by Brianna Crandall — February 8, 2013—The British Institute of Facilities Management’s (BIFM) Ireland Region has announced the establishment of a new Southern Branch in the region, which marks the Institute’s first branch outside of the United Kingdom. The new branch aims to be fully operational by spring 2013 to the benefit of the thousands of FMs across Ireland.
The Southern Branch forms part of the well-established BIFM Ireland Region, which has over 240 active members benefitting from many networking and continuing professional development (CPD) events that are run throughout the year, along with the popular annual Ireland Region Conference. The Ireland Region will now be the over-arching region, and a Northern and Southern Branch structure will be established within it.
According to BIFM CEO Gareth Tancred, “By establishing this new Southern Branch we will be in a much stronger position to serve more facilities management professionals. Following from the success of the Ireland Region, I am sure that there will be some fantastic education and networking sessions in the pipeline; there will also be the opportunity to bring the expertise of our special interest groups across for specific events, making BIFM more inclusive to those outside of the U.K.”
The Chairman of the BIFM Ireland Region, Stephen Welch, said, “The Ireland Region committee work hard to arrange great events for members, and I look forward to such events being established across the region in some world-class facilities. The new branch will give a local platform to showcase new talent, whilst giving us more reach to attract new individuals into the Irish FM profession. It will also enable best practice to be shared on hot topics such as energy and carbon management in a much more local and accessible environment.”
BIFM comprises a total of nine regions across the United Kingdom, serving almost 13,000 BIFM members. Regions are currently bolstered by two branches in the Northeast and Northwest. A third branch is currently being established to serve the needs of FMs in the Channel Islands. The Channel Islands Branch is due to formally launch in April 2013 through events being hosted both in Jersey and Guernsey. Alongside the regions, there are also 14 BIFM special interest groups that work to address the needs of the membership on specific topics such as sustainability and catering and hospitality.
Full details on all BIFM groups, branches and special interest groups can be found on the BIFM Groups Web site.
