“Plastics have an important and vital role in the UK economy” – says Shadow Minister

Iain Wright MP, Shadow Minister for Industry, said plastics have “an important and vital role in the UK economy,” during his keynote address at Interplas 2014.

Speaking at the show, the Labour MP, who recently met with representatives of the British Plastics Federation and was briefed about business conditions in the industry, said that the industry represented one of the biggest success stories in UK manufacturing.

Wright said that there needed to be an active industrial strategy that tackled both skills and finance in order to extend the lead that the UK has in plastics manufacturing.

Wright started a day of presentations focusing on the UK’s resurgent automotive industry; including presentations on the opportunities for plastics companies within the UK's automotive supply chain, light weighting, materials innovation and recycling as well as design and selection.

In the afternoon keynote, Luke Hampton, Supply Chain Development Manager at the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), discussed some of the key reasons why the UK automotive industry is excelling at the moment, and how plastics manufacturers can break into, develop and capitalise on the opportunities seen within the UK automotive industry.

“Some of the biggest automotive companies see the UK industry as ‘the place’ to manufacture,” Hampton said. “There is massive opportunity coming for suppliers up and down the supply chain.”

A full review of the conference and the presentations will be reported in October’s edition of BP&R