BCF calls on Government for recognition

The British Coatings Federation (BCF) has published a report in which it urges the Government to recognise the importance of upstream ‘enabler’ industries to UK manufacturing.

Coatings are used in virtually every industry to make products safer, more effective, and to improve their quality and as a result, downstream companies worth £300bn a year rely on coatings products. 

Without these, the BCF says that a large proportion of sectors such as aerospace, automotive, green energy, and life sciences – all of which were identified by the Government in its Advanced Manufacturing Plan – wouldn’t be able to achieve their potential.

Therefore, the BCF has outlined in its Essential Coatings report, five key asks of the Government to ensure the coatings sector can continue to thrive and continue to contribute to the UK economy.

This comes in response to the Government’s Advanced Manufacturing Plan and whilst it refers to ‘supply chains’, the BCF says more could be done to highlight the role played by other parts of manufacturing and their contribution to the economy, job creation, and balance of trade.

The five asks included in the report are the need for regulatory and policy clarity and certainty for chemicals; a long-term industrial strategy for manufacturing; support for businesses in the transition to net zero; a long-term focus on skills and training; and a greater focus on improving post-Brexit trade. 

The report was launched in a parliamentary reception held at the House of Commons hosted by Paul Scully MP and attended by 100 guests including those from the coatings sector, representatives of other trade associations, MPs, and peers.

Tom Bowtell, chief executive of the BCF, comments: “Coatings are a British success story. Our members employ 14,000 in good quality jobs around the country, contributing £4 billion a year to UK GDP. And we are proud that the UK coatings sector is a net exporter, securing £1 billion of business a year around the world. Our new Essential 

Coatings report is all about sharing this crucial impact with a wider audience, explaining just how important our sector is to the UK economy and society.”

Bowtell goes on to explain that whilst the BCF welcomes the Government’s plan for advanced manufacturing, it’s important to make sure that enabler industries, without which these advanced sectors couldn’t function, aren’t forgotten.

“This holistic reality needs to be recognised in an integrated industrial strategy that supports all areas of British business,” he continues. “Aerospace, automotive, green energy, life sciences – all of these sectors rely on our members' coatings and inks in one way or another to achieve their own successful end-result products, as well as on other key products from across the UK manufacturing supply chain.“

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