From the editor-in-chief Now, more than ever, we must stand united Chris Fay Editor-in-chief chrisf@tsi.org.uk Welcome to the 2016 Conference edition of TS Today. It was, of course, a great pleasure to welcome the many delegates and exhibitors to Telford International Centre. For those of you who were unable to attend or who would just like a recap we will showcase some of the many highlights in the following pages. This years plenaries focused on raising standards in the marketplace and in the profession, as well as the role of trading standards in public health and wellbeing and included the everpopular question time. During the event, we also handed out nine Hero Awards and three commendations, celebrated the success of our students and welcomed the latest incumbents to the College of Fellows. To borrow a few words from our chair, Christine Heemskerk, who addressed delegates at the opening reception, times are tough and thats why it is more important than ever that the profession stands together. Christines words have even more resonance following the shock EU referendum result, which has left many people with many unanswered questions. The institute will work closely with colleagues in central and local government to ensure the needs of consumers and honest businesses are understood, as the UK unpicks consumer legislation and regulations. The valuable protections that trading standards ofcers provide must be underpinned by appropriate legislation and resources, and we will continue to ght for both. Meanwhile, it is business as usual at CTSI HQ. As TS Today went to press, we received the welcome news that on Thursday 14 July MPs are expected to debate some of the issues raised by Bournemouth University and CTSI research on nancial scamming, which was launched at Conference. As is the way with these things, preparations are already under way for Conference 2017, and we hope to see you in Harrogate from 26 to 29 June. Until then, please visit our Facebook page, like and tag the many more photos you will nd there, and lets not leave it another 12 months until we hear from some of our friends and colleagues again. Thanks for reading,