The Decorator – June-July 2021

Dear Members,

Since my last letter, you may well have had your first Covid-19 vaccination, or possibly both of them. Now that the lockdown restrictions are easing, I hope that aspects of all things work-related are returning back to normal. Speaking to Members around the country, work seems to be in plentiful supply with postponed work from 2020 taking precedence in your busywork diaries. Let’s hope that the dreadful weather which has been evident for the past few weeks will improve for your external painting contracts.

It is several months now since the UK left the EU, and the coatings industry has reported a raw materials crisis with supply issues and price increases rise on a phenomenal scale. This started towards the end of 2020 and a combination of factors has combined to create a very difficult situation. This has coincided with increased demand in both the industrial coatings and decorative sector and is likely to have an impact on the cost of paint. In addition, there are real fears that the sector will not be able to meet the demand from UK manufacturing and construction, meaning we may also start to see paint shortages on the shelves which could potentially impact post-covid recovery. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has been made aware of the situation. How long will this situation last? The more optimistic companies say that they expect the situation to ease in Q3 of 2021, others fear that problems will continue into next year, at least for certain products. We will, of course keep members informed as further information becomes available.

I spoke in my last letter about the long-term work the Association is doing in terms of sustainability and environmental issues within our sector. Since then, this initiative has gathered pace with our strategy being set out for the coming years. The primary objective is to encourage decorators to use recycling schemes more frequently and to create an environment against which our Associate Partners can highlight their individual recycling programmes.

Our longer-term objective is to show the PDA’s key stakeholders, such as Build UK, government departments, the general public, that PDA Members take environmental issues seriously and are proactive in recycling. To this end, I have been in talks with many of our Associate Partners and paint manufacturers who are also very keen to work alongside us on this. We recently held a mutually supportive meeting on the topic with colleagues at the British Coatings Federation (BCF). There is some good news on this year’s Trophy Awards event... The Clerks of Works Judges have now re-commenced the remaining site visits, postponed back in March last year, which we anticipate will be concluded by the middle of July. To date, everything is to hand for the awards ceremony to take place in September as planned.

By the time you receive this publication I will be out on the road hosting our apprentice competitions in Poole, Doncaster, Coventry and Accrington. We have over 50 entrants this year, exceeding the number in 2019. The winners will attend either the London event or the National Networking Event held this year at the Liverpool Waterfront Hilton. More details can be found within this publication. For now, enjoy the summer months, keep safe and I hope to speak to you all again very soon.

Neil Ogilvie

Chief Executive neil@paintingdecoratingassociation.co.uk