Karen Drinkwater re-elected as BPF President

British Plastics & Rubber and Interplas Insights would like to extend its warm congratulations to Karen Drinkwater, a founding director of JSC Rotational Limited, who was re-elected to serve for a second year as BPF President during the British Plastics Federation’s (BPF) Council and AGM, which took place on 18 May.

The same event saw Nigel Flowers, Managing Director of Sumitomo (SHI) Demag, elected as vice president.

Key appointments at the trade association are voted upon by members of the BPF Council, who were in attendance. The BPF’s healthy growth and solid financial basis was reported at the meeting, with the trade association welcoming 43 new members in 2021.

Drinkwater chaired the BPF’s Rotational Moulding Group for many years before she was elected president. Starting the second year of her tenure, she was thanked by Director General Philip Law for her continued insights and guidance during challenging and uncertain times.

In her report to the BPF’s members, she recounted highlights from the previous year, mentioning the well-attended parliamentary reception, held in November 2021, at which she met and discussed core issues with the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Lee Rowley MP.

Her speech also mentioned the compounded issues the plastics industry faces including bouncing back from the coronavirus, increased energy costs, supply chain issues and securing staff. Thanking the council and BPF staff for their support, she said: “We still face many challenges – but by working together, the UK plastics industry will seize the opportunities and continue to excel.”

Flowers has been the managing director of Sumitomo Demag since 2006. A member of the BPF Education & Skills Committee, Flowers also works as an ‘enterprise advisor’ to a local secondary school, linking education to work. Nigel also represents the BSi on both CEN and ISO Committees, developing technical safety standards for manufacturing plastics production equipment.