Opinion: Dai Richards on pertinent issues in the Chemical industry

January 2010: Chemical industry specialist Dai Richards implores the Chemical sector to fight for its own future.

"The chemical industry has to show itself to be exciting and a worthwhile place to be. But we aren’t as good as we could be about putting over a positive image.

It’s a bit chicken and egg. There are lots of chemical companies working within their local communities, but they are not doing that on a broader canvas. That’s where there’s a role for Government bodies to help, and we need to do even more of it to attract people.

There’s a lot the Government can do. There are various skills gaps around. The number of school leavers going into engineering or chemistry is really small, but it's definitely an area the Government should support. They are doing that with the whole push in maths, technology and engineering. They are trying to promote those subjects at A-level at the moment, but we in the industry can help as well.

Of course, it’s hard to get people interested in Chemicals; especially if they haven't spent time looking around, to find out how chemical companies really work or to understand the wide range of things we produce. It’s a lot of effort to get people involved and even harder to get them excited, so it’s really about individual companies making that effort.

There’s a great camaraderie in the sector. In areas such as skills shortages, people are happy to collaborate, but unfortunately they can't find the time to do it.

It’s ever-more crucial that they work together now. These are tough times. Energy issues are pertinent. Energy prices and availability. Not to mention skills. Regulations have always been an issue for health and safety. We are tightly regulated in the UK. That’s a big issue. It has changed the way manufacturers can do things. They have their hands tied behind their back in different ways.

Of course, the chemical industry is extremely diverse. There are completely different challenges for people in petroleum to those making perfume. On the one hand there are millions of tonnes being produced, on the other someone producing a few drops to go into a wonder drug or designer perfume.

I think the thing that worries me most is, for understandable reasons, people are looking at a very short time horizon. We have to hope that it won’t catch up with us in the future.

The sector is stressed about survival. But businesses need to make short-term decisions such as investing in research and development, new technology and people. All of those things are hard to do but, if we don’t, it will be even harder in the long term.

These are hard times, but if they make the right investment they may come out the other side and industry will be viable and buoyant one."


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