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WoolSafe Educational Conference 2014 – Review

The 3rd WoolSafe Educational Conference, held recently at the Museum of Carpet in Kidderminster, proved to be the most popular WoolSafe Academy event to date. It brought together carpet and chemical industry representatives with the best carpet cleaners, inspectors and industry trainers from around the world for two days of seminars, networking and tours. WoolSafe International Directors Ruth Travis and Patrick Burgess brought news from WoolSafe members in the US and Australia, respectively.

Industry stakeholders attending included representatives from quality carpet manufacturers Brintons Carpets, Gaskell Wool Rich and Mr Tomkinson; buying group SMG (which represents several hundred carpet retailers), ENCO Global Environmental Testing and carpet cleaning product suppliers Chemspec, HOST and Prochem Europe.

The packed programme covered topics as diverse as Mould Hazard Awareness, ‘Green’ Cleaning and Certification and Pet Urine Decontamination; and included energetic presentations on the hot topics of ‘Modern Marketing’ techniques and effective Customer Relations Management.

Dr Ágnes Zsednai, WoolSafe MD, unveiled two new certification programmes by WoolSafe for carpet maintenance products. “The CleanSeal certification mark will be awarded to the most effective cleaning products on synthetic fibres; and the new, European green standard, EGTS1502, will provide more accessible green certification for the cleaning products of UK and EU chemical manufacturers” said Zsednai in her presentation.

The diverse backgrounds of those who attended lead to very interesting discussions throughout the day, in particular during the open forum session. Opinions about the direction of WoolSafe programmes, including Wool Owners Warranty (WOW), were aired freely and at length, leading to some generous offers of assistance to Service Providers and great ideas for future developments.

The conference was followed by a well-attended banquet at the Granary Hotel, with WoolSafe Approved Service Provider Allan Simmons, an excellent magician, entertaining the diners.

The second day saw delegates going on a guided tour of Brintons Carpets, one of the oldest and most prestigious manufacturers in the world. The Museum of Carpet also opened its doors to the delegates and arranged for special demonstrations of live weaving and ran the old Jacquard Wilton and Spool Axinster (possibly the last of its kind in the world still working) weaving looms.

“The 2-day event was very well received with positive reviews from all who attended. We would like to thank all the members, licensees and industry partners who supported the event, and we look forward to the 4th Educational Conference scheduled for April 2016” commented Steve Bakker, WoolSafe International Marketing Manager.

For further information on The WoolSafe Organisation and the services offered please call the dedicated helpline on 01943 850 817 or email [email protected]

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