Next week will be a busy week at STEP in helping shape the future strategy of the Society.

First of all the Board, working closely with STEP staff, will be having a two day planning session here at London headquarters looking at the strategic challenges facing the Society and its members and how best STEP should position itself to help members meet these challenges.

To help the Board through this process they will hear from a variety of ‘expert witnesses’ comprising practitioners in both the offshore and onshore world as well as regulators and major employers. This format was first trialled last year and was highly successful in enabling the Board to take a well-informed view of future likely developments and risks in the industry.

Following the Board meeting, there will also be a full day meeting for England & Wales STEP Branch Chairs. Again the focus will be on the strategic outlook for STEP and our members and what STEP can best do to help our members through a time of rapid change. I am delighted that His Honour Judge Denzil Lush has agreed to speak at this meeting.

Also next week, senior members of the secretariat will participate in the STEP Canada Board Conference call on many of the same topics.

For the team at STEP Worldwide, these meetings are a great opportunity to talk through the key issues facing members and develop a strategy to meet member needs not only for the rest of this year but in the longer term too.

We are always keen to hear from members about the issues they feel STEP should be focused on, what we are doing well and what we could do better. So, even if you are not involved in next week’s meetings, I invite you to get in touch and make your views known.

David Harvey, STEP Chief Executive