LIA AGM celebrates success and inaugurates new president

Lighting industry trade association, The LIA, has marked 12 successful months at its recent Annual General Meeting and Lunch, where the new President was also inaugurated.

The sold out event, held at the renowned Drapers’ Hall in London, officially marked the start of David Barnwell’s (Holophane Europe Ltd) tenure as the 2024/25 LIA President. He was passed the presidential chains from outgoing official Matt Carpenter (Sylvania Lighting).

LIA CEO Ayça Donaghy, said: “We’re delighted to welcome David as the new President and are looking forward to working closely with him in this role.

On behalf of the LIA, I’d also like to thank Matt for his excellent tenure; it has been a pleasure to see him representing The LIA so wonderfully over the past two years.”

The event was also an opportunity for celebrating individual and organisational success, with the naming of The LIA’s Annual Award winners. Those taking home the trophies were:

• Joanne Percy – LIA Advanced Interior Certificate, sponsored by Fox Lux
• Emily-Rose Maule – LIA Advanced Exterior Certificate, sponsored by Holophane Europe Ltd
• Lally Widelska – LIA Certificate award, sponsored by Mackwell
• Lumineux – LIAQA Award for Commitment to Quality and Compliance
• Energy Efficient Solutions – LIAQA Award for Consistent Quality and Compliance
• Fox Lux – LIAQA ICEL Emergency Lighting Award

The President’s Award, recognising individuals for their outstanding dedication, commitment, and contribution to the lighting sector, is also a customary part of the Annual Lunch, and this year it broke away from tradition with the presentation of two awards. The winners were Andy Hughes (Zumtobel Group) and Lawrence Barling.

Whilst Andy heads up The LIA Technical Board as Chair, Lawrence is The LIA’s Senior Technical Manager and is the first ever staff member to receive such an accolade.

As part of The LIA’s 2024 Talent Supply and Development Strategy, students from Nottingham Trent University were in attendance, showcasing their project design brief submissions and decorative lighting prototypes. These shortlisted entries were reviewed by industry representatives at the event, with the overall winner announced during the award ceremony.

Congratulations to Jessica Nagle who said, “The day was such a good experience, and I really enjoyed it.”

The Nottingham Trent University project design brief was sponsored by CTO Lighting and led by CTO’s Managing Director, Matthew Dabbs.

Adding to the rewarding experience of the day, Hywel Davies, independent expert in building safety regulation and building performance change, gave the Keynote Speech.

Hywel’s work has focused particularly on Building Regulations and building safety reform, on ventilation and health risks in buildings, and also on Net Zero buildings. Hywel has been closely involved in the development of the new building safety regime and its practical implementation in the sector.

Hywel has also chaired the expert group review of the Approved Documents which contributed to Dame Judith Hackitt’s independent review, and he contributed to the Morrell Day review of construction products and testing.

Reflecting on the day, Ayça Donaghy said: “This year’s event saw a record number of attendees, with tickets selling out incredibly early. This was fantastic to see and gave the event a real buzz, with great energy and lots of rich discussion.

It’s also a testament to how much The LIA has grown its profile and contribution to the lighting sector over the past 12 months. Our events are incredibly popular, and the AGM and Annual Lunch was no exception.

We are already looking forward to next year.”