Phil joined the BFA team in May 2023, and brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience in the furniture industry.

Before joining the furniture industry over 15 years ago, Phil had a number of sales and marketing roles within the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods category, working with all of the major grocery retailers and non-food outlets across the UK.

In his career, Phil has worked for a variety of companies, from large multinationals to small business in various sectors.  He also launched his own business supplying drawing office equipment to architects and engineers, which he ran for a number of years before selling the company as a going concern.

He moved from the Health & Beauty sector into furniture when he joined the much-respected cabinet manufacturer, ercol as Sales & Marketing director, helping to develop their business with the independent and national furniture retailers.

Phil is really passionate about promoting the benefits of British manufacturing to ensure the long-term future and ongoing success of the whole furniture industry.

Joanna is a qualified journalist with a degree in International Relations and Economics.  She began her career in financial services working in sales before moving into marketing and communications.  Over the past 25 years she has worked for various private companies and local authorities in a public relations or public affairs role.

Prior to joining BFA, Joanna was the Public Affairs and Media Manager for 9 years at a membership organisation, where she transformed the organisations communications by creating a press office and media monitoring hub.  In doing this the organisation was able to effect strategic engagement and significantly increased the organisation’s media presence.

Joanna has handled some of the most challenging enquiries from the consumer press including Watchdog, Don’t get done get Dom, Rip off Britain and You and Yours, and steered the organisation through hundreds of interviews by the national press, TV and radio.  In addition, Joanna was instrumental in lobbying government to create new, primary legislation through strategic comms and organising meetings with Ministers, MPs and officials at summits and party conferences.

The BFA’s Membership Manager, Joanna Privett has extensive Trade Association and member engagement experience working with a diverse and broad clientele.  Joanna has had a varied career and has developed her experience and knowledge of the business world in different sectors ranging from insurance, through to account management at national media sales level. 

Her can do attitude and mantra of there’s no challenge that can’t be overcome with a bit of brain power and team work has put her in good stead with the team at BFA. She’s passionate about delivering results and building long lasting productive partnerships.  

Joanna is responsible for the delivery of the BFA’s Engagement and Events programme with special focus on our regional events.  If you have thoughts or ideas concerning what you want to see included, please do reach out to joanna.privett@bfa.org.uk to discuss further. 

Paul Vaughan BA (Hons) CQP MCQI, is a Business and Economics degree holder passing with upper second-class (2:1) honours. He is member of the Chartered Quality Institute (CQI) and is classified as a Chartered Quality Professional (CQP), which is well known as the gold standard in quality professionalism.

With over ten years of consumer product technical experience, Paul has worked with the Shoe Allied Trade Research Association (SATRA) and the Furniture Industry Research Association (FIRA) both in a technical capacity for furniture, shoes and other consumer products. Providing technical services from components to finished articles, and from structural, safety, chemical and physical performance testing, Paul has a wide range of technical expertise from manufacturing to importing and what appropriate due diligence looks like.

An IRCA ISO9001 trained lead auditor for Quality Management Systems, Paul has been involved directly with consultancy, development and understanding of key industry schemes such as the National Bed Federations (NBF), FIRAs Compliance Scheme and the Leisure and Outdoor Furniture Associations (LOFA) code of practices. Some schemes are co-ordinated partnerships holding Primary Authority with various Trading Standards Offices, which is where Paul developed his sound understanding of authority expectations.

Paul is currently employed by valued member DFS Trading Limited as Quality Control Manager. He is the author of the DFS Code of Practice and performs product quality and technical duties day to day working with UK and global supply partners producing finished articles for DFS.

Paul has joined the BFA in a voluntary role as Technical Services Consultant, representing the BFA on British Standards Institute (BSI) standards development committees, as well as taking lead at the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and Office of Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) business reference committees to better support the Association.

Sarah Is a Dynamic Exhibition Sales Director with over 21 years of experience in large-scale B2B exhibitions, conferences, awards, webinars, and online 1-2-1 meetings.

Sarah began her career with eight years as an exhibitor for Kinetic Enterprises and Bombay Duck, participating in prominent UK and international shows like The Furniture Show, Spring & Autumn Fairs, Ambiente, and Maison et Objet. This hands-on experience gave her a unique understanding of the challenges exhibitors face.

Sarah was then recruited by Clarion to work on the Top Drawer portfolio before moving to Emap, where she spent over 13 years managing exhibitions such as Premier Kids, Pure, and the Spring and Autumn Fairs. Her role also involved collaborating with foreign Trade Associations and government bodies.

With a proven track record of developing and delivering successful projects, Sarah excels in building strong stakeholder relationships, crafting and executing effective strategies, and implementing solutions that align with business goals.

She is passionate about delivering exceptional service across all events and maximizing opportunities to boost sales and profitability.