From the chair: August 2018

From the chair: August 2018

by | Aug 1, 2018 | From the Chair

This month will see the annual meeting of the motoring writers’ groups and motor industry companies. While I know Kieron Fennelly will be representing thewesterngroup and has a few points to make on our behalf, I don’t know who will be attending and speaking for the...
From the chair: June 2018

From the chair: June 2018

by | Jun 3, 2018 | From the Chair

It’s almost here.  THE best-kept secret in the automotive calendar emerges from its temperate state deep in the Cheddar Gorge caves on Wednesday 6 June. Then, the ageless army from thewesterngroup membership will muster at Castle Combe Circuit for the...
From the chair: April 2018

From the chair: April 2018

by | Apr 9, 2018 | From the Chair

There is a reason that a clock-face is circular: time goes around. On a different scale of time, so does thewesterngroup driving day, the PR Day for the industry to let its hair down and enjoy its products. Registration is well underway for this year’s #DD2018 on 6...
From the chair: November 2017

From the chair: November 2017

by | Nov 6, 2017 | From the Chair

In a few days I will be handing over the reins of thewesterngroup to a new chairman, and it’s with pride I slip from the saddle.  Over the last two years we have held a couple of memorable driving days and enjoyed a number of events put on for the group by our...

From the chair: October 2017

by | Oct 2, 2017 | From the Chair

Last month I aired the concerns of both journalists and PR professionals who are coping with the rise of “influencers” and paid-for blogs which are distorting the motoring scene. Paid for supplied editorial has been with us for decades in various forms but generally...

From the chair: August 2017

by | Aug 1, 2017 | From the Chair

So, the car as we know it is going to be dead inside a generation by 2040.  Somehow I think not.  The continuing story of the automobile since the 1880s has been driven by evolution and I cannot see this changing despite the Stelvio statements of Governments...

From the chair: July 2017

by | Jul 3, 2017 | From the Chair

The awards’ season is in full flow but there is one very important potential category which is overlooked, yet it’s the staple of both PR and motoring journalists. Depending on the sponsoring business or media, a vehicle manufacturer can be virtually guaranteed a gong...

From the chair: June 2017

by | Jun 1, 2017 | From the Chair

It’s been an interesting month in May with impressive and not so impressive new technology making itself felt. To start with, or not as the case proved, a remote key-fob decided to go off-grid and not work, fortunately leaving me stranded no further than from my front...
From the chair: May 2017

From the chair: May 2017

by | May 2, 2017 | From the Chair

Registration is underway for the globally unique DD2017 event by thewesterngroup for PR colleagues in the automotive industry. Even before the new on-line registration website was up and running we were having requests from the industry to allocate  people and...
From the chair: April 2017

From the chair: April 2017

by | Apr 3, 2017 | From the Chair

As automotive journalists and editors we are inundated with press releases from an industry which is arguably the most exciting, complex and global. We wouldn’t have it any other way, even if we occasionally moan about the rubbish topics picked to go under a...
From the chair: March 2017

From the chair: March 2017

by | Mar 1, 2017 | From the Chair

The Western Group of Motoring writers, scores of other journalists and the global automotive community has lost one of its greatest champions with the unexpected death of Prof Garel Rhys. It says a lot for any individual if they are known around the world by their...
From the chair: February 2017

From the chair: February 2017

by | Feb 1, 2017 | From the Chair

This year slipped into gear in style for the group and I think we will be really motoring this year. We have just held our first meeting of the year courtesy of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles UK, which unusually made this a multi-brand event to wisely maximise coverage for...