ILP President James Duffin reflects on a hugely busy – but also inspiring – autumn of CPD and member engagement and dialogue.
By James Duffin
It goes without saying that the autumn – from September onwards right the way up to Christmas really – was a hugely busy, and inspiring, time for me as ILP President.
In fact, I think pretty much most weeks during the autumn I found myself out of the office on ILP business between two to three days a week. Being ILP President is a huge commitment, although also of course a massive honour and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
The CPD, for me, started off with the London and South East Region’s ‘Serendipity in Lighting’ event in September, which the journal reported on in November. It was a hugely well-attended day, and it was a privilege to be able to present Rebecca Hatch and Simon Bushell (my boss of course!) with their ILP fellowships.
For my first event in October, I attended Highways UK at the NEC in Birmingham with Junior President Elect Kevin Clark.
It was a great opportunity to get to know Kevin a bit better as we went round the stands – as I didn’t know him particularly well before he joined the ILP Board – and he is a lovely guy. It was intriguing how many other lighting professionals were there in fact; we ended up for some reason all congregating around former President Anthony Smith, of Stainton Lighting Design Services!
NATIONAL MEMORIAL ARBORETUM
I was also honoured to be able to attend – the following day in fact – the Midlands Region and WLP CPD event at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, as region Chair Jess Gallacher also outlines in this edition.
It was personally emotional for me because the arboretum has a memorial to the ocean liner RMS Lancastria, which was sunk in World War Two, in 1940, just after Operation Dynamo (the evacuation of the British Army from Dunkirk in France).
I had a family member – my great, great uncle – who went down on that ship, and who we didn’t know definitively was dead until well after the war. Although, the fact there is a 100-year ‘D’ notice – or public gagging order – around its loss means we still don’t know the full details and won’t for a good decade-and-a-half yet.
Nevertheless, it meant it was quite an emotional day for me – including taking part in the daily two-minute silence – but intensely rewarding. I also got involved with the days CPD by joining the panel discussion on AI in the workplace. And the other CPD papers at this event were amazing, with Nicola Batey’s paper on ISO45003 being a standout as I never knew there was ISO guidance for psychological health and safety at work.
IRISH REGION CPD DAY
During October I also had the privilege of attending the Irish Region’s CPD day in Gormanston, County Meath.
I enjoyed the paper on colour temperature that Dan Pars from ASD Lighting has been presenting around the regions, and which has been very well received by members and always prompts lots of questions. If he comes to your region, I very much recommend you trying to get along!
I also enjoyed the paper by Alan Grant from DW Windsor on solar lighting, especially his focus on a scheme he was involved in in Dublin, which was fascinating.
Then it was up to Scotland for the Scottish Region’s CPD day right at the end of October, which – signal failures on the way home notwithstanding – was again hugely enjoyable.
November saw me back at the Celtic Manor hotel and resort in Newport, Wales for the Highway Electrical Association’s annual conference and dinner. WSP’s Dervan Alleyne was appointed president, and the industry welcomed the association’s new chief executive, Craig Manuel.
It was, as ever, a great opportunity for meeting up with colleagues old and new as well as listening to some thought-provoking CPD papers, the highlight for me was Karl Rouke’s Live Labs 2 update. And finally, as part of the evenings awards and celebration dinner, Past President Allan Howard, of WSP, was awarded the Service to Industry Award 2025, which I feel is thoroughly well deserved!
JODRELL BANK CPD DAY
Also, during November, it was a pleasure to get to the North West Region’s Dark Skies focused CPD event at Jodrell Bank, near Macclesfield.
As we arrived many of us were greeted by ‘Bernard’ the pheasant, named after Bernard Lovell the site’s founder. It was again very well-attended, a great mix of papers, and was an inspiring choice of venue for an ILP CPD day! Although seeing the 3,200 tonne Lovell Telescope slowly turning and tilting the 76.2m dish, was fantastic, if a little distracting.
The final regional event I attended in November was the Western Region event, which meant returning to Newport again but this time the Parc Golf Course.
This event gave me a chance to see Guy Harding’s paper on ‘Glossophobia’ (or the fear of public speaking) – which I missed last time he gave it – along with a paper on dark skies from Matt Bennett and an opportunity to see David Denner’s paper that I missed at the HEA a fortnight before.
LOOKING TO 2026
Finally, looking to 2026, what I have seen so far as President from going round the regions and speaking to members and the team in Rugby is that people are really engaging with membership upgrades.
My call in Glasgow for a focus on competency appears to have resonated with members, which I find genuinely pleasing.
The number of people at the October event in Scotland, for example, approaching Technical Manager Guy Harding to talk about membership upgrades was fantastic. I very much hope that continues in 2026; I want to encourage people to get involved, to put yourself forward for regional committees or just for general volunteering work.
In fact, we’ve seen member numbers, and upgrades, increase markedly over the past six months since the Glasgow conference. I’d very much like of course to see that continuing.
I’d like to see all our regions continuing the building of strong committees and delivering high-quality CPD to members. And for this then to be complemented by continuing engagement with membership bootcamps and increasing Engineering Council registrations.
I think pushing that agenda along can only be a good thing. After all, the ILP as an Institution doesn’t exist without you. So, my final thought until next time – let’s continue this positive trajectory.
James Duffin BA (Hons) IEng MILP is President of the ILP as well as senior lighting designer at Enerveo
This is an abridged version of the article that appears in the January edition of Lighting Journal. To read the full article, simply click on the page-turner to your right.
Image: James Duffin at the ILP Scottish Region’s autumn CPD event
