Year in Review 2021

Throughout 2021, the Covid-19 pandemic continued to dominate our lives to a greater or lesser extent. Its impact extends around the world, not least with the latest news of the new Omicron strain.

As with elsewhere, the situation in the UK is likely to fluctuate for the foreseeable future with booster vaccinations now being rolled out. The above notwithstanding, however, we have seen a return to some semblance of what we used to call ‘normality’ .

Brexit: Ongoing challenges

The start of 2021 saw a significant lack of availability of key raw materials and packaging, with price increases causing major disruption in the UK and across Europe. five litre paint cans cost 10% more than at the same period last year, and tin plate also had a similar increase which resulted in a shortage of metal paint cans.

Health Safety and Environment Committee

Something at the forefront of everyone’s minds is taking care of our planet. Terms such as Net Zero, Carbon Emission and Greenhouse Gases have entered common parlance.

The PDA have started working with partners across the industry to create an initiative that supports businesses to showcase their environmental credentials.

Our Paint Green initiative will be rolled out early in 2022 and is designed to dovetail with projects across the sector, acting as the conduit between PDA Members and industry partners, from manufacturers and suppliers, to partners such as the BCF.

The Paint Green initiative aims to:

• Encourage PDA Members to build sustainability principles into their daily working lives

• Encourage use of the paint and container recycling schemes provided by Associate Partners

• Increase recycling rates and reduce waste

• Reward PDA Members with Paint Green status, showcasing their environmental credentials

Essentially, the Paint Green status will offer a positive incentive for traders to engage in eco-friendly schemes that already exist but are under-utilised. It will also highlight new initiatives as and when they are launched.

Education and Training Committee

The committee has met three times this year. Committee members also attend several other boards and committees instrumental to enhancing training, apprenticeships, and qualifications within the sector.

More recently the PDA has become a CITB recognised ‘Third Party Organisation’ and this will further support the important work of the committee.

The group continues to work with the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) as part of the forthcoming review process for the Level 2 Painting and Decorating Standard.

There is still a significant drive from Government to introduce construction T-Levels for our sector, however, the committee focus remains on the current L2 standard in ensuring the content is relative and applicable to our sector and reinstatement of a L3 qualification.

The embedding of the new standard across the college network in England has been a watching brief with mixed feedback from tutors and construction heads and we continue to keep a close eye on progress.

Activities and Events

Despite the extra administration work and the challenges of pandemic restrictions, we hosted the Premier Trophy Awards, four National Apprentice competitions and our Networking event in Liverpool.

Internal meetings such as Management Board, Training and Education, and the Health, Safety and Environmental Committee have continued online.

In March we launched our new website, which has been well received by Members and Associates alike. The Member profile pages are now much easier to navigate and update. Pleasingly, the search engine ranking for the Association has improved greatly.

We are almost ready to launch our revised version of the Health & Safety in Painting & Decorating Handbook. This will be available to all Members as a Web App. The app will work on mobile phones, tablets, and PCs with its self-adjusting screen resolution. In creating an electronic version of the guide, its content can be updated quicky thus ensuring that it is always up to date.

Associate Partners

During the year, the Association brought in seven new Associate partners from various sectors across the industry. I would like to thank the Associates very sincerely for their continued support, loyalty, and much appreciated sponsorship.

Conclusion

Finally, I would like to say a few words of thanks...

• To my team at headquarters – Denice, Yvonne, Sam, Kerrie, and our Membership advisor Paul. You have all done an amazing job throughout this past year. Thank you for your continued dedicated commitment to the PDA.

• To Shepherd PR, Catherine Saint Publicity, and Empathic Visions who work tirelessly on The Decorator magazine, marketing, social media, and our website. Thanks to you, the promotion, visibility, and awareness of the Association to both Members and consumers has been vastly improved during the last twelve months.

• To the PDA Management Board for their continued support. Special thanks go to Andrew Havard who has now left the committee after many years of sterling service on this committee and various others over the past 17 years. Also, congratulations to Martin Hillyard on being re-elected and to Steve Drew on being newly-elected this year.

• To you, our Members, for your loyalty and commitment to the Association. We really do appreciate it. Please don’t forget, we are only at the end of the phone so don’t hesitate to call us for assistance.

• To the wider decorating community (including the manufacturers) for showing such resilience. We’ve all been through a lot together and should be proud of the way everyone has sustained our great industry.

None of us know what challenges lay ahead in 2022, but the PDA is in great shape. It’s been double jabbed and ready to face the future! I am confident that there is a lot to look forward to and real grounds for optimism for our industry and the Association. By working together, we can and will succeed in meeting the challenges.

We look forward to working alongside you in helping to promote your business, and in liaising with our Associate partners who represent such a diverse range of products and services within the sector. I wish you all continued success in your business. Please stay as safe and as healthy as you can. Have great a Christmas and I look forward to speaking with you during 2022.

Best Wishes

Neil Ogilvie

PDA Chief Executive Officer

November 2021