More than 140 senior decision-makers from the UK’s paints, coatings, printing ink and wallcoverings sectors gathered in Warwickshire for the British Coatings Federation (BCF) Annual Conference on Thursday June 5th.

The opening session covered the UK and global outlook, hearing from Dr. Daniel Thorniley, global political and economic commentator, Graeme Chaplin of Bank of England, who provided insights into the future economic outlook. The first session closed with the launch of BCF’s Careers Strategy, the key actions of which were outlined by co-chairs of BCF’s Coatings NextGen Council, Helen Anderton of INX International and Andrew Roser of AkzoNobel.

The day’s proceedings took an environmental focus, hearing from Rebecca Diamond, senior sustainability manager at B&Q (Kingfisher Group), on the customers’ view of sustainability in the DIY sector. She was followed by professor Patricia Thornley and Dr. Jude Onwudili of Energy and Bioproducts Research Institute at Aston University, who shared how bio-based materials in manufacturing can contribute to sustainability.

The morning sessions closed with Marjaneh Zarrehparvar, president of PaintCare Inc., who shared how the product stewardship scheme has had success across the US in the last 15 years, and learnings for how the BCF can carry this across to the UK.

The afternoon session opened with an interactive panel discussion, chaired by BCF CEO Tom Bowtell. He was joined by Nikita Smagin, co-founder of Go-Autonomous, who also provided a presentation on opportunities that AI can create for business operations, and other participants: Jeff Hope, manufacturing director of AkzoNobel, Professor Robert Harrison, professor of Automation Systems at Warwick Manufacturing Group (University of Warwick), and Christopher Pilgrim, knowledge transfer manager for materials at Innovate UK Business Connect. They all provided valuable perceptions on how BCF and the wider chemical supply chain can look to harness AI and automation in the industry.

The event also raised more than £2,600 for the event’s charity partners, Teenage Cancer Trust and The Myton Hospice, contributing vital funds to both charities in memory of BCF colleague Callum Plummer

“It is vital that we, as the trade association for the coatings sector, always look ahead and assist our members in their own planning for the future,” said Bowtell. “With the growth of AI, broader digitization and innovation across the industry, we are keen to highlight and debate how coatings businesses can benefit, or not be caught out by change. It was fantastic that the conference was so supportive of our vision for promoting the industry to the next generation through our Coatings NextGen Council, and that there was a clear message to keep driving the sustainability and diversity agenda.”

BCF President Sharon Harte closed the Conference by thanking sponsors Orr and Boss, IMCD Group, Lisam Systems and Synthomer for their generous support.