British Vehicle Salvage Federation’s (BVSF) Secretary General, Roger West, tells ATF Professional about the history of the federation, its role within the industry, and the benefits it provides to its members.
Back in the 1990s, the federation was conceived by one Alan Greenouff. Alan had worked within the insurance industry for many years, and several vehicle salvage buyers approached him to create a trade association to represent the common interests of independent salvage companies in negotiations with insurers, the Government, the Police or indeed, any other interested parties.
It should be noted that many of the original founder members of the federation are still heavily involved in decisions made and, indeed, the everyday running of the association. The salvage code of practice was in its infancy, and insurance field engineers were scouring the countryside inspecting vehicles at repairers, salvage yards, recovery companies and policyholders’ home addresses. At this time, I was a Field Engineer working in South London and the SE of England.
The federation went from strength to strength and was recognised by the insurance industry as a well-needed and respected trade body.
The years went by, and the federation was welcomed at Government meetings and aired its members’ views well, with some excellent results. The offices were at this point in Essex.
It became apparent during the early 2000s that Alan would soon consider retirement; although still active, he did have a mobility issue, and he was by now in his 70s.
Around 2009/10, Alan contacted me out of the blue and invited me to attend an interview for his position upon his retirement. There were five people shortlisted, including me. I was very fortunate to be offered the position and joined the federation in February 2010 at the age of 54.
One of my first tasks was to arrange the format of the BVSF used parts manifest, which I believe is still in use today by some members, or at least a revised version of it is. Then the deep end got deeper, and the Scrap Metal Dealers Act (SMDA) came to the fore, creating a lot of discussion with the British Transport Police and the EA.
Hot on the trail of the SMDA came the dreaded Certificate of Technical Competence (CoTC) qualification. So we arranged training for members at various points around the country. We still, to this day, offer training revision manuals for members and still try to make the powers that be see sense on the time scale of these exams.
Very sadly, around this time, Alan passed away suddenly at home, and a large number of the federation’s members attended his funeral in Kemsing, where he lived.
Then came the VIC check. Now, that was a challenge, it was a proven waste of time and money, and we eventually were party to having it stopped. The police wanted its continuation and indeed, to a degree, still do!
The revised salvage code of practice was the next milestone to overcome, and finally, after lengthy negotiations, the federation supported the revised document. It is, after all, easier to negotiate from the inside rather than from the outside looking in! We were still unhappy with the way it was written; in our opinion, it still invited commercial categorisation, which has now been proven.
By now, the problem of the use of spec lifts had reared its ugly head with the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) and the Police put their own slant on the “correct” way to utilise these items – which were proven in court to be incorrect. The federation was involved in rewriting the “recovery manual” and still fights for the correct outcome when spec lifts are used in accordance with the recovery manual, and the police/DVSA disagree.
The federation worked very hard during the pandemic, ensuring that members, if they wished, could stay open and function as best as they could under the circumstances. In particular, that the DVSA continued with heavy vehicle IVA tests, which, if stopped, would have been a disaster to bodybuilders countrywide.
The federation’s AGM/seminars were cancelled due to COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021, and it was very difficult restarting these this year using bookings effectively two years old. Still, the event went ahead with reasonable success. However, we will be changing venues for next year.
This brings us up to the present day, with the most recent challenge being the Appropriately Qualified Person (AQP) qualifications, but again, we have worked hard to assist in passing these exams, and help with training is still available. I myself have attained the qualification to ensure that any potentially mistaken categorisation may be discussed on a level playing field.
Hopefully, this has given readers a snapshot of the federation over the years. At the time of typing this, I was 67 years of age, and at this stage, I have no intention of retiring and will continue at the helm of a very well-respected trade association for as long as I am required, or indeed, health permits.
If you would like to find out more about the British Vehicle Salvage Federation, please visit www.bvsf.org.uk
