Chemicals –

the UK advantage
Adding value for global investors and industry

In the UK, many of the world’s major
corporations plug directly into the heart of
global finance, professional services, creative
and talent industries. They enjoy access to
world-class science and academia and link
into a wide network of smaller enterprises,
many of which are also world leaders in
their fields. A unique multi-cultural and
entrepreneurial economy, the UK is at the
hub of international business, bringing
the world to a company’s door. In short,
it is the gateway to the globe. You too can
be at the heart of this global crossroads.
Start by talking to UK Trade & Investment.
UK Trade & Investment is the Government
organisation that helps UK-based companies
succeed in an increasingly global economy.
Our range of expert services is tailored to the
needs of individual businesses to maximise
their international success. We provide
companies with knowledge, advice and
practical support.
UK Trade & Investment also helps overseas
companies bring high quality investment
to the UK’s vibrant economy – acknowledged
as Europe’s best place from which to
succeed in global business. We provide
support and advice to investors at all
stages of their business decision-making.
UK Trade & Investment offers expertise and
contacts through a network of international
specialists throughout the UK and in British
Embassies and other diplomatic offices
around the world.
For further information contact us:
Web: www.uktradeinvest.gov.uk
Tel: +44 (0)20 7215 8000
Saudi Basic Industries Corporation
(SABIC) site, North Tees
Photo courtesy of SABIC
1 THE UK CHEMICAL INDUSTRY
Contents
2 A dynamic and diverse industry
3 A fundamentally strong UK
7 The building blocks of success
17 Research & development excellence
27 Regional strengths and support
31 Expertise across the chemicals spectrum:
33 Commodity
34 Speciality
35 Consumer
A dynamic and diverse industry
The UK is one of the world’s top chemical-producing
nations, with a high-performance industry achieving
outstanding levels of growth, exports, productivity
performance and international investment.
Founded on abundant resources and supported
by world-class science and manufacturing, the
UK chemical industry offers investors an unrivalled
combination of well-established facilities and skills
as well as added-value products and support.
International investors in the UK chemical industry
benefit not only from the UK’s open environment
for enterprise, but also from the industry’s priority
status. This means investors can take advantage
of low taxation, business-friendly regulation as
well as regional and innovation support to help
them make the most of business opportunities
throughout the UK.
The UK chemical industry is one of the largest
manufacturing industries in the UK, with a turnover
of £55 billion. It has been growing rapidly at 5 per cent
per annum over recent years, and industry experts
predict continued good growth despite the economic
downturn. With an 8.2 per cent share of the world
market and an integral role within the European
market – the world’s largest with 31.6 per cent of
total production – the UK provides investors with
access to a thriving national industry and superb
access to growing global markets.
The sector provides direct employment for 214,000
people and supports several hundred thousand
additional jobs throughout the economy. The industry
spends in excess of £2 billion per year on new capital
investment. The chemical industry is very efficient,
delivering a value added per employee of nearly
twice that of the UK manufacturing average.
THE UK CHEMICAL INDUSTRY 2
A fundamentally
strong UK
These tough times present unique challenges
and opportunities for the UK and the world.
The UK has recently experienced a long period
of sustained growth and importantly is not reliant
on any one sector. Its vibrant and diversified
economy and unique combination of success,
confidence, innovation, quality and ambition
make it a truly global economic powerhouse.
3 THE UK CHEMICAL INDUSTRY
— The UK is ranked top within Europe
and sixth globally for ‘ease of doing
business’ according to a World Bank
survey covering several legal issues
including the ability to enforce contracts
and overall business protection
— The UK remains the number one inward
investment destination in Europe, with
almost one fifth of the total accumulated
stock of foreign direct investment
— R&D investment into the UK increased
by 83 per cent in 2007/08
— In 2007/08, the UK attracted 1,573
foreign direct investment projects
from 48 countries, a record-breaking
performance
— The UK accounts for 57 per cent
of the whole European private equity
and venture capital market
The UK is an open market – actively encouraging
inward investment to act as a springboard for global
growth – with its ‘cluster’ effect as a core strength.
The UK’s chemicals clusters are a driving force for
innovation, growth and investment.
Powerful clusters
The UK’s 3,125 chemical companies produce
a broad range of commodity, speciality and
consumer chemicals. Chemicals firms can be found
in almost every area of the country, but there are
four particularly powerful regional concentrations:
the North West, the North East, Yorkshire and
Humber and Scotland. All have the skills, supply
chains and close proximity to allied industries such
as energy and professional support vital to a vibrant
industry and to premier investment opportunities.
THE UK CHEMICAL INDUSTRY 4

Research and Development
The UK is renowned for the excellence of its R&D
and is continually building on its strengths in
science and innovation. The UK government has more
than doubled its annual investment into science to
£3.4 billion since 19971. Such investment has produced
impressive results. The UK research base now ranks
second only to the USA, with Oxford and Cambridge
acknowledged as two of the world’s top three
universities. The government offers generous tax
credits to UK-based business engaged in R&D.
As a result, the UK has developed dynamic, innovative
clusters in a wide range of technologies. Many overseas
companies have established R&D centres in the UK to
capitalise on this open innovation ‘ecosystem’. In fact,
around 45 per cent of all business R&D undertaken
in the UK is funded by overseas-owned companies2.
Innovative products
The UK has long been renowned for the quality and
diversity of the chemicals it produces. The UK was
central to the creation of the global pharmaceuticals
sector over the last 50 years by clever exploitation of
organic chemistry. The UK chemical industry is very
flexible and is able to contribute to the latest solutions
providing commercial products within healthcare,
climate change, low carbon economy, environment
and regulatory management services.
It has now also secured a position at the forefront of
the important high-tech, higher value-added and down
stream chemistry using markets. Today, the UK focuses
60 per cent of its production on the speciality sector,
compared to 44 per cent in the US and 40 per cent in
Germany. The result is an innovative industry, strongly
assisted by major research and development centres
and funding initiatives which is enabling UK-based
businesses to capitalise on new materials and products
to secure competitive advantage.
5 THE UK CHEMICAL INDUSTRY
Capital access
Despite these tough times, the UK, with its mature
venture capital market and the Alternative Investment
Market (AIM) – the most successful growth market in
the world – can offer investors access to a wide range
of sources of finance. AIM is the London Stock
Exchange’s international market for smaller growing
companies. Since its launch in 1995, over 2,500
companies have joined AIM − raising more than
£34 billion in the process, both through initial public
offerings (IPOs) and further capital raisings.
The chemicals industry is proving increasingly attractive
to private equity investors and a raft of familiar names
are already to be found in its collective portfolio,
including Rockwood Specialties, Cognis, Symrise and
Brenntag, Ineos and Harris Chemical demonstrating
how groups like this can use private equity as a lever
to transform themselves into global leaders.
www.rockwoodspecialties.com www.victrex.com
www.cognis.com
www.symrise.com www.china-bluestar.com
www.brenntag.com
www.ineos.com
www.harrisgrp.com
Additional business benefits
A fundamentally strong infrastructure underpins the
UK’s standing as a first-choice location for foreign
investment. Already home to over 200 international
chemicals companies, the UK continues to attract
new investors like SABIC, TATA Chemicals, AGC
Chemicals, Victrex, Cristal, Bluestar and KemFine who
have all invested in recent years. Wherever they invest
in the UK, such firms benefit from a welcoming business
environment, with tax and regulatory systems conducive
to growth and labour and land solutions specific to the
chemicals sector. The UK is also ranked by the World
Bank as the easiest place to set up and run a business
in Europe and has the least barriers to entrepreneurship
in the world.
www.sabic.com Elf Exploration, Petro-Canada UK Ltd, Pfizer, Chevron
www.tatachemicals.com
www.kemfine.com
www.agcce.eu.com
www.cristalarabia.com   Whilst London leads in attracting the majority
The UK regulatory environment is recognised
world-wide for its transparency and clarity in
implementation. UK regulators aim to interface
actively with stakeholders and seek to be
proactive rather than reactive in the development
of new regulations.
— Sales by the UK chemicals industry are
equivalent to around 12 per cent of the
value of all UK manufacturing
— The chemical sector provides direct
employment for 214,000 people and
supports several hundred thousand
additional jobs throughout the economy
— The UK government has more than
doubled its annual investment in
science to £3.4 billion in the decade
to 2007
Headquarters operations
As the world’s centre for international finance,
London is home to the London Stock Exchange, and
the International Petroleum Exchange (IPE) where over
$2 billion underlying value is traded daily. In addition,
the London Baltic Exchange is the renowned world
centre for fixing chemicals shipments. These factors
and the city’s global connectivity; access to capital and
key workers; depth of professional service providers in
the chemicals industry; and proximity to key political
decision-makers has made London the preferred location
for headquarters operations of many international
chemicals companies. 
Leading foreign-owned players present in London in
this sub-sector include: Akzo Nobel UK Ltd, L’Oreal,
Global Trading, ConocoPhillips Supply & Trading Ltd,
Statoil (UK) Ltd, Amerada Hess Ltd, Novartis, Kuwait
Petroleum Group, BHP Biliton, Total, BOC and Bayer. 
of headquarters operations, some chemicals
companies prefer to co-locate headquarters with
their manufacturing operations. Companies like AGC
Chemicals have their European Headquarters at their
plant in the north west of England. Also in the North
West are Unilever, and GrowHow who has its head
office at its plant in Cheshire. Headquartered in
the North East are Shasun and Ensus. In addition,
a number of UK chemical companies, such as Croda
in Yorkshire, have retained their global headquarters
in the regions where they began.
http://www.ukinvest.gov.uk/United-Kingdom/10492/en-GB.html
1&2
THE UK CHEMICAL INDUSTRY 6
The building blocks
of success
Manufacturing has long been a
UK success story and Chemicals,
one of the largest manufacturing
sectors, has a leading position
in terms of output, productivity
and innovation. The government’s
manufacturing strategy is building
on these strengths to ensure that
the UK remains an outstanding
location for manufacturing.
The UK outperforms every country
in Europe in terms of attracting
inward Foreign Direct Investment.
In 2007/08, the major beneficiary
of FDI projects was the UK, which
secured 1,573 projects.
As part of the government’s
initiatives to support the UK
manufacturing sector, BERR (The
Department for Business, Enterprise
& Regulatory Reform) has invested
almost £50 million over the past
five years3. This investment has
been made in new plants in the
commodity chemical sector in
the North West and North East,
to help ensure the future of these
key clusters. Many other smaller
companies have also benefited
both directly and indirectly. Other
government initiatives include
increasing the level of the R&D
tax credit and cutting the UK’s
headline Corporation Tax (CT)
rate to maintain its position as
the lowest among the G7 nations.
7 THE UK CHEMICAL INDUSTRY
Furthermore, the UK government is
supporting the manufacturing sector
by ensuring effective technology
exploitation, encouraging investment
in intangibles (such as training,
software and brand-building),
developing skills for innovation and
promoting a low carbon economy.
The UK is also actively supporting
the development of clean
technology. The UK has the largest
clean technology venture capital
market in Europe with a cumulative
investment of €186 million since
2001, accounting for 30 per cent
of the European total.
Government-sponsored initiatives,
as well as innovative industry leaders,
are guaranteeing the UK’s position at
the forefront of process development
and manufacturing efficiency. The
result is a manufacturing base that
is not only highly productive, but
also has the skills and experience
to produce value-added products.
http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file47660.pdf
3
THE UK CHEMICAL INDUSTRY 8
Chemicals manufacturing in the UK is largely concentrated
in the northern regions and Scotland, yet there are many
chemicals firms elsewhere across the UK. A wide variety
of green and brownfield sites are available for chemicals
operations; many of which attract government grants.
Wilton International site, north east of England
Photo courtesy of Wilton International
Development sites
The four key chemicals clusters, with their pipeline
links to the North Sea oil and gas fields, and wide
range of utilities, services and engineering support –
Grangemouth in Scotland, Teesside in the North East
and Yorkshire and Humber, as well key locations in the
North West – offer new investors in the petrochemical
and polymer sectors unparalleled benefits.
More than 150 core companies comprise the chemical
industry manufacturing sector in Scotland. It accounts
for 15 per cent of the UK chemicals industry and
generates £9.3 billion in revenue for Scotland.
The Port of Grangemouth lies adjacent to the major
chemical and petrochemical works of Ineos, Fujifilm
Imaging Colorants and KemFine. With specialised
facilities for LPG, oil, and bulk chemicals, as well
as customs approved transit, warehousing and open
storage, the port boasts an in-house distribution
service, fully serviced cargo handling facilities,
dockside rail access and dual carriageway access
to motorway and trunk networks. The Earls Gate Park
facility, adjacent to the Grangemouth port, provides
a combination of tailored specialist site services for
chemical manufacturing.
www.earlsgate.co.uk
9 THE UK CHEMICAL INDUSTRY
Wilton International, in the north east of England
is owned by the Singaporean Company SembCorp
who have invested nearly £2.5 billion in building and
acquiring assets on the site. Wilton is one of the few
sites in Western Europe with special development status,
designed for heavy industrial use such as chemicals
and process plant. Wilton International promotes
the availability of spare sites with full utilities.
www.wiltoninternational.co.uk
Many of the world’s leading chemical and
manufacturing companies are well established in
the North East, including blue-chip multinationals
such as Ineos, BOC, DuPont, Huntsman, Dow,
Croda, GrowHow and SABIC.    businesses located there.
Further south is the Humber region, one of the UK’s
major petro-chemical clusters. BP is based on the north
bank of the River Humber at Saltend. The ConocoPhillips
and Total oil refineries are on the South Humber Bank
(SHB). These two refineries provide 27 per cent of the
UK’s refinery capacity. The Conoco CHP will be one of
the largest in the world when its expansion to 1180 MW
is completed in the summer of 2009. The SHB is the
largest employment allocation (four square miles) in
Yorkshire and Humber. It is accessible by river, road,
rail and air.  www.halton.gov.uk/property/home.asp
The government recently announced £30 million
additional funding to the £100 million Highways Four key UK chemical clusters
Agency scheme to improve access to the port which
is the busiest in the UK. The area is well placed to
become the UK’s bio-fuel/bio-mass capital. 
www.northlincs.gov.uk
The North West offers a number of development Grangemouth
sites for the chemical sector. A prominent development
site is Hillhouse Business Park, home to Victrex plc,
AGC Chemicals and Vinnolit, a chemical and plastics Teesside
manufacturer. At 800 acres, this brownfield development
Humber Estuary
site is one of the largest of its kind in the north west Runcorn
of England, and there are now over 40 diverse
Other development sites include Halton (Runcorn and
Widnes). The existing chemical manufacturing complex
at Ineos Runcorn has available a number of development
plots and encourages inward investment to match the
site development policy. There are numerous business
and science parks in the region, including Manor Park, Regions
Daresbury Park and The Heath Business and Technical
Scotland North East
Park, all of which host internationally renowned
chemicals, pharmaceutical and biotech companies. North West Yorkshire and Humber
THE UK CHEMICAL INDUSTRY 10
 Strong investment
Capital investments in the UK chemical sector are
strong. Companies are demonstrating their confidence
in the future by making substantial investments
in new facilities. For example SABIC has invested
£300 million acquiring the world’s largest polyethylene
plant in the North East and Ensus is investing
£200 million in building Europe’s largest bioethanol
refinery also in the North East. Other investments
include Victrex’s £32 million polymer manufacturing
plant in Lancashire and Brunner Mond’s £10 million
new sodium bicarbonate manufacturing facility in
Cheshire. Brunner Mond’s new plant will have a capacity
of 50,000 tonnes a year, and is due to be commissioned
in 2009. The investment will allow Brunner Mond to
meet the growing demand for its range of Briskarb®
flue gas treatment products. Brunner Mond is wholly
owned by Tata Chemicals Ltd.
www.victrex.com
www.brunnermond.com
www.sabic.com
www.ensusgroup.com
Experienced workforce
These capital investments are combining with a dynamic
focus on skills to create a virtuous circle driving up
performance across manufacturing. The UK engineering
services sector holds a position of excellence based upon
development of the skills base, innovative engineering
and world leading research. These attributes facilitate
innovative chemical manufacturing in the UK.
The UK has tripled the number of young people
undertaking modern apprenticeships in the seven years
to 2005 and created Cogent, the Sector Skills Council
(SSC) for the Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals, Oil and
Gas, Nuclear, Petroleum and Polymer Industries. Cogent
is charged with improving industry performance and
productivity through the supply of the necessary skilled
people to meet industry needs and the supply of
appropriate education and training.
The employer-led National Skills Academy for Process
Industries (NSAPI) launched early in 2008 is also helping
to recruit, retain and develop the best available talent
for the chemicals industry. Skills support within the
four key clusters is also available through dedicated
programme and network groups.
www.process.nsacademy.co.uk
Logistics support
The UK chemicals industry is supported by a highly
professional specialist logistics sector. With industry
restructuring, manufacturing centralisation and internal
reorganisation putting distribution under greater
scrutiny than ever before, the calibre of this support
is an important feature of the UK’s industrial landscape.
Leading companies include:
— Agility Logistics one of the world’s leading providers
of integrated logistics to businesses and governments
with over 32,000 employees in 550 offices worldwide.
Its services for the chemicals industry include supply
chain management, freight procurement, outsourcing
and expertise in health and safety, environment
venue and security issues.
www.agilitylogistics.com
— Albion Chemicals, part of Brenntag Group,
the world’s leading chemical distributor, and
also a major manufacturer of chemicals products Funding for industry-led technology initiatives, such as
with 14 depots across the UK and Ireland.
www.albionchemicals.co.uk
— HOYER Multilog the German full-service logistics
specialist whose pioneering solutions in bulk
logistics are available via its UK operation.
www.hoyer-group.com
— The Potter Group which has distribution centres
in the Midlands, north and north west of England.
www.pottergroup.co.uk
— Univar the UK’s largest chemicals distributor
with 56 sites across Europe.
www.univareurope.com
— Vopak which operates chemicals terminals in
the world’s most strategic ports including Ipswich
in the UK.
www.vopak.com
Investor assistance
Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) and Devolved
Administrations (DAs) in Scotland, Wales and Northern
Ireland provide practical help for firms new to the UK,
as well as ongoing assistance as they grow and develop.
Underpinning this support is an integrated infrastructure
dedicated to helping inward investors. Providing access
to networks, grants, premises, professional services and
potential partners, UK Trade and Investment is at its
heart. Working with sector and regional specialists,
UK Trade & Investment smooths the arrival of overseas
organisations, ensuring they establish their presence
quickly and effectively.
www.englandsrdas.com
Sectoral support
The government’s innovation agenda is providing a
compelling reason for investors to look to the UK.
the Chemistry Innovation Knowledge Transfer Network
(see page 19), is enhancing the ability of UK-based
businesses to meet the demands of new markets.
So too, are regional support organisations (see page 29)
which bring together suppliers, producers, researchers,
users, educators and trainers to drive progress in skills
development, sustainability and science.
http://ktn.globalwatchonline.com/epicentric_portal/
site/Innovation

It is one of 25 SSCs which, together with the Sector
Skills Development Agency (SSDA), form the Skills
for Business Network (SfBN).
www.cogent-ssc.com
— TDG one of Europe’s leading supply chain
management companies with an extensive
dedicated and shared-user bulk fleet.
www.tdg.eu.com

11 THE UK CHEMICAL INDUSTRY THE UK CHEMICAL INDUSTRY 12

 CASE STUDY:
AGC CHEMICALS INVESTS IN
CHEMICALS PLANT IN LANCASHIRE
AGC Chemicals is one of the world’s largest
manufacturers of glass and speciality chemicals,
with a turnover of around US$12 billion.
In November 2007 it opened a new £15 million
ETFE facility at its existing operation in Thornton
Cleveleys, Lancashire. Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene
(ETFE) or Fluon, is a fluorocarbon polymer with
excellent chemical and heat resistance, electrical
properties and mechanical strength that is widely
used in the construction industry, such as
Allianz Arena, Germany.
After a thorough international assessment, the
company identified Thornton Cleveleys as the
best opportunity for the investment. The company
was assisted by Wyre Borough Council, Lancashire
Economic Partnership, the North West Development
Agency and Chemicals North West. Key strategic
benefits included the immediate availability of land
on which the new facility could be constructed;
well-developed existing channels to market in
Europe and the USA; and a strong customer
base which was importing ETFE from Japan.
Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany
Architects: ArupSport/Herzog & De Meuron
Photo courtesy of ArupSport/Allianz
13 THE UK CHEMICAL INDUSTRY
The strength of the chemicals sector in the
North West in particular provides a significant
base of expertise and labour that the company
can capitalise on. The local university base
provides opportunities for collaboration on
short-term research projects and the lower living
costs of the North West compared to many
other locations made it easier to attract skilled
chemicals professionals to the region.
In addition, production costs in Lancashire
are generally lower than in the USA and the
infrastructure of the North West, particularly
its good rail links and the two major airports at
Manchester and Liverpool, provides easy access
to the company’s global markets. Local agencies
were very supportive throughout the project’s
planning stage.
www.agcce.eu.com
CASE STUDY:
INFRASTRUCTURE AND SKILLS
DRAW SONHOE TO NORTH EAST
The decision by SONHOE Development Company
to build a £2 billion crude oil processing facility
in the Tees Valley in the north east of England
follows extensive assistance from the regional
development agency One North East and
highlights the area’s attractions for chemicals
companies. ‘This is the culmination of several
years of planning and outstanding support
from the area,’ says SONHOE’s Managing Director
Mike True. ‘Tees Valley is the ideal location for this
development, with the availability of brownfield
land, deep water access and a highly experienced
and world-class manufacturing workforce.’
www.sonhoe.com
CASE STUDY:
UK GIANT SHOWS
AGILITY AND AMBITION
The dynamic growth of 10 year old UK company
Ineos, the world’s third largest chemicals firm,
is one of the most successful examples of
acquisition-led expansion in the industry.
Now encompassing 19 businesses and employing
16,500 people, Ineos achieves annual sales
of around £18 billion following an ambitious
programme of buyouts and purchases instigated
by founder Jim Ratcliffe. He bought businesses
from BP, ICI and Dow Chemicals as well as
Enichem, Unilever and BASF and, through
effective cost control and production optimisation,
has created a highly successful enterprise in
highly competitive global markets.
www.ineos.com
THE UK CHEMICAL INDUSTRY 14
 CASE STUDY:
VICTREX OPENS NEW POLYMER
PLANT IN LANCASHIRE
Victrex plc, a leading provider of high performance
materials through the manufacture of VICTREX®
PEEK™ polymer, opened a new polymer
manufacturing plant at its main production
facility in Thornton Cleveleys, Lancashire in
October 2007.
The new facility has been built to support future
demand for VICTREX PEEK polymer and VICTREX
PEEK-based products, such as VICOTE® Coatings
and APTIV™ Film. It will provide further security
of supply to customers, increasing production
capacity by approximately 50 per cent and
establishing a second stand-alone source of
VICTREX PEEK polymer.
Victrex has invested £32 million in this facility
which has the ability to produce 1,450 tonnes
per annum of VICTREX PEEK products,
increasing Victrex’s total production capacity
for these products to 4,250 tonnes per annum.
www.victrex.com
15 THE UK CHEMICAL INDUSTRY
CASE STUDY:
SUPPORT FOR SWEDISH
FIRM SEEKING R&D SITE
When the Swedish originators of an eco-friendly
flame retardant were looking for a location to
further develop their novel product, they worked
with UK Trade & Investment to identify UK
possibilities. After examining various regions,
Yaaparra decided to establish its research and
development facility in Yorkshire.
Chosen for its close proximity to the UK chemicals
industry, the site also enables Yaaparra to take
advantage of the excellent market opportunities
for innovative chemical applications created
by UK and European Union fire safety standards.
The company is continuing to work with
UK Trade & Investment as it pursues its
development agenda which includes the creation
of a scientific cluster in the UK, cooperation
with local universities and manufacturing and
exporting the chemical.
www.yaaparra.co.uk
CASE STUDY:
FUJIFILM GETS UK GOVERNMENT
GRANTS FOR SCOTTISH SITE
Fujifilm Imaging Colorants received R&D Plus
grants from Scottish Enterprise, Scotland’s
national development agency and Regional
Selective Assistance funding from the Scottish
government, to support its £20 million
investment in manufacturing capacity at
its Grangemouth site.
The investment, which followed its 2006
£150 million acquisition of Avecia’s Electronics
Materials businesses, has enabled Fujifilm
Imaging Colorants to establish itself as
a world leader in the development and supply
of innovative, high performance colorants
for the global digital printing market.
www.fujifilmimagingcolorants.com
THE UK CHEMICAL INDUSTRY 16
Research & development
excellence

The UK is one of the premier

locations in the world to conduct
research and development
(R&D), providing an unrivalled
combination of superb
science, fiscal incentives and
commercialisation assistance.
With chemicals classed as a national
technology priority, the government
is demonstrating its determination
to support the industry through
sector-specific research and
knowledge transfer initiatives.
There is outstanding excellence
across the UK University Chemistry
Departments and experts
within UKTI can help individual
businesses match this to their
needs. Some of the UK’s best
chemistry departments include,
amongst others Oxford, Cambridge,  for many novel products.
Nottingham, Imperial College
London, St Andrews and
University of Edinburgh, Durham
and Manchester. They, along
with leading Universities in
every region are providing solid
foundations for the UK’s R&D
projects. Their research excellence
ensures that they are at the forefront
of European developments and
near market R&D through active
participation in the European
Union’s main R&D funding Scheme,
the 7th Framework Programme, 
and the UK’s own funding schemes
via the Technology Strategy Board.  
Innovative technologies such as
Industrial biotechnology are also
well supported by the UK research
base; for example, University
College London has world class
Biochemical Engineering research.
Traditional chemical infrastructures, 
modified for sustainability and
the development of integrated
plant, combined with the use
of renewable inputs has many
advantages. These include lower
carbon emissions, renewable
resources and the potential
In Scotland, the chemistry
departments operate in part
through the ScotCHEM initiative,
an alliance of the chemistry
research departments. This
provides a single access point
to Scottish academic research
expertise for the chemical sector.  
www.scotchem.ac.uk  

17 THE UK CHEMICAL INDUSTRY THE UK CHEMICAL INDUSTRY 18

Government support
and R&D
The UK government is
encouraging and enabling
chemicals R&D by developing
and investing in industry-led
initiatives. Financial measures
which make it more cost
effective for chemicals
businesses to undertake R&D
in the UK are also available.
 &D Tax Credits encourage investment in R&D
R Grants for R&D are available to smaller companies
and were increased in 2008, resulting in support
for large companies increasing to 130 per cent
of qualifying R&D expenditure and 175 per cent
for small and medium-sized enterprises (for R&D
Tax Credit purposes an SME is now defined as
a company with less than 500 employees).
Collaborative R&D Grants are available
to businesses from a £370 million fund to
support R&D in the UK’s key technology areas.
The Technology Strategy Board, as part of its
role to stimulate technology-enabled innovation
in the UK, is responsible for the fund. Regular
competitions for funding of collaborative R&D
projects have been held since 2004, and by
June 2007 a portfolio of over 600 projects was
being supported with a combined business and
Government investment in excess of £1 billion.
19 THE UK CHEMICAL INDUSTRY
ranging from £20,000 to £500,000.
 he Chemistry Innovation
T
Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) one of
25 KTNs sponsored by government and run by
the industry they support, has helped to raise
almost £80 million of project funding to stimulate
innovation. The Chemistry Innovation KTN acts
as a connector between companies, universities
and funding and regional bodies, stimulating
product and process innovation and providing
a one-stop shop for specialist, confidential advice
for UK-based manufacturers.
http://ktn.globalwatchonline.com/epicentric_
portal/site/innovation/
Research
University of Oxford
The Chemistry Department at Oxford University is
the largest and most productive university research
laboratory in the UK, publishing around 200 original
research papers and books each year and contributing
over £80 million to the university as a result of its
spin-out activities. Departmental spin-outs are valued
at more than £40 million, with about £20 million of
unrealised gains in quoted companies, and a further
batch of holdings in private companies. In addition,
a novel partnership with IP Group plc produced
£20 million towards financing the new £60 million
Chemistry Research Laboratory and was described
by the Financial Times as ‘the way universities
should be financed in the future’.
www.chem.ox.ac.uk
University of Cambridge
The Cambridge Chemistry Department consists of a large
number of strong individual groups covering a spectrum
of science, centered on Chemistry, and ranging from
Molecular Biology to Geophysics. The department’s
success is based on the development of fundamental
understanding, with the emphasis on new structural,
synthetic and theoretical techniques applicable in
both academic and industrial contexts. Since 1997,
the department has been awarded over £55 million
from industry and various public sector initiatives for
modernising and extending its research laboratories.
www.ch.cam.ac.uk
Nottingham University
The School of Chemistry at Nottingham has a reputation
for excellence in both teaching and research. Its research
activity is ‘internationally excellent.’ Researchers are
engaged in major university-wide research initiatives
in the medical and biological sciences, in chemical
engineering and in the nanosciences. Chemistry
researchers are located in the new £20 million SRIF-
funded Centre for Biomolecular Sciences. The school
is structured into the Departments of Inorganic and
Materials Chemistry, Organic and Biological Chemistry,
and Physical and Theoretical Chemistry.
www.nottingham.ac.uk/chemistry
Imperial College
In 2007 the Times Higher Education Supplement
placed Imperial College 5th in their World University
Rankings. As the central science, chemistry has been
a major contributor to this success. Its chemistry
department is one of the largest chemistry departments
in the UK and is recognised as world-class for both
research and teaching.
The department has strong links with industry, which
is reflected by generous funding of both research and
teaching. Facilities are extensive, with well-equipped
research laboratories and workshops for the construction
of mechanical and electronic instruments. An Imperial
co-authored research paper; ‘The path forward for
biofuels and biomaterials’, mapping the way forward
for sustainable biofuel production has been named
one of the most influential studies of the last 10 years
in its field and has been cited in over 150 subsequent
academic studies, according to Thomson Sciencewatch’s
Essential Science Indicators, a resource which tracks
research performance and trends in science.
www.imperial.ac.uk/chemistry
Manchester University
The School of Chemistry at The University of Manchester
is one of the largest and most research-intensive
departments of chemistry in the UK. Funding bodies
currently provide more than £34 million of research grants.
The school has comprehensive academic coverage
across the chemical sciences, and excellence in all the
core chemistry sub-disciplines.
www.manchester.ac.uk/chemistry
St. Andrews and University of Edinburgh
St. Andrews is Scotland’s first university and the third
oldest in the UK. EaStCHEM is the joint Chemistry Research
School of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, funded by the
Scottish Funding Council for Further and Higher Education,
the Office of Science and Technology and the parent
universities. EaStCHEM is the premier chemistry research
school for chemistry in Scotland and one of the largest
in the UK, with around 500 researchers. EaStCHEM scored
highest in Scotland in latest research rankings announced
in December 2008. The EaStCHEM partners submitted
75 per cent of all world leading outputs in Scotland and
12 per cent of world leading outputs in all of the UK.
http://ch-www.st-andrews.ac.uk/
THE UK CHEMICAL INDUSTRY 20
Development
The National Industrial
Biotechnology Facility (NIBF)
at Wilton in the north east of
England is a key demonstration
and scale-up facility for bringing
developments in biotechnology to
the chemical sector. Combining
the catalyst expertise of Manchester
University and the application-based
discovery work of York University
with Wilton’s scale-up expertise,
the £5.4 million NBIF allows local
companies to trial projects before
bringing them to market.
www.coebio3.org/facilities
NIBFCPI.html
OMIC is a UK government-
supported University Innovation
Centre for the speciality organic
materials and polymer industries.
The centre is based in the School
of Chemistry at the University
of Manchester and encompasses
expertise in organic materials from
other universities in the North West.
OMIC is supported by a £4.3 million
grant from the government that
provides dedicated facilities for
the centre. These include new
laboratories in the School of
Chemistry at the University of
Manchester (£2 million) and an
array of specialist equipment.
OMIC activities involve a number
of universities within the North
West region and has strong
collaborations with many other
institutions around the globe.
www.omic.org.uk/
21 THE UK CHEMICAL INDUSTRY
The Institute of Process Research
and Development (iPRD) at the
University of Leeds is comprised
of experts from the field of
chemistry and engineering, who
work closely with the fine chemical
and pharmaceutical industries to
develop technology which can
improve manufacturing processes
and thereby impact on costs, quality,
productivity, waste and energy.
iPRD is uniquely placed to conduct
industrially relevant research and
provides training facilities for
process testing and scale-up.
It acts as a centre for both taught
and research postgraduate study.
www.iprd.leeds.ac.uk/
Centre of Excellence for
Biocatalysis, Biotransformations
and Biocatalytic Manufacture
(CoEBio3) based at the University
of Manchester, CoEBio3 is a UK
initiative designed to provide a
world-class scientific environment
in which research and development
can be carried out to create new
biocatalyst-based processes to
meet the needs of industry over
the next 20 years. CoEBio3
trains graduate and postdoctoral
scientists in the necessary skills in
chemistry, biology and engineering.
The organisation also has a pilot
biomanufacturing facility available
to both academic and industrial
groups. CoEBio3 aims to supply the
research, training and development
services to enable the application
of white biotechnology to produce
chemical entities with an applied
‘genes to kilos’ philosophy.
www.coebio3.org
The Centre for Materials Discovery
(CMD) adjoining the University
of Liverpool’s Department of
Chemistry champions the use of
high throughput technologies to
discover innovative materials for
high-value industrial applications.
As well as carrying out materials
synthesis and characterisation for
libraries of materials, the CMD also
has a strong molecular modelling
capability which is underpinning
work involving, for example, the
discovery of new binding motifs for
hydrogen which have the theoretical
potential to enable hydrogen to be
stored in unprecedented quantities.
www.materialsdiscovery.com/
The Knowledge Centre in
Materials Chemistry (KCMC)
based in the North West comprises
the leading edge capabilities in the
universities of Bolton, Liverpool
and Manchester, together with
the Daresbury Science and
Innovation Campus. The centre
will be managed by the Chemistry
Innovation Knowledge Transfer
Network whose role will be to
develop the collaborative research
activity, increase industrial R&D
spend and support industry both in
the region and the wider UK. The
centre’s overall aim is to facilitate
a step change in the performance
of the chemicals sector through
combining the excellent research
capabilities across the North West.
The Polymer Interdisciplinary
Research Centre (IRC) based at
Leeds University is at the cutting-
edge of research in polymers and
complex fluids thanks to a research
network consisting of scientists at
the universities of Leeds, Bradford,
Durham and Sheffield, as well as
their counterparts in industry.
It also has strong links with other
UK and international research
groups, trade associations and
knowledge transfer networks.
Activities range from short-term
testing for individual clients to the
establishment of major collaborations
such as the £5 million Microscale
Polymer Processing 2 project.
www.polymerirc.org
The Centre for Bioactive Chemistry
at Durham University is involved
with joint research programmes
in the fields of bio-imaging,
redoxbiochemistry, biocatalysis and
protein engineering. Further research
collaborations under development
aim to capitalise on the strengths of
the university’s School of Biological
and Biomedical Sciences in stem
cell and developmental biology,
bio-imaging and microscopy,
neuroscience and plant and
microbial biochemistry.
www.dur.ac.uk/bioactive.chemistry
Scottish Universities operate in
a pooling environment in which
research activity is funded by a
£23 million shared investment.
Universities of Glasgow and
Strathclyde have formed WestCHEM,
whilst Edinburgh and St. Andrews
comprise EaStCHEM. ScotCHEM
is an umbrella organisation that
includes WestCHEM, EaStCHEM
plus Heriot-Watt, Aberdeen and
Dundee chemistry departments and
provides a one-stop entry point for
wide ranging, high quality Scottish
chemical expertise.
www.westchem.ac.uk
www.eastchem.ac.uk
http://scotchem.chem.gla.ac.uk
THE UK CHEMICAL INDUSTRY 22

Centre for Process Innovation (CPI)
focused on the North East, the CPI
develops products, processes, services
and businesses in the process and
manufacturing sectors. It was formed
in April 2008 by the merger of two
UK government-backed centres of
excellence, both formed in 2004 –
the Centre for Process Innovation
(CPI) on Teesside and the Centre for
Nanotechnology, Microtechnology
and Photonics (Cenamps) in
Newcastle upon Tyne. CPI has four
key technology sectors where they
have outstanding expertise: Printable
Electronics, Functional Materials,
Advanced Processing and Low
Carbon Energy.
The Printable Electronics Technology
Centre is a £25 million investment to
demonstrate prototypes and processes
for manufacture of a variety of
devices ranging from OLED displays,
PLED emissive lighting through
to organic PV devices as the
technology is developed. Functional
Materials houses the Atomic
Layer Deposition Project which
is demonstrating and developing
digital, precise atom-by-atom
layering technology. The platform
also includes NanoCentral and the
Nano Knowledge Transfer Network,
two UK investments to promote the
uptake and commercialisation of
nano-materials.
At the heart of the Advanced
Processing platform is the
National Industry Biotechnology
Facility which is a scale-up and
commercialisation facility for
biotechnology manufacturing
routes. The facility can handle up
to Class 2 organisms, and can scale
up from lab scale to semi-industrial
scale. The facility is unique in having
a marine bio-fermentation capability
and is complimented by a number of
downstream processing techniques.
23 THE UK CHEMICAL INDUSTRY
The Low Carbon energy Platform
has developed out of its Fuel Cell
work and compliments the Fuel Cell
Application and Test Facility which
develops integrated fuel cell systems.
www.uk-cpi.com
The Green Chemistry
Centre of Excellence at York
University is a world-leading
research centre enabling the
development and deployment of
green and sustainable chemistry.
Involved in both fundamental and
applied research, it focuses on
catalysis, clean synthesis, materials
and renewable sources.
The centre collaborates with
international organisations and is
currently involved in an industrially-
sponsored biocatalysis project, an
EU-sponsored project investigating
the heterogenisation of enzymes on
porous materials and collaboration
with Moscow State University to
develop film-supported enzyme
catalysts for the synthesis of
optically-active peptides.
One of the centre’s recent
achievements involved the use
of a new catalyst to dramatically
improve the production time and
throughput of a speciality chemical
manufacturer’s bromination process.
York is also the home of The National
Non-Food Crops Centre, the UK’s
national centre for renewable fuels,
materials and technologies, as well
as the Central Science Laboratory
(CSL), an organisation dedicated to
applying science in protection of
foodchain safety and environmental
health. CSL is an Executive Agency of
DEFRA. (Department for Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs).
www.york.ac.uk/res/gcg/site
£21bn
R&D investment in the UK totals
more than £21 billion each year
£3.8bn
R&D expenditure by the UK
chemicals industry is equivalent
to more than 10 per cent of sales
at £3.8 billion
£80m
The Chemistry Innovation KTN is
collaborating with over 300 people
on a portfolio of projects totalling
£80 million
2nd
The UK research base now
ranks second only to the US,
with Oxford and Cambridge
acknowledged as two of the
world’s top three universities
£80m
The Department of Chemistry at
Oxford has contributed over
£80 million to the university as
a result of spin-out successes
such as Oxford Molecular and
Oxford Asymmetry International
Spin-out success
This vibrant chemicals R&D environment is reflected
in the number and success of university spin-outs.
There are major clusters of chemicals spin-out activity
in the UK, predominantly around research intensive
universities such as Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial
College London and Manchester.
Commercialisation activity at just one university –
Oxford – underlines the valuable developments of
such start-ups. The largest chemistry department
in the western world, the Department of Chemistry
at Oxford has contributed over £80 million to the
university as a result of spin-out successes such as
Oxford Molecular and Oxford Asymmetry International.
It has also formed a novel partnership with IP Group
which has produced £20 million towards financing
the new £60 million Chemistry Research Laboratory
as well as the creation of eight new companies. Two
of these, Vastox and Oxford Catalysts, had successful
IPOs on the Alternative Investment Market with a
combined market capitalisation of over £100 million.
Corporate R&D
The UK’s knowledge base not only serves the
R&D facilities of home-grown chemicals companies
well, it also encourages many multinational
companies to locate their global or European
R&D operations here.
Unilever’s laboratories in the North West are the
principal drivers of global innovation in its home
and personal care products. BP’s Hull manufacturing
site, meanwhile, is also home to one of its main
global research and technology centres.
BASF, one of the world’s leading developers and
producers of speciality chemicals, has had a
manufacturing base in the UK since the beginning
of the 20th century and more recently chose Paisley
in Scotland as the site for its Global Technical Centre
for Ink Applications. The centre’s product development
record is testament to its effectiveness: over 40 per cent
of the company’s total sales now come from products
launched within the last five years.
THE UK CHEMICAL INDUSTRY 24
Chemistry as an
enabling technology
Chemistry is helping to provide technological
solutions to many major challenges faced by society.
The European Technology Platform for sustainable
chemistry (SusChem) was set up to promote the
importance of chemistry to the economy by:
— Providing the innovative drive for Europe
chemistry does not just deliver raw materials –
it is a major source of innovation in areas from
clothing to energy and pharmaceuticals.
— Being at the heart of the new technologies
that underpin the knowledge-based economy
chemistry is the core science of nanotechnology,
biotechnology and environmental technology.
— Investing for sustainable development
chemistry is improving the eco-efficiency of
products and processes to optimise the use
of resources and minimise waste and
environmental impact.
— Protecting and extending employment,
expertise and quality of life chemistry is
providing the innovation for knowledge-based
enterprise across Europe; it is already a
knowledge-led sector with a highly trained
workforce stimulating significant growth
and wealth creation across Europe.
It is recognised that sustainability is a key target
and chemistry underpins sustainability in the
pharmaceuticals and the bio-based economy,
healthcare, ICT, energy, nanotechnology, transport,
product design and quality of life. As a result of
this innovative new agenda, chemistry research
in the UK is thriving.
www.suschem.org
25 THE UK CHEMICAL INDUSTRY
CASE STUDY:
SCOTTISH SCHEME STRENGTHENS
CHEMICALS FUTURE
A £23 million investment bringing together
major players in chemical sciences research in
Scotland exemplifies the country’s long-term
commitment to its chemicals industry. Intended
to make Scottish chemistry a magnet for the
best researchers and a target of major funding
agencies worldwide, ScotCHEM is a collaborative
venture that will enable enhanced research
networks involving the universities of Edinburgh,
St. Andrews, Glasgow and Strathclyde,
Heriot-Watt, Dundee and Aberdeen.
www.scotchem.ac.uk
CASE STUDY:
SOLVENTS SPIN-OUT
ACHIEVES SPEEDY SUCCESS
The success of York University spin-out
Bioniqs demonstrates the innovation and
commercialisation excellence, characteristic
of the UK’s dynamic spin-out culture. Bioniqs
is commercialising a new generation of ionic
liquids, which can be used to create ‘green’
solvents on a bespoke basis, and has already
created products for applications such as
cleaning, drug development, biomass processing,
plastics recycling and biocatalysis. A licence
deal has been signed with Merck in which the
German chemical company will manufacture
and distribute certain Bioniqs products.
www.bioniqs.com
THE UK CHEMICAL INDUSTRY 26
Regional strengths
and support
Chemical production is distributed throughout
the UK but at the heart of the industry are
four principal, long-established chemicals
clusters – the North West, North East and
Yorkshire and Humber regions of England,
and Grangemouth in Scotland.
SABIC site, North Tees
Photo courtesy of SABIC
27 THE UK CHEMICAL INDUSTRY
— Chemical companies in the North West
employ 22 per cent of the workforce
and generate a combined turnover
of £10 billion
— More than £1 billion has been invested
in over 40 chemicals projects by
multinational companies in the
North East since 2003
Offering overseas investors impressive industrial
advantages, these clusters also benefit from support
organisations which actively help inward investors,
connecting them to the places, partners, projects
and funding they need to realise their UK plans.
Historic, geographic and economic factors have led
to the development of these clusters. All have access
to major port facilities and road and rail networks,
and are connected by a national ethylene pipeline
network. In addition, there are other pockets of
excellence in the UK with significant chemicals
activity, associated with professional services and
head office operations, in addition to manufacturing
sites, such as the south east of England and London.
Each cluster also encompasses academic centres
with expertise in chemistry and chemical engineering
as well as a strong infrastructure of support companies
providing logistics, testing/analysis, engineering
design, engineering contract services, packaging
and chemical waste treatment services.
Adding to the benefits of these clusters are
industry-led, government-funded regional bodies
which promote local strengths, stimulate industry/
academic interaction and facilitate investment.
THE UK CHEMICAL INDUSTRY 28
The North West
Host to the largest chemicals sector in the UK, the
North West cluster represents a highly diverse industry
with 500 manufacturing sites in multiple sub-sectors.
The region directly employs 50,000 individuals in the
chemical industry, with as many as three times that
number indirectly employed4. The cluster is home
to almost 60 per cent of the world’s top 50 chemicals
companies, including AGC Chemicals, Ineos, Solvay,
Unilever (R&D centre), Shell Chemicals, Croda,
Akzo Nobel Chemicals, Brunner Mond (Tata)
and GrowHow. Other significant companies include
Innospec, Victrex, Innovia Films, Pentagon Chemicals,
Contract Chemicals and Chemtura.
The North West support body, Chemicals North West,
works in partnership with manufacturers making and
using chemicals, specialist service suppliers, universities,
education institutes and training providers to improve
the competitiveness and sustainability of the industry
for the long term.
www.chemicalsnorthwest.org.uk
The North East
The North East cluster boasts a strong and diverse
portfolio of 500 chemicals companies encompassing
pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, specialty chemicals,
polymers and rubber, petrochemicals and commodity
chemicals. The sector generates in excess of £10 billion of
sales, accounts for 30 per cent of the region’s industrial
base and directly employs approximately 35,000 people
with another 200,000 indirectly employed. North East
companies plan to invest an additional £5 billion in the
region by 2015 bringing some 16,000 new employees
into the sector. Significant capital investments in the area
have been made in recent years by SembCorp, SABIC,
Mitsubishi/Lucite International, Ineos, Piramel, Shasun,
Tata, GrowHow and Johnson Matthey. Tees Valley
hosts the UK’s largest integrated petrochemicals cluster,
one of the UK’s biggest port and storage complexes,
and encompasses a number of indirectly related bulk
industries activities including oil refining, North Sea
gas-liquid separation and titanium dioxide manufacture.  Chemicals Sciences Scotland is a partnership of industry,
The North East Process Industries Cluster (NEPIC)
promotes the area’s world-leading infrastructure
and supply chain, encourages and assists investors
and provides continued aftercare support.
www.nepic.co.uk
29 THE UK CHEMICAL INDUSTRY
CASE STUDY:
TOP TEESSIDE LOCATION FOR SAUDI
PETROCHEMICALS SPECIALIST
The purchase by the Middle East’s largest
petrochemicals company Saudi Basic Industries
Corporation (SABIC) of Huntsman’s UK-based
chemicals and polymers business on Teesside
reinforces the region’s international reputation.
Renamed SABIC UK Petrochemicals following
the £350 million acquisition, the business
has an ethylene cracker plant and substantial
logistics facilities at its site in Wilton.
www.sabic-europe.com
Photo courtesy of SABIC
Yorkshire and Humber
The Yorkshire and Humber chemicals clusters
encompass expertise in petrochemical refining,
personal care, pigments and colours, agrochemicals,
fine chemicals, paint and coatings, surface treatments,
speciality chemicals and inorganic and organic
commodities. The region generates £8 billion in
turnover from the chemical sector. It is also home
to the largest port in the UK at Grimsby and
Immingham located on the Humber River, which
handles over 17 per cent of the UK’s port trade.
Companies active in the region include Croda,
Air Products, BP Chemicals, BOC (LINDE), BASF,
ConocoPhillips, Corus, Cristal, Kemira, Knauf, Novartis,
Syngenta, Total and Yule Catto. Australian farm
chemicals group Nufarm Ltd and Indian companies
Piramal Healthcare, Vivimed Labs Ltd and Dr Reddy’s
Laboratories are recent investors in West Yorkshire.
The region benefits from strong university support
with award-winning Centres of Industrial Collaboration
allowing the industry to access university expertise
in key areas of technology. Examples include
Particles CIC, Institute of Pharmaceutical Innovation,
Polymer CIC and Environmental Technologies CIC.
www.particlescic.com
www.ipi.ac.uk
www.polymercic.com
www.etcic.com
Local support organisations, Humber Chemical Focus
and Yorkshire Chemical Focus work together to
encourage growth and increase the competitiveness of
the region’s chemicals sector. Both organisations have
extensive local membership and partnership networks
that provide direct and easy access to the locality.
www.humberchemicalfocus.com
www.ycf.org.uk
— The UK’s North West chemicals cluster
attracted around £250 million foreign
investment over the past two years
— The Humber region is one of the
fastest-growing chemical bases in
the UK, with investment in new build,
expansion and maintenance exceeding
£1 billion in the four years to 2007
— The Scottish chemicals manufacturing
sector generates £9.3 billion in revenue
Scotland
Scotland offers an abundance of raw materials, a mature
industry with a fully formed infrastructure, excellent
transport links, a skilled workforce and a vibrant
academic sector.
Scotland’s chemicals industry contributes almost
10 per cent of the UK output, and is Scotland’s second
largest export earner, generating around £1.65 billion
of manufacturing exports. The sectors employs almost
14,000 people directly and 70,000 indirectly. Chemicals
sciences accounts for around 50 per cent of all industrial
R&D in Scotland with a Gross Value Add (GVA) per
employee of £181,700. The industry comprises around
150 companies of which approximately 42 per cent are
overseas owned.
The industry is primarily focused on basic, pharmaceutical
and speciality chemicals. Growth areas include specialist
organics and inorganics, additives, polymers, paints,
varnishes, inks, dyes and coatings and mastics. Chemicals
companies here include Akzo Nobel, BASF, Exxon, Ineos,
DuPont, DSM, Organon, Dow, Teijin and Syngenta and
are distributed predominantly in the Forth Valley, Ayrshire,
Renfrewshire, Fife and Dumfries and Galloway areas.
the academic sector and government agencies working to
create high value opportunities for innovative companies.
www.scottish-enterprise.com/se/css/css-scotland.htm
CNW Directory
4
THE UK CHEMICAL INDUSTRY 30
Expertise across the
chemicals spectrum
The UK chemicals industry is active in all three
principal sectors – commodity, speciality and
consumer chemicals. It is proving adept not
only at keeping production costs down but also
at seizing market opportunities, ensuring that
UK-based companies are setting the unrelenting
pace of change in the global chemicals market.
31 THE UK CHEMICAL INDUSTRY
95,000
The UK chemicals industry supplies
global industry and consumers with
over 95,000 different chemicals and
chemical products
4.8m
The UK is one of the main plastics
processors in Europe, processing
around 4.8 million tonnes of material
and producing approximately
2.5 million tonnes of plastics annually5
34,000
Consumer chemicals firms provide
employment for 34,000 people
www.bpf.co.uk/industry/default.aspx
5
THE UK CHEMICAL INDUSTRY 32
Commodity chemicals
The United Kingdom commodity
chemicals market grew by 2.6 per cent
in 2007 to reach a value of $27.5 billion.
As the largest sector of the UK chemicals industry in
terms of turnover, commodity chemicals are worth an
annual total of £18.4 billion. Despite the emergence
of new global players in the industrial chemicals arena,
the UK remains an important source of industrial gases,
inorganics, organics, fertilisers, plastics, synthetic rubber
and man-made fibres.
Chemicals produced by the UK’s 885 commodity
chemicals companies, most of which are based in
the northern regions, can be found in mass-produced
products such as pulp and paper, batteries, soap
and detergents as well as in water and waste-water
treatments by industries worldwide. Furthermore,
sales of pesticides and other agrochemical products
have also grown strongly in recent years.
33 THE UK CHEMICAL INDUSTRY
Leading players in the UK include BP Aromatics
and Acetyls, whose products include critical building
blocks for a wide range of consumer products and
plastics. Bulk chemical producer Shell Chemicals
has three UK sites manufacturing propylene, higher
olefins, plasticiser alcohols, detergent alcohols, ethyl
benzene and toluene. Ineos has a number of sites
in the UK, including Runcorn, Barry, Northwich,
Grangemouth, Helsby, Newton Aycliffe and Teesside.
www.shellchemicals.com
www.ineos.com
www.bp.com
Speciality chemicals
The UK has developed outstanding speciality chemicals
expertise and capacity and, as a result, a global
reputation for products with more sophisticated UK speciality chemicals
technical input. These products, which have a combined
annual turnover of £11.2 billion, include dyestuffs,
companies employ
paints, explosives, adhesives, flavours and fragrances, 63,000 people.
photographic chemicals, unrecorded media and various
industrial specialities. Whilst, by definition, speciality
chemicals are produced in relatively small quantities,
they represent 28 per cent of EU chemical sales.
The UK has over 1,300 speciality chemical companies
widely spread across the country, primarily in Yorkshire,
the Midlands, around Nottingham, Loughborough
and Birmingham, in the South and South West near
Southampton and Bristol, in the North and North West
and in South Wales.
Much of the UK’s speciality chemicals activity is
in the North West and Yorkshire. Populated by
well-established and highly-regarded companies
such as Johnson Matthey, and Croda International,
the sector also includes companies such as Innospec
and Genzyme.
www.matthey.com
www.croda.com
www.genzyme.co.uk
www.innospecinc.com
One of the UK’s leading speciality chemicals companies,
Yule Catto, has six sites around the country and three
divisions producing polymer, pharmaceutical and
impact chemicals. The company’s raw materials are
used in everything from coatings to building products
and PVC to carpets. Another UK success story in
which technological advances are fuelling growth is
Cookson Group, whose electronics division has become
a leading supplier of advanced surface treatment and
plating chemicals for the automotive, construction
and electronics markets.
www.yulecatto.com
www.cooksongroup.co.uk
Photo courtesy of NEPIC –
North East Process Industry Cluster
THE UK CHEMICAL INDUSTRY 34
Consumer chemicals
The UK’s consumer chemicals
sector generates an annual
turnover of £5.8 billion.
There are over 550 consumer chemicals companies
operating across the UK, employing around
34,000 people. The sector generates nearly £6 billion
in annual turnover and boasts an annual GVA of
£2 billion. A thriving cluster of some 70 personal
care companies is located in Yorkshire and Humber.
There are also numerous consumer chemicals
companies in the North West such as Unilever,
PZ Cussons and McBride.
The UK’s consumer chemicals companies produce
a diverse range of products encompassing soaps,
detergents, cosmetics and personal care products.
The sector includes some particularly high growth
areas such as perfumes, toilet preparations and
essential oils and represents approximately
10 per cent of EU chemical sales.
35 THE UK CHEMICAL INDUSTRY
The UK is a major European manufacturing and
distribution centre for pharmaceuticals, paints and
coatings, detergents and personal care products,
as well as specialised products and process enablers
for other manufacturing industries such as the
automotive and electronics sectors.
www.unilever.com 
www.pzcussons.com  www.oxfordsurfaces.com
www.contract-manufacturing.co.uk
CASE STUDY:
UK INVESTMENT GIVES FINNISH
FIRM COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
KemFine’s purchase of Avecia’s Fine Chemicals
business has enabled the Finnish company
to offer exclusive chemicals manufacturing
services to the speciality chemicals, agrochemical,
pharmaceutical sectors. Citing the two companies’
combined technology strengths and asset
capabilities as decisive factors behind the
purchase, KemFine’s Ulf Bjorkqvist said that
it had, ‘Created a stronger global fine chemical
company which will further extend our services
to customers.’
www.kemfine.co.uk
CASE STUDY:
GLOBAL INTEREST IN OXFORD
FIRM’S BREAKTHROUGH
The breakthrough surface modification
technology developed by Oxford Advanced
Surfaces is the subject of several joint
development programmes between the Oxford
University spin-out and companies in the US,
Europe and the UK. The company designs
and develops new chemical reagents as well
as implementation processes and applications
to deliver a broad range of surface properties
to typically inert materials such as polymers,
glass and metals for applications in markets
such as electronics, biomedical, automotive
and consumer goods.
THE UK CHEMICAL INDUSTRY 36

CASE STUDY:
ACQUISITION FUELS GLOBAL
EXPANSION AT CRODA
UK consumer chemicals company Croda
International, which is demonstrating rapid
global network expansion into new and fast-
developing markets, exemplifies the technological
lead and ambitious growth of this UK sub-sector.
Following its 2006 acquisition of Uniqema
and a resultant strengthening of its position
in consumer care, around 68 per cent of Croda’s
business now relates to this sector. The company’s
innovative speciality products, such as surfactants
for cosmetic creams and speciality lipids for
dietary supplements, are in demand by diverse
industries across the world, helping the company
achieve annual sales of over £500 million.
www.croda.com
37 THE UK CHEMICAL INDUSTRY
UK Trade & Investment is the
Government organisation established
to support companies in the UK
doing business internationally and
overseas enterprises seeking to set
up or expand in the UK.
Assisting investors
With unrivalled local access and knowledge,
UK Trade & Investment can offer overseas
organisations the support and contacts they
need to establish a presence or expand in
the UK quickly and efficiently. Working in
partnership with the Regional Development
Agencies and the National Development
Agencies in Scotland, Wales and Northern
Ireland, UK Trade & Investment provides
free, confidential tailored advice and support
in key areas. It can:
— Provide access to industry networks
and centres of excellence
— Make introductions to sector leaders
and business contacts including
arranging visit programmes
— Provide information on the UK business
environment including taxation and
comparative cost analysis
— Help find land, property and sites and
provide guidance on issues like planning
— Provide information on the UK labour
environment including recruitment,
retention, training
— Offer information and advice on UK
grant schemes aimed at encouraging
investment and job creation in specific
industries and specific areas of the UK
— Provide access to UK and European
programmes supporting technology
and process transfer
— Assist with regulatory issues
— Make introductions to UK legal experts
in employment law, contracts, work
permits, immigration and unions
— Act as a voice in Government for
business interests
— Provide continued support through
its Investor Development network to
help companies mature and develop
successfully.
THE UK CHEMICAL INDUSTRY 38
— Over 65 per cent of the Fortune 500
companies are represented in the UK

— The UK is ranked as the best performer

in the G8 leading economies per unit
of R&D spend

— The UK will be home to the world’s

highest concentration of US$1 million
households by 2016, one in four

—G
 lobally, the UK is in the top 10 for
protecting investors when starting
and closing a business

Contact us
UK Trade & Investment
Web: www.uktradeinvest.gov.uk
Tel: +44 (0)20 7215 8000

Thank you to the various regional chemical sector support organisations throughout the UK who assisted
with the development of this publication.
Whereas every effort has been made to ensure that the information given in this document is accurate,
UK Trade & Investment or its supporting Departments, the Departments of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory
Reform and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, accept no responsibility for any errors, omissions or
misleading statements in this document and no warranty is given or responsibility is accepted, as to the
standing of any individual, firm, company or other organisation mentioned in this document.
Published January 2009 by UK Trade & Investment
©
Crown Copyright
URN 09/561