Coco Chanel once famously said that “nature gives you the face you have at twenty, but it is up to you to merit the face you have at fifty”. Wise words, and there is no reason Coco’s wisdom can’t be applied in business too. It is important to keep one eye on the future, and the way we want to appear in it.
The reason I mention this is that 2017 marks SAPCA’s 20th anniversary. Hitting this important milestone, there was no better time to assess how SAPCA has evolved in its first two decades and to refresh, reinvent and improve its offer to the sports and play construction sector.
Earlier this year we unveiled SAPCA’s distinctive new corporate identity. Gone is the old yellow and green, replaced by a bold new red, white and blue scheme.
The new identity is just one element of our new marketing and communications plan, which is being implemented throughout 2017. At the heart of this plan is our ambition of ensuring we become more customer-centric in our work.
One of the most important projects within the communications plan is the creation of a new SAPCA website, for which detailed work is now underway. The new site will play a crucial role in delivering enhanced guidance and advice to those looking to develop sports and play facilities in the UK. The aim is to establish the website as an essential resource for the sports and play marketplace, from where helpful and impartial information can be sought and found.
Another area of focus – which is also reflected in the new identity – is for SAPCA to help with the push of getting the UK more physically active. Sport England’s new strategy, published last year, places emphasis on getting the inactive active. SAPCA members can play a crucial part in this, by creating the spaces and facilities needed to get people moving.