Welcome to the spring edition of the CIA Matters magazine

Britain’s chemical industry fighting for growth

Welcome to the latest edition of our member magazine, CIAMatters. Well, it has certainly been a very tumultuous few months since my last update. In February, we launched our CIA Manifesto ‘Fuelling UK Growth’ in Parliament and since then we have been sharing our key messages with our stakeholders and government reaffirming our commitment to advocate for policies supporting UK-wide industry development.

The past five years have seen a significant fall in the nation’s year-to-year “flow” of inward investment, and other parts of the world – most notably the US, the EU and China – are moving decisively, through funding and policy stability around clean technology and infrastructure, to win that international capital. The Chancellor’s, Jeremy Hunt, Spring Budget was an opportunity for the United Kingdom to send a message to the world that we are ‘open for business’ to attract the investment we need to put our industrial base on a level that can compete across the globe. However, it was slightly disappointing to see that, in terms of business, there was very little as the focus was on the domestic consumer (voter!).

Reflecting on the budget measures I said to the Financial Times that the calling measures to support investment and growth were a “step in the right direction”. However, I did add that UK chemical businesses are facing huge competition from other parts of the world in terms of cheaper energy costs and more competitive and stable investment climates, so I remain at a loss over how we compete now. To read our press release and callings please visit our website. There is still time, and the autumn 2023 package of support to incentivise advanced manufacturing is a very welcome development, but so much more needs to be done – and urgently – if we are to arrest that fall down the investment league table.

Despite the lack of chemical industry focus in the budget statement and a tough final quarter of 2023, our latest business survey showed that things are starting to improve for our sector. Member companies reported higher sales, higher production levels and greater capacity utilisation during the first quarter of 2024. This is promising but it doesn’t mask the longer-term challenge of establishing a more compelling UK investment case for chemicals – especially given that 4 in 10 companies have moved their production outside of the UK.

The results of our most recent quarterly business survey show that things are starting to improve but the sustainability of that improvement is still not clear. Member companies reported higher sales, higher production levels, and greater capacity utilisation during the first quarter of 2024. This is promising but it doesn’t mask the longer-term challenge of establishing a more compelling UK investment case for chemicals – especially given that 4 in 10 companies have moved their production outside of the UK. For the press release click here and for our latest economic report here.

Away from economics and politics, one particularly important topic is that of mental health. As employers, we are uniquely positioned to make a significant positive contribution to our employees’ health and well-being. For many years, our policy experts on health and well-being, Dr Roger Pullin and Aila Bursnall, have led the way in advancing industry-wide understanding of mental health. They have developed various tools and resources to help employers create sustainable, healthy workplaces.

This edition of CIA Matters is dedicated to mental health, and I would like to take this opportunity to honour Aila, who passed away earlier this year. Aila was passionate about mental health and well-being, and she worked tirelessly on numerous guides, tools, and conferences to ensure that both our members and the CIA understood the importance of this topic. We hope to continue her great work.

Following this year’s theme, ‘Movement: Moving for Our Mental Health,’ CIA staff have shared their tips on how movement helps their mental health. Please see page 16 for their insights.

Moving forward, we also say goodbye and thank you to our colleagues Phil Scott who will continue to work with us as a consultant, David Pollard, and Mike Lancaster, retiring throughout this year. I invite you to join me in thanking them for their years of dedication and hard work in the chemical sector. At the same time, we welcome our new joiners: Dr Julian Hought, who has taken over from Phil as Director of Safety and Security, Sarah Campbell our new Responsible Care Executive; and Nirvana Sewsunker joining the the Responsible Care team in June.

Finally, our CIA Chemical Industry Awards will take place on 20th June at the Newcastle Gateshead Hotel. These awards provide the best opportunity to showcase your company and your workforce for their achievements. This year, we received an incredible number of nominations, particularly for the Innovation Award sponsored by GSK. We eagerly await the chance to reveal the winners on the night. Don’t forget to book here! Thank you to all our member companies for the work you do for our sector and for the time and resources you commit to working with us on the collective industry-wide agenda.