Unsung Heroes: Tim Jones, Brass Band Players Registry
Welcome to the latest edition of the Brass Band Hog Blog's Unsung Heroes series. This time, it is something a little different as I spend time chatting to the Registrar of the Brass Band Player's Registry (BBP), Tim Jones who shines a light a crucial aspect of banding but one that, I think it’s fair to say, works very much in the background.
About the BBP Registry
BBH: Thank you for taking the time to be interviewed for the Brass Band Hog Blog. Firstly, can you tell me please the history of the BBP?
TJ: The Brass Band Players Registry was formed in October 2012 after the sudden collapse of the previous registration system (British Brass Band Registry) in the weeks leading up to the British Open and the Finals of the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain of that year.
As far as I am aware, there has been a 'Registry' of some kind almost as long as brass band contesting has been in existence (although there are more informed brass band experts than me that could possibly shed some more light on this)! I believe that a registration system for brass band contesting was devised to preserve the fairness and integrity of the contest itself, especially when bands themselves 100 years or so ago had substantially more to gain financially from winning a prize.
The issue of fairness and integrity at brass band contesting still rings true today. A fair, robust and efficient registration system such as BBP offers competitions a way of ensuring their competition is fair to all competitors and bands, and that a fair and just result is more likely to happen.
I frequently use the example of football to emphasise the importance of a contesting registration system. All professional football players have to be registered with their team before the next match, and there have been several instances where teams have been subsequently disqualified from cup competitions due to fielding ineligible players. The same sentiment exactly applies to brass band contesting, where fairness in competition is of paramount importance.
BBH: What is the primary purpose of the BBP and what role does it play within contesting?
TJ: The Brass Band Players Registry governs the registration procedures of contesting brass bands in England and Wales. BBP’s sole purpose is to provide a fair & transparent registration service for these bands, and for any contests that use a registration service at their event – not just in England and Wales, but technically anywhere in the world! Brass Band Players Ltd is a company in its own right, and although owned by the same individual who owns the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain, the BBP Registry works independently of any contest and treats each event and band equally.
BBH: What is the Registry’s involvement within contesting? Are contest days busy for you and your team, or is work done before contest day?
TJ: All of the hard work is done before the events themselves! As stated, we have no involvement in the actual running of any contests – we are an independent company which provides a robust and efficient registration service for contest organisers, who recognise the importance of a reliable registration service at their contest to uphold the fairness and integrity of the competition itself.
If a contest wishes to use our service, their designated official contacts us in advance of the event requesting Player Lists; individual documents for each band detailing each player that is currently registered for that band (registration number and name only). We send non-editable PDF versions of these Player Lists across to the contest organiser via secure email in advance of their event, on a pre-determined date, so that the contest organiser has one less thing to worry about in the stressful lead-up to their event!
BBH: What is your relationship with the contest organisers such as Kapitol and the local Brass Band Associations?
TJ: As stated above, the Managing Director of Brass Band Players Ltd - Philip Morris - is also the Managing Director of Kapitol Promotions (along with being the Chairman of the South East Wales Brass Band Association).
In terms of my personal relationship with contest organisers, I actually have a dual role in the workplace: as well as being Registrar of BBP, I am also the Event Manager for Kapitol Promotions, so I’m responsible for organising the two major annual Finals events at the Royal Albert Hall and Cheltenham Racecourse, as well as the smaller events Kapitol organises throughout the year – including two of the three events that make up the Welsh League, funded by the South East Wales Brass Band Association (of which my mother is actually an Executive Member). Therefore, you could say that my relationship with Kapitol Promotions and the local brass band associations is rather good!!
I also hold the following positions:
- Kapitol Promotions Music Panel Administrator (the Panel chooses the set test-pieces for the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain)
- National Forum Administrator (the Forum is made up of the seven regions plus a representative from SBBA and Kapitol Promotions, and meets annually to discuss all issues regarding the Regional Championships)
The role of the Registrar
BBH: What does your role entail and include? Could you describe a ‘normal’ day for you?
A 'normal' working day in my role as BBP Registrar involves several tasks. My main duty though is to oversee the day-to-day running of the BBP Registry, and to ensure the accuracy of our service is always maintained.
BBH: How big an impact has Covid had on you personally, and on the BBP with contests being postponed for the foreseeable future?
The recent COVID-19 pandemic has been a worrying and challenging time for everyone, with the loss of loved ones as well as livelihoods putting things into perspective. I am very fortunate that I haven’t been affected in either aspect. In fact, the first few weeks of the UK lockdown were a blessing in disguise – I was being paid to stay at home to play with my children! My son is 4 on Halloween and my daughter was 1 in June, so the fact I got to spend so much 'quality; time with them (which I obviously wouldn’t have had under normal circumstances) is something I will always be thankful for.
In terms of the BBP Registry, the workload has obviously reduced drastically due to the lack of contesting in the UK at the moment. We have advised bands to re-validate their cards as they would normally, to ensure that when contesting resumes (hopefully not too far into 2021) the Band Secretaries will have one less thing to worry about.
BBH: Prior to taking up as your position of Registrar, what did you do for a living? How does one come to be the Registrar of the BBP?
TJ: Music has always been my main passion in life, hence why I studied Music at undergraduate level at Cardiff University. I then went on to complete a Masters in Performance Studies (also at Cardiff University), before taking up a sales role at the John Lewis store in Cardiff.
My appointment as BBP Registrar actually came about with a certain amount of luck. I’d heard about the previous Registrar (Philip Rogers) wanting to take a step back from the role, so I arranged a meeting with Philip Morris (BBP Ltd Managing Director) at his house to discuss the opportunity. I was offered the job there & then, and duly handed in my notice at John Lewis!
How it all works
BBH: Is it fair to assume that your busy periods will be the run up to contests, regionals, finals and other local contests?
TJ: Our workload depends on the time of year. January to March is easily the busiest time of year for the BBP Registry, as bands up & down the UK are preparing for their respective Regional contests. Approximately 500 bands across eight Regions compete in the Regional Championships, and each one of these 500 bands will have transactions to complete (some more than others…)! We greatly understand the importance of the Regional events, as these determine each band’s grading for the year ahead. Each and every band is obviously treated equally, so due care and attention is required for every single transaction – which means we work flat out to ensure that every band has their registration requirements in order before their contest.
You could say the workload drops off a cliff in April, which is the perfect time for us to all take some much-needed time off to re-charge our batteries.
From May until August, the BBP workload is steady, with several smaller-scale contests being held in various parts of the UK over the late spring and summer. Once August arrives however, bands who have qualified for the UK National Finals (approx. 90 bands) will be starting to focus on their registration requirements so the workload increases. There are also several other contests in the autumn, with registrations remaining constant until late November when Christmas concerts and carolling take obvious precedence for bands up and down the country.
BBH: How much of a challenge is it to achieve a level of consistency among the many volunteers who manage the registration at individual contests?
TJ: This is a very good question. Our job at BBP is to ensure that bands’ registration requirements are all in order before their next competition. We deliberately do not get involved in the organisation aspect of contests themselves, as these events already have extremely hard-working individuals (mostly volunteers) using the contest’s own systems that they’ve got in place. It’s not for us to dictate how contests should run their registration desks, but we’re always very happy to give advice to contest organisers if required.
BBH: Does the BBP manage the registration process? Who decides if and when changes need to be made, and how does this process work?
TJ: The BBP Registry Rules were originally formed in 2012 upon creation of BBP, and were created “by bandspeople FOR bandspeople” i.e. the rules were not too dissimilar to the previous Registry rules that bands had become historically accustomed to. However, in the subsequent eight years, we have certainly tightened these rules up – not just to reflect changes to BBP’s operating procedures, but also to certain “loopholes” or areas of the Rules that required extra attention. These Rules are reviewed annually by BBP, using feedback from various sources to assist us in changing any Rules if necessary.
BBH: What are your long-term hopes and plans for the BBP?
TJ: Firstly, we are obviously eager for brass banding to resume in this country. It is a unique and fantastic movement which gives so much to so many people, and it’s been extremely heartening to see bands and individuals using unique and modern ways in which to keep the banding 'spirit' alive online – not least the recent Cory Online Brass Band Championships, which were actually live-streamed throughout the world from the BBP Registry/Kapitol Promotions offices!
Off the back of this, we are hoping that the brass band movement can find a renewed enthusiasm and optimism once this pandemic is a distant memory. Brass banding needs an injection of new players and new ideas to keep our movement thriving and improving, which would obviously lead to more bands participating in competitions. I think players can be sometimes too pre-occupied in their own band’s issues rather than looking at the movement as a whole, and seeing what action they can take to improve brass banding in general. Some players may want to help & get involved with volunteering (either for their own band through fundraising or being part of the Committee, being part of their local brass band association, or helping out at one contest in particular), but they feel they don’t know who to ask. My advice would be: don’t be shy!
In terms of BBP itself, we were in the early stages of researching modernising our procedures before the pandemic hit. BBP is always looking for ways in which to improves its service to bands and players, and one of the ways we feel this can happen is through modernising the actual registration process itself. For example, we still issue paper registration cards – which I believe hasn’t changed for 70 years! There are many fantastic new technological options out there now, so we wish to implement some of these options in our way of working going forward into 2021 and beyond. This may involve a change in the way contests run their registration desks at their events, but we are eager to speak to contest organisers in the near future to discuss in greater detail.
We are also very keen to speak to individuals from other countries who wish to employ a professional and efficient registration system in their country. There are thriving brass banding movements in several European countries, which we believe could be easily enhanced by employing a registration system at their National/Regional/local events, to mirror what happens in these countries’ sporting environments.
Finally, BBP welcomes any feedback from English or Welsh bands who are currently registered with us, and would love to hear from unregistered bands within these countries who wish to register as a contesting brass band for the first time - in readiness for contesting to resume.
BBH: Tim, thank you again for taking the time to discuss the BBP with myself and the reader. For anyone interested in reading more about the BBP,
their website can be found via this link.
their website can be found via this link.
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