrate how important our trade supporters are in ensuring the ability and right of owners and users of historic vehicles to use yesterday’s vehicles on tomorrow’s road.
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