IOP targets chartered status, new members and online services

The Institute of Packaging (IOP) is aiming to achieve chartered status within five years, dramatically increasing the number and quality of its membership in the process, and launching into online supply-chain trading, says the new chief executive.

Appointed to the job at the beginning of the year, Lynda Purser has already moved the IOP out of its "country mansion" -- Sysonby Lodge outside Melton Mowbray -- and into new premises at Stamford, Lincolnshire. But the planned changes are even more far-reaching. As she puts it: "We're modernising along good business lines."

As Purser explains, to achieve chartered status, a great many criteria need to be fulfilled, not least size. She says: "We estimate there are a quarter of a million people in the industry, and our membership today is just about brushing one per cent of that! We expect it to rise dramatically, but only if we offer enough. Above all, that means offering members a good progression through their career."

Up to now, membership has been based on gaining the diploma, which she characterises as a "very narrow base", and one which focuses exclusively on technology rather than other key skills such as management. The emphasis will now be on continuing professional development in different skills areas.

Significantly, chartered status also requires having at least a 50% graduate membership, says Purser, and raising the perceived status of the packaging professional will be another concern.

Since setting up its Packaging Industry Commercial Services (PICS) arm, the IOP has shied away from its original intention of offering services "such as design and consultancy work". Instead, says Purser, the objective is to set up an online supply chain trading facility. "In the early stages, we will simply be listing suppliers and customers so they can be matched up," she explains. "Later we will take it in a more commercial direction."