UK chemical companies ‘optimistic’ about future growth despite recent decline

CHEMICALS companies have expressed a “high level of optimism” about future growth in the sector, according to the latest survey published by the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB).

The industry-funded body’s report predicts that the number of jobs in the chemicals sector will increase by 16% in the next three years, compared to 12% across the wider engineering construction industry (ECI).

The findings come amid otherwise gloomy warnings of decline for the UK chemicals sector, which the ECITB says has fallen from 12th to 20th in the UK’s foreign investment rankings over the past seven years. Additionally, the UK’s 2024 chemical output remained 29% lower than pre-pandemic levels.

The report says the sector’s positivity is partly down to a number of industrial clusters that it says are “poised to benefit from significant investments in carbon capture and hydrogen production”, such as Teesside, Immingham, Ellesmere Port, and Farnborough.

The report highlights hydrogen as one of the ECI sectors most confident of growth, with 62% of employers saying they expect at least some increase in operations over the next three years. Carbon capture employers were less confident, with 48% saying an increase in operations was “not likely at all”. Meanwhile, the oil and gas sector remains most confident of growth, with 67% of companies expecting at least some operational increase.

Andrew Hockey, CEO of the ECITB, said: “Only through bringing in new talent and training and upskilling existing workers can industry secure the skilled workforce it needs both for now and the future.”

‘Unattractive to women’

The report found that the chemicals sector continues to be overwhelmingly male. Of the 5,700 chemicals sector workers included in the ECITB’s assessment, only 12% were women. This compares to 17% in the wider ECI, and 48% of the UK’s working population.

The report also revealed the sector to be ageing, with the proportion of workers under 30 decreasing from 19% in 2021 to 17% in 2024. Meanwhile, 17% of workers are over 60, compared to 14% of the wider ECI workforce.

Last year, Hockey said that engineering construction “is not attractive to new entrants, especially younger people and women” and that “more needs to be done to address recruitment and retention challenges”.