Foreword

NIGEL JACKSON, (RETIRED), CHIEF EXECUTIVE, MINERAL PRODUCTS ASSOCIATION NI

The MPA family continues to grow and get stronger with the merger at the end of last year with British Precast, the new affiliation with Construct and more companies with industrial minerals joining our ranks and many more besides particularly Associates who bring so much specialist knowledge to our deliberations.

I have always placed unity of the industry above all else because the evidence over time is that fragmented teams, organisations and sectors achieve less. Unity is a hard task master however! Companies operating in different parts of the UK, whether rural or urban markets or both, extracting different minerals, manufacturing different products and serving different and competing markets means that building consensus on common issues requires a blend of skills including science, art, diplomacy and downright determination! MPA Northern Ireland (MPANI) is a great exemplar of all these traits evidenced by my close and valued friend and their mercurial Director Gordon Best. I have worked with Gordon for well over 20 years now and have always been inspired by his passion for this great industry and the support he has given me when we navigate through and around tough issues together and the contribution he makes to the work of the sector.

Together MPA and MPANI are confronting the big-ticket issues affecting all companies from the challenges of achieving our ‘Vision Zero’ on Health & Safety, responding to climate change and delivering net zero by decarbonising our means of production and transport whilst also coping with increasingly difficult planning and permitting processes to ensure future supply. Too often the customer base and policy makers assume supply of our products underestimating the time it can take to convert plans for quarry extensions, or even harder, new operations into active businesses which can take up to 15 years. In an increasingly demanding policy landscape with higher regulatory costs, higher operating costs and taxes, businesses need minimum uncertainty to have the confidence to invest which is the key to boosting economic growth. UK growth has been anaemic for far too long and investment is below what it could be and that needs to change because a thriving enterprise economy is vital if we are to be able to fund the public services, we have let alone those we still need.

The MPA family aims to drive change, raise standards and improve perceptions and its members performance and achievements underpins those aims. Ours is an essential industry which is now fully recognised by Government but less so by the public. MPANI and MPA have common cause in trying to help raise awareness of the vital work our members do by helping stakeholders ‘make the link’. Campaigns such as our ‘Quarries & Nature – a 50 year success story’, recently recognised by independent judges winning a top ‘Planning Award’, help to move the dial on stakeholder perception as will the MPA Good Neighbour Scheme as it gains momentum. These initiatives and others such as the ‘UK Cement & Concrete Roadmap to Net Zero and Beyond’ all matter because companies are increasingly having to earn their licence to operate by demonstrating their track record and commitment to sustainable development and building trust. In future there will be no place for saying one thing and doing another. From here on in competence and delivery will govern the outlook for companies in the sector. That is where our trade associations can help businesses by getting ahead of the issues, shaping policy outcomes and helping members adapt to them. MPANI has always risen to that challenge, and I am confident they always will.

Mineral Products Association, Chief Executive (Retired), Nigel Jackson.