Supporting UK industry

Composites UK’s chairman, Andy Dugmore provides a progress report on the recent activities taking place within the Organisation. As the industry continues to develop and grow, Composites UK does so alongside it. Our key focus is to provide our member companies with the support, advice and guidance they require to remain competitive in the global arena. To do this we listen to their requirements and operate a flexible approach in our development plans. Our objective is to provide an increased level of support to our members to enable them to operate and grow their business both here in the UK and overseas. In response to this we have recently set up a Business Support section on our website, which is publically available and signposts visitors to the site to carefully selected business partners and member companies who work on services such as marketing, export, R&D tax credits, insurance and more. We have also been working on ‘The Hub’ – a database of composites capabilities in the UK. This was in response to the UK Composites strategy developed through the Composites Leadership Forum (CLF) and the BIS manufacturing and skills policy. The Hub Database will be used to build a more accurate status of the UK composites industry, generate industry statistics, inform strategic direction for the industry and benefit individual companies by directing business opportunities to them. The first stage of this is due for completion in May 2015. The Composite Assured Practitioner (CAP) scheme has just entered the pilot phase of development. This scheme will give individuals and companies a mechanism of demonstrating competence across a wide range of technologies, processes and methodologies. The initial focus for the pilot is on prepreg, but this will be rolled out across other processes over the coming months. Within each subject area there is a list of core competencies; these competencies will be assessed and the individual marked as operating at bronze, silver or gold level in that skill. Assessment of each skill enables the individual to build up their CAP passport – an accredited statement of their competency. Employers benefit in several ways including ensuring their staff have the right level of skill for their workplace, highlighting any training requirements, but more importantly giving them the edge when tendering for jobs as the competency of their workforce is accredited through their participation in the scheme. In recruitment, there is an advantage in knowing that an individual with a CAP passport can operate at a certain level across a range of skills. Just as 2014 came to a close our membership hit the 200 mark. We welcomed 54 new companies last year, which is a key indicator that not only is the sector growing at a healthy rate, but the industry is seeing Composites UK as its supporting organisation. http://compositesuk.co.uk