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The British Coatings Federation is the representative body for the UK’s £4 billion-a-year paint, printing ink, powder coating and wallcovering manufacturing industries.
We have over 250 companies in membership
We offer guidance on health, safety and environmental matters
We provide the opportunity to influence UK and European legislation
We give access to industry statistics
We meet on matters of mutual concern within the industry
Members will have the support of CEPE, the European Trade Association for our industry. Through CEPE and UK Governmental Departments, we are able to influence legislation so that it not only meets the wishes of the marketplace but also
ensures that it is both practical and achievable (a separate fee is payable to CEPE which is detailed in our application papers)
What our members say
“BCF is setting the standard for trade associations.”
“Through two key tumultuous events in our recent history the members have witnessed and I am sure appreciate more than ever the significant added value, proactive approach and leadership of the BCF and team.”
“Very professional, structured leadership to issues, approaches adopted often best in class relative to other industry associations we work with.”
Watch this video to find out more about the benefits of BCF Associate membership from our members:
Eligibility for membership
In order to be eligible as a Full member, a company must:
manufacture surface coatings, inks or wallcoverings in the UK or
manufacture overseas and sell surface coatings, inks or wallcoverings in the UK through their UK legal entity
Associate membership of the British Coatings Federation is available to suppliers of raw materials, equipment or services to the paint, ink and allied products industry. (See industry definition below.) Other categories
of membership are available and applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
The Industry All activities connected with the manufacture of coatings: paints; powder coatings; printing inks; varnishes; lacquers; stains; wood preservatives; thinners; strippers and allied products and other like
protective or decorative products.
Benefits and costs of membership can be found below.
Associate members Although many of our Associate members consider the major benefit of membership to be the networking opportunities with our members (the manufacturers of paints, powder coatings, printing inks and wallcoverings) there are many other benefits outlined here. You will see that initiatives include:
An annual mailing on your behalf to our members
Your products and services listed on our Product Finder
A welcome to your company in our magazine Covered
A showcase area on our website
Joint meetings with Full members
Reduced rate advertising, sponsorship and exhibiting
A free entry in our Annual Handbook member directory
Market statistics
Discount on training modules from the Coatings Training Institute
Wallcoverings members For wallcoverings, we offer two types of membership:
BCF Wallcoverings Full member - Open to companies who manufacture wallcoverings in the UK.
BCF Wallcoverings Associate member - Open to companies who supply a product or service to the UK wallcoverings industry.
See below for an outline of benefits of membership:
Technical and regulatory help and support through the Wallcoverings Technical Committee (meets three times a year) discussing such topics as coordinating an industry approach for assessing sustainability, compliance
with regulatory requirements both in the UK and across Europe, REACH (eg defending ADCA), PVC recycling, wallcovering Standards, Construction Products Regulation and Climate Change Agreements.
Early alerts on legislation affecting both your own and your customer's business, with a quarterly technical digest and newsletter.
Opportunity to directly input to industry policies and lobbying positions to influence the outcome of legislative proposals. Access to senior government officials at business functions gives the ability to influence
their policies.
Advice and guidance on sustainability for improved legal compliance, including labelling, health, safety, environment and transport. A helpline is available for individual problems.
Membership subscription costs can be found in the application papers linked below. If you'd like to join, you can can download, complete and return
the application papers. If you have any queries along the way, or if you'd like to discuss in more detail (on a call or by email) please contact Matt Peters. (Note that declared turnover figures remain confidential and related queries should be raised with Matt Peters.)