The voice of UK Industry

Composites UK 2015 Members’ Directory: Chairman’s report Welcome to my first editorial as Composites UK Chairman. Composites UK is the accredited trade association for the UK composites industry. Our mission is to enhance and promote the safe and effective use of composites, supporting the UK industry so that companies involved in this growing market can continue to grow and participate in the increasingly competitive world of global composite production and have a shared voice. Following the association’s growth in recent years in both members and staff, we cover the whole supply chain including manufacturers, material suppliers, ancillaries, consultancies, end users and research institutions across a wide range of applications and industries. Recently we have seen a great emergence in composites in the UK, particularly since SME composite manufacturers have been able to promote themselves wider and greater through a dedicated publication to composites, Composites in Manufacturing (CiM) and of course be able to benefit from the runaway success of the Composites Engineering Show (November 11-12 2014) in Hall 5 at the NEC, Birmingham. The association itself is in the strongest position that it has ever been in over its history, and with Dr Sue Halliwell as the association’s Operational Manager, is destined for another great and successful year ahead. One of our key activities is keeping industry informed of commercial opportunities, and an example of which can be found with HS2 and the use of composite materials within infrastructure, such as rail sleepers and bridges. Composites UK has held several workshops as well as industry showcase days this year already with much more involvement further planned. As outlined above we continue to grow with the Composites Engineering Show (Headline Industry Partner) and due to popular demand we will be hosting our Annual Industry Award Ceremony at the National Motorcycle Museum on Tuesday 11th November. This year our awards cover eight areas from Innovation through to Employer of the Year. The standard and number of entries to the awards have been extremely high and winners will be showcased during the exhibition, with the awards being presented during the dinner itself. We would love to hear any views or thoughts on Composites UK on our stand E158 during the Composites Engineering Show. Andrew Dugmore, Chairman – Composites UK

www.compositesuk.co.uk