THERE was an afilvervading atmosphere of apprehension evident at the
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annual conference of the National Association of Furniture Warehousemen and Removers, held last week in London.
THE Transport Act and its possible effect on the fortunes of all engaged in the industry of furniture removal and storage are clearly uppermost in the minds of all the principal speakers and of those who took part in the discussions. It penetrated to • the banqueting hall and was not absent even from the consistently humorous speech of Mr. R. V. Stanford, when he proposed the toast of the ladies and guests.
IT is clear that removers, although excluded from the provisions of the Act, do not believe that the last word on the subject of their absorption into nationalization has yet been said; certainly they apprehend that the last deed has not been done. They have keen regard to the fact that the British Transport Commission is already a competitor, in that it has acquired, both in the railways and in road transport concerns which were owned by the railways, an interest in the furniture-removal industry.
PROCEEDINGS of the conference were characteristic of the Association. Papers were brief and to the point, likewise the discussions. They were practical, too, dealing with price-cutting and its prevention, the handling of " small lots" and, finally, the effects of the Transport Act.