BCF blog: BCF member support during the Coronavirus crisis

By Tom Bowtell, CEO

In the space of a few weeks, like many others, our industry is in a state of turmoil.  Market demand is disappearing for many members and everyone is grappling to understand the wide range of support offered by the government, whilst trying to keep operations open and staff safe.  

We are now having weekly emergency Coronavirus calls with our Board of Directors, to review the situation and to understand how member companies are adapting, and where we should be prioritising our efforts to support members at this time of crisis. We will, of course, share decisions and output from the calls with the wider membership.

There is a lot of reference by the government of ‘essential’ businesses and confusion surrounding what is considered essential. We are working on a lobbying paper to establish paint, coatings, and printing inks as “essential” to the UK through the next more restrictive phase of lockdown that may well be coming, so facilities can stay open.    BCF members supply a vast array of supplies into many parts of the UK’s critical infrastructure, and we’ve put together a fact sheet to highlight these. You can view that here. 

Three other key lobbying areas have emerged.  Our printing inks members are suffering severe shortages of ethanol, which is going to impact the food packaging supply chain very shortly if we don’t get some action. We have escalated this to the highest level in BEIS and Defra.  We’ve also recommended some changes to the Government’s furlough scheme to help members rotate staff rather than pick winners and losers.  Finally, we’ve asked the government to consider a regulatory pause, particularly for biocides in water-based products, due to hit members in May.

All BCF council and committee meetings due to take place in the coming months will be going ahead as conference calls.  This includes the Board of Directors and Annual General Meeting due to take place in May.  We will write to the councils and committees with the call details for these meetings shortly.

We announced last week our decision to reschedule our Annual Conference and Industry Dinner, which was due to take place on Thursday 21st May, to now take place on Tuesday 6^th October 2020.  

With our world becoming more digital almost overnight, we have put together guidance on teleconferencing, with some tips on how to keep your meetings going digitally. 

We continue to send out updated communication with support available to members from government, and to ask about supply chain concerns members have.  To access the latest UK government response and information on Coronavirus (COVID-19) follow https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/coronavirus-covid-19-uk-government-response

BCF staff will be working from home until the government advises otherwise, and are available to contact on their usual office or mobile phones.  Like all businesses, we are evaluating the various scenarios for our own sustainability through this period and will be sharing the outcome of this with the BCF Board and later, the wider membership. 

As always, my door is (at least metaphorically for now!) open and I am really happy to talk to members about any individual concerns.  My office phone line still works, so do get in touch.