The UK plastics industry must continue to innovate and invest if it is to survive. This was the message from Brian Mann, president of the British Plastics Federation (BPF, GB-London EC2A 3JE; www.bpf.co.uk), speaking to members at the BPF annual dinner. “The future is not going to be easy, of that there is no doubt” said Mann, who is managing director of leading UK trade moulder McKechnie Plastics. “We have to fight.”

The BPF president´s rallying call was presented against a background of manufacturing employment in the UK having dropped from 4.2m to 3.5m people in the past five years. At the same time, manufacturing´s contribution to the UK´s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has declined from 21% to 17%. In response to this downturn, the BPF is to continue to lobby for the creation of a government manufacturing board that would drive a proactive strategy for manufacturing in the UK.

Jointly with its eight affiliate associations – which include the PMMDA (Polymer Machinery Manufacturers and Distributors Association), the PIFA (Packaging & Industrial Films Association), the GTMA (Gauge & Toolmakers Association) and the BRMA (British Rubber Manufacturers´ Association) – the BPF is writing to Chancellor of the Exchequer (finance minister) Gordon Brown to try and influence his next budget.

“We don´t want the fragile signs of recovery jeopardised by rises in Climate Change Levy (CCL), National Insurance contributions or fuel taxation,” asserted Mann. “Last year our lobbying prevented plans for an increase in CCL. We must do the same again.”

This year´s annual dinner celebrated the 70th birthday of the BPF, which has increased its membership by 24 companies over the last 12 months. Its website is achieving 35,000 hits a month and it is to continue its efforts to improve the plastics industry´s competitiveness. This will include the maintenance of its close cooperation with the PICME (Process Industries Centre for Manufacturing Excellence) and the preparation of plastics competitiveness studies.