Stannah Lifts has been a member of the Lift and Escalator Industry Association (LEIA) for many years and are pleased to announce that this month Alastair Stannah, Managing Director of Stannah Lifts became president of the organisation.

Alastair will have a two year-term and will be supported by vice-chair Paul Turner of Schindler. As president, Alastair will be the figurehead for the organisation and support the Managing Director, Nick Mellor, in providing guidance and raising standards across the lift industry.

Alastair said, “I am delighted and honoured to become president of LEIA. The changes that Brexit has bought to the industry in terms of changes to product certification are going to be a major challenge in 2021, combined with the ongoing impact of the pandemic on how we work.

“And of course, vocational education through apprenticeships and continuing development has been a passion for the Stannah family since the days of my great, great grandfather, and is something LEIA work hard supporting the industry with. I look forward to working with Nick Mellor and his team, and the LEIA Board in addressing these issues and further progressing our industry.”

Alastair is not the only representation from Stannah at LEIA. Over the years, they have consistently had senior Stannah employees working with LEIA on key industry initiatives. There are four main committees and Stannah currently have representation on each of them.

Paul Clifton, Stannah’s former Chief Engineer, who still gives them the benefit of his years of experience though regular consultancy, has been on the LEIA Quality & Technical Committee for 31 years and as Alastair moves to take on his new role as president, Paul will also take on the role of leading this key committee.

Paul also represents Stannah on LEIA’s Personal Lift Group (PLG). The PLG is concerned with matters relating to stairlifts, homelifts and lifting platforms. The group meets to address items of importance to this industry segment and provides valuable input to the Association across all of its key activities – technical standards, safety, education and training.

Dave Franklin, who works in Lift Services as Stannah’s Technical Compliance Manager is a newcomer to the committee but has already been involved in preparing compliance responses.

Phil Beresford, Stannah’s group Health and Safety Manager, is also a long-standing Stannah representative at LEIA and heads up the Safety & Environment Committee.

The Contracts & Legal Committee is concerned with ensuring the communication of relevant changes in legislation, standard forms of contract and to provide model contract clauses and legal tips for use across the industry assisting the members in securing clear and fair conditions. Neil Deighton, Stannah’s Contracts Manager, is their representative there and has served on the committee for 30 years, previously representing Otis and Schindler.

Tim Collins, Stannah’s Training Manager, sits on the Education & Training Committee giving valuable input into the development of training and qualification standards within the industry.

LEIA is at the heart of the UK lift industry and Stannah are proud to support both LEIA and their market with the expertise of their people.