It was a great honour for the PCN Head Office to welcome over 85 CEO's and Senior Managers from 45 countries, 2 Key Speakers and 3 Specials Guests to our first Annual Summit in London. See full collection of photos.

Our 1st official chance to meet was at our Welcome Reception and Gala Dinner where delegates collected their name badges, conference bags and met their overseas partners/friends.

The meeting was officially opened by Chairwoman, Rachel Humphrey who stated “Over the past year, PCN has built an excellent foundation for a strong, connected and supportive community of heavy lift specialists and is now an ISO quality management accredited organisation with 110+ members in 65+ countries, and still growing. The goal of our 1st gathering is to bring you together with no religious or political barriers, but to seek strength in numbers by spending 2 days exploring business and discussing the challenges that our industry faces.”

Presentations during the rest of the weekend meeting included:

Environmental Agenda by Christopher Snelling, Head of Supply Chain Policy at the Freight Transport Association

Review and Outlook for the Project Cargo Industry by Susan Oatway of Drewry Shipping Consultants

Movement of Accessories & Structures for a Power Generation Building by Marco Tanzi from W.I.S., Italy

Clearance and Delivery of 5 Drilling Service Units by Frank Olsen of Wilhelmsen Ship Service, Iraq

Movement and Challenge of Cargo of 6.3m under a Bridge 5.0m High by Elvis Roberts of CRUZ Logistics, Kazakhstan

Transportation of a Yacht during a World Tour by Wirtz Shipping, Belgium

Delegates also took part in over 550 1-2-1 meetings. All the meetings had been pre-arranged using our online Meeting Manager system and a strict time management system was in place to ensure this important section of our gathering ran smoothly. After all the hard work form the meeting, PCN delegates enjoyed a Medieval Banquet, where we were joined by 'King Henry VIII' and his court for 2 hours of theatre and entertainment.

"Before joining PCN, I thought it would also be one of those networks who only care for annual fees but after having attended the first PCN Annual Summit in London, I was pleasantly astonished to observe that Rachel, the Chairwoman and her team are seriously focused on finding ways to enhance business opportunities for their members." Inam, Managing Director, Noble Shipping Services, Pakistan

"PCN was the new network made up of true professionals that I was looking for to expand my expertise and confidence towards my customers. We all talk the same language ... project cargo, heavy lift and specialist shipments." Philippe Coadou, Philco International, France