A few years ago, BIMA was in a tenuously good position. It had achieved prominence as the UK’s digital communications and marketing association. But its finances were unsteady, its membership value under question and its brand awareness only moderate below the c-suite. Under the assured leadership of Justin Cook, followed by Adam Graham, those improvements have been made. In 2016, BIMA is in a strong position in terms of awareness, purpose and membership, and it is ready to guide the future of the British digital industry.

“There’s always been so many great things we could do,” former chair Graham says. He adds that the foundations have now been laid and a myriad of opportunities are open to new co-chairs Tarek Nseir, CEO of TH_NK, and Natalie Gross, CEO of Amaze.

One of the key changes Graham and the executive committee has made recently has been a rebrand of BIMA. The new brand, which debuted earlier this year, is a simple, yet confident approach that better unifies all of BIMA’s work under a single brand architecture. Graham says that the previous brand’s disjointedness meant that the organisation was “less than the sum of [its] parts.”

Additionally, Digital Day’s successes over the past three years have seen 80% of participating students saying that they will be more likely to consider careers in the digital industry in future. Closing the skills gap has and will continue to be a focus for BIMA, and is ever more important with the impending change Brexit may have on the availability of digital talent in the UK.

New leaders Nseir and Gross, laid out their plan for their three year stewardship. They hope to extend the reach of BIMA’s regional and topical communities to form a better connected network. They will revamp the executive committee’s structure and oversight to be better integrated into the community. They have also launched a strategic partnership programme which calls on leaders in digital, the likes of which include IBM, Apple, Google and Facebook, to partner with BIMA to shape BIMA’s agenda, its awards categories and provide input to its communities. This plan, they hope, will lead to a reinvention of the digital industry which will ensure its sustainability into the future.

Nseir says, “BIMA’s new focus will be entirety future facing.Our education programmes will help ensure that further and higher education supports the needs of our industry and our Awards will recognise those that are shaping the future of our industry. For BIMA to fundamentally power Britain’s digital industry we need to combine our membership with the industry leaders that are shaping the environment we work within. As such, BIMA is forming a number of industry partnerships with major players that have a vested interest in supporting Britain’s digital industry.”