July/August 2021

A s we covered in the June issue of Aftermarket, from 1 July the IAAF has a new Chief Executive in the form of garage sector PR impresario Mark Field. He has taken on the role from Wendy Williamson, who led the trade association for seven years, following time at the SMMT and in the wider industry. She is now retiring, but leaves a legacy with the organisation, with fantastic campaigning in Europe around access to data issues. She also led from the front in the UK on issues as diverse as fighting government attempts to lengthen MOT intervals, and much more. New blood often means new thinking though, and while Mark has worked with the IAAF, providing PR support through his agency Impression Communications, being in the big chair is a different thing entirely. Will Wendy’s retirement signify a handbrake turn for the IAAF? The appointment of the Impression Communications head as the leader of the Federation caught many in the sector by surprise, so we wanted to ask Mark how he sees things moving forward. 20 AFTERMARKET JULY/AUGUST 2021 BUSINESS www.aftermarketonline.net IAAF: ALL CHANGE? Mark on his new role Congratulations. How does it feel to be the CEO of the IAAF? It feels good! I often think about my connection to the IAAF and the membership, which has been more than 20 years now, and I’m keen to be playing a large part in supporting this fantastic trade. What can we expect to change under your new leadership? The IAAF, throughout its 90 years, has successfully evolved to meet the challenges of the time, providing leadership and clarity across a number of topics. Working with Wendy for the past seven years, we have dramatically enhanced Aftermarket spoke to the IAAF’s outgoing CEO Wendy Williamson and her successor Mark Field recently on what’s next for the organisation