The 21st July 2011 was the day I retired . After spending four years in Abu Dhabi and the previous seven years as managing director of National Boat Shows I decided it was time for a quieter and less stressful life . It had always been my ambition to retire when I was 62 and I made it with 50 days to spare . My wife and I moved to The Algarve to live in the house we had purchased there two years earlier . I must say , it was the best decision we ever made . In April 2007 a good friend of mine , Richard Hease , had asked me to join his company ( Turret ) and I was ready for a new exciting challenge . With him , I launched a range of business and consumer events . I then joined ADNEC , the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre to run the International Defence Exhibition ( IDEX ) for the years 2009 and 2011 . I still keep in touch with Richard who lives between Abu Dhabi and Spain . He is still threatening to retire . When we first moved to Portugal , we joined an association called AFPOP ( Association for Foreign Property Owners in Portugal ). AFPOP specialises in providing a comprehensive range of |
information , services and support to foreign residents and visitors to Portugal and we were offered a huge amount of advice and help when settling into our new life . AFPOP also runs an annual Expo called BLIP ( Better Living in Portugal ). We visited BLIP on a couple of occasions and were very impressed by the show and how it was run . The show runs for two days , has around 120 exhibitors and attracts over 7,000 visitors during the weekend . Two years ago I was asked to join the AFPOP Management Council , which helps to oversee the activities of the association . After a bit of persuasion , I agreed to join the Council and started to look at possible opportunities for BLIP . I have to say it was nice to get back to being involved in events albeit on a slightly different scale . Earlier this year I was asked to take on the role as president of AFPOP , which I agreed to do as the current president wished to retire after serving for 10 years . BLIP , like all other events around the world has been affected by COVID-19 and the planned event in October 2020 had to be cancelled as the Arena in Portimão |
( Algarve ) where the Expo takes place was converted into a field hospital . Undaunted , the AFPOP team launched BLIP Online , which has had tremendous support from the exhibitors and the various Portuguese tourist boards . Previous visitors to the expo were those that were able to travel to Portimão . This new format opens the doors to visitors from all over the country and further afield and has no barriers when it comes to travel restrictions being in place . And , for the first time , AFPOP ’ s many International members who do not reside in Portugal have been able to visit BLIP . Online exhibitions are not a replacement for face-toface events and we plan to run our normal BLIP in 2021 so the Arena has been booked . I often think back to those exciting days in January 2004 when we welcomed over 213,000 visitors to the London Boat Show at ExCeL after its move from Earls Court . Such a shame that the 2019 show was cancelled . The news that the 2020 Southampton Boat Show was cancelled with such short notice was unbelievable . I imagined what I would have been feeling like had I been |
involved , having to tell all those exhibitors that the show would not be able to open . Also , knowing that many visitors would be turning up in the morning must have been dreadful . I do hope that the British Marine Industry is able to recover and get back to organising fantastic Boat Shows . I still keep in touch with former colleagues from the exhibition and events industry usually via LinkedIn . It is awful to see so many people losing their jobs and the constant pleas to the UK Government to help the industry during these troubled times . I do hope these pleas are not ignored .
Paul Streeter , former MD of National Boat Shows
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12 — October |