YBDSA CEO Retires after 20 years at the helm
by John Sharp 29 May 2020 11:26 BST
Jane Gentry chats with HRH The Princess Royal © YBDSA
"I remember when it was still typewriters and telex machines in the industry," muses Jane Gentry, CEO of the Yacht Brokers, Designers and Surveyors Association who announced earlier this year that she would be retiring in 2020 and stepping aside for Bas Edmonds to take the reins as CEO at ABYA and YDSA - the Professional Associations for brokers and surveyors respectively.
"Seriously though, Tim Berners-Lee's World Wide Web had just been born when I started at YBDSA - we had no website, one desktop computer for word-processing, a fax machine, four members of staff and everything for the Members was sent out by the Royal Mail. With the help of our amazing Members, the Associations have come a long way in the last 20 years," reminisced Gentry, with characteristic modesty.
With Gentry at the helm, ABYA & YDSA have become two of the most respected professional bodies in the Marine Industry. They account for the largest registry of commercial vessels in the UK; they have broker and surveyor Members all over the globe and are now 'Training Tomorrow's Professionals' in their industry-leading Academies.
"My marine career started (and not a lot of people know this) working for a publication called 'Fishing News Books' which had an office in West Byfleet. My boss was a journalist who, scarily, could read my shorthand upside-down and tell me when I did it wrong.
I was only there for a few months and moved on to the Royal Yachting Association - they were based in Woking, where I lived, and their Legal Department needed a junior secretary. I worked for Gordon Fairley and his PA Ros Lang. I also worked for the Seamanship Foundation - now called 'Sailability' - which had just been set up under the leadership of Lt Col Douglas Hurndall. They were all lovely people and I learned a lot.
The Seamanship Foundation ran sailing for the blind and partially sighted courses. However, I couldn't sail! Douglas Hurndall took me onto a boat, showed me what he needed me to do and then said - 'now teach the others how to do it!' So that is how I learned to sail! We also had a float in the Lord Mayor's procession one year which was terrific fun!
After a couple of years, I was 'poached' (according to Gordon Fairley) by the Yacht Racing Department. I worked for John Reed for about 8 years and was fortunate to organise events such as World Sailing Speed Record Week held in Portland Harbour, youth and ladies events, team racing events and the 1984 Weymouth Olympic Week which selected the UK team for the Olympics - the yachting event was held at Longbeach.
After 10 years I moved on and did a stint at Birds Eye in Walton on Thames. They sent me on a computer course for a week at the same time as Birds Eye introduced email - I still remember how excited we were to be able to send emails to the Hull and Grimsby factories! But then the SBBNF (now British Marine) had a vacancy and I went to work for Paul Wagstaffe. Early on, I attended the ABYA Brokerage course, then led by Patrick Boyd and George King. (If you remember them you are as old as I am!) I did varied roles at SBBNF/BMIF including Parliamentary liaison, training and latterly supported Tom Nighy in the Technical department. I saw the change to British Marine Industries Federation and the move to Egham. On 1 May 2000 I came to work for the YBDSA as their Chief Executive. And the rest, so they say, is history!
I have enjoyed the job immensely and will miss everyone a great deal. My role has been very far-reaching. From the day-to-day activities of helping Members with legal questions and VAT issues all the way through to working with various government bodies on proposed regulations and understanding new regulations, such as GDPR and FCA requirements relating to client accounts. The best part really is that every day is different - I never know what questions will arise and sometimes it requires some research to get to the information that is needed. I have been fortunate to have been able to liaise with many people across the industry, putting together the pieces to find out the answers.
I am delighted that we now have the ABYA and YDSA Academies - I believe they are an important part of the future, not just for the Associations, but also for the future of the entire Marine Industry. The academies will be 'Training Tomorrow's Professionals' providing tailored training to benefit members in their professional careers. This will build on the long-established ABYA Brokerage course.
When I first discussed my retirement with the management board, I was asked to write a job description - I soon realised how hard that was! The two facets - yacht brokerage and yacht surveying are very different but the process is part of a whole and the unique facility of the YBDSA to bring the two parties together for discussions and networking is a huge benefit to both groups. We have been busy for 20 years and had a great time doing it all. A huge 'thank you' to everyone I have worked with across the industry over that time.
Bas Edmonds (left) will be taking on the role of Chief Executive Officer. Bas arrives at the YBDSA with a wealth of experience, having worked within the marine industry all his working life from sail-making, through 12 years at the RYA as Technical Manager and recently a period at the MCA working on regulations for small craft.