Editorial

By Tom Bowtell Chief Executive Officer of the BCF

Given the year everyone had in 2020 with Covid-19 and all the many challenges it brought, it was with a degree of excitement and relief on Christmas Eve last year when we heard the news that the Prime Minister had finally agreed a free trade agreement with the EU. We’ve since discovered it is far from free and frictionless trade, with our members’ operating costs being increased by up to 10% due to the additional bureaucracy and paperwork the new agreement has generated, and some real challenges for our members when exporting to Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland and the rest of the EU.

On top of the short term and immediate trading challenges, the EU-UK Trade and Co-operation Agreement did not include data sharing on chemical substances, and we’ve spent most of 2021 in discussion with Defra and BEIS to try to establish how the UK can continue to be a competitive manufacturing country for chemical-based products like coatings and printing inks. Our latest Brexit survey results, which are reported on page 10, give more details on the current mood of the industry. At time of going to print, there is still no news on whether Defra will be more pragmatic in its approach to chemicals management in the UK, or if we are faced with a complete replica of EU REACH, paying again for data to populate an identical UK REACH database of over 20,000 chemical substances. Given the huge challenges from Covid-19 and Brexit, it was hard to imagine a third issue would dominate our industry in 2021. I already had some hints of the raw material crisis just before Christmas last year when I was contacted by one of our members regarding epoxy and polyester resin supply issues in Q4 2020 caused by several force majeures and booming global demand for chemicals. Covid-19 has significantly contributed to chemical supply chain disruptions, and this has been amplified by a large number of additional force majueres in the USA, Europe and Asia, causing significant concern and stress to BCF members trying to meet with customer demand. The estimated impact of raw material prices on our members’ product assortment costs vary from 1535%, depending on the sector, and unfortunately availability issues look set to continue for several months ahead. Read more on this on page 18.

In more positive news, we report on the sustainability successes of the industry in the build up to COP26 in November (page 6), and our response to one of the major challenges we still face – the estimated 50 million litres of leftover paint generated in the UK every year, with only 2% of it recycled or remanufactured. On page 8 we outline how PaintCare aims to solve this, and we are very close to making it a reality. We are also making BCF a more sustainable employer – see page 26. Given the recent announcements on ending Covid-19 legal restrictions in the UK, we are thrilled to confirm our 2021 Conference and Awards programme will be going ahead as planned on October 14th, at a new venue in Manchester, to allow us to accommodate everyone. We’ve had over 50 entries for our awards, and the shortlisted entries can be seen on page 16, along with details on how to book your place or table for what will be the coatings industry event of the year. We will be asking for proof of double vaccination for the event via the NHS app or negative covid test taken 48 hours prior to reassure everyone attending.

Assuming the current peak in Covid cases reduces by September we plan to return to face-to-face BCF member meetings, so we hope to look forward to seeing members again in Coventry in the Autumn!

Tom Bowtell Chief Executive Officer