CBA’s 2023 Review – A Year of People, Skills and Engagement Outreach

As an organisation that strives to be dynamic and proactive, 2023 turned out to be a very productive and rewarding year for the Chemical Business Association . We consider ourselves to be an extension of our members teams, enabling and facilitating them to concentrate on the growth, success, and profitability of their businesses. During 2023, after listening to the views of our members and in line with our recently developed values, we dedicated considerable time, energy, and expertise to reinforcing the chemical supply chain by establishing essential resources that will attract and support the valuable talent that contributes to the sustainable future of our industry.

"We consider ourselves to be an extension of our members teams, enabling and facilitating them to concentrate on the growth, success, and profitability of their businesses."

Being the voice of the chemical supply chain, it is our responsibility to recognise that people are the lifeblood of the industry. To ensure its future success, we must be forward thinking – and think differently – taking action to retain and develop existing talent whilst also looking to encourage new talent into the sector to avoid a potential skills gap in the future.

With this being a primary focus, 2023 saw the CBA implement a range of initiatives, partnerships, and events to tackle these issues.

CBA Initiatives

In our drive to improve recruitment and retention across the industry and ensure it is appropriately equipped to deal with the ever-changing demands of our sector, the CBA launched its People & Skills Hub in summer 2023. While an initiative in its own right, the Hub also acts as a home for all of CBA’s activities and partnerships, both internal and external, that involve people, skills, training and outreach, engaging and working with multi-agency stakeholders through a range of resources. In this sense, it is a dedicated space where networking, collaboration and knowledge sharing can take place; where businesses and individuals can grow their talent pool through access to expertise and professionals from across the global supply chain; and where skills development and career advancement opportunities can be accessed.

An initiative specifically aimed at driving supply chain engagement and outreach to young people is the Future Council. With 22 members from right across the CBA membership, all of whom have different backgrounds, roles and experience, the Future Council gives young people working in the chemical supply chain a peer group to network and share ideas. The group takes part in outreach activities to highlight the diverse range of career paths that the chemical supply chain has to offer, as well as the valuable role it plays in society and everyday lives. To date, the Future Council has actively engaged with over 17,000 young people at over 25 events, many coordinated and arranged by the CBA. These have involved all ages, including universities, primary and secondary schools, highlighting the wide and diverse range of career opportunities that exist within the chemical supply chain and the various pathways into the sector.

The Future Council grew out of the CBA’s Young Person Award. Open to employees under 30, the award celebrates young and emerging talent within the Association’s membership by recognising excellence and outstanding contributions. Each year, the winner is invited to join the Future Council. In 2023, the award went to Vicky De Groof of Holiferm , who won for her dedication to personal growth and the sharing of knowledge, both key CBA principles. The award not only inspires young people; it also raises the profile of the chemical supply chain.

The CBA’s long history of providing training to members and wider industry continued in 2023, with over 500 people in attendance for our 57 training events. Branded as Online Clinics and Best Practice Workshops, they covered industry-centric training, such as DGSA and chemical warehousing, and shared updates and advice around a number of regulatory subjects including UK REACH and the Poisons Act, alongside extensive training on sustainable practices. ?Partnering with members on several of our workshops gave our membership opportunities to connect, share knowledge and allowed us to broaden the scope of our training programme. We also offer Compliance on Demand where we provide bespoke training, tailor made to a company’s requirements.

Training is essential to ensure the supply chain has the skills and knowledge it needs and taking part makes employees feel valued and widens their career development opportunities, which can be vital for retainment. When it comes to training, the CBA listens and responds to member needs. We also take a proactive approach, having introduced Carbon Literacy training in conjunction with the The Carbon Literacy Project .

Supporting external initiatives

Throughout the Association’s 100-year history, which we celebrated throughout 2023, we have continually partnered with and supported external initiatives that have benefited our sector and given it a platform to progress. With our focus on building a sustainable skilled workforce, 2023 saw the CBA further its leading role in collaborative industry initiatives.

?A great example of this is the Department for Transport (DfT), United Kingdom (DfT) backed Generation Logistics , an industry-led campaign involving businesses and associations from across the sector. To drive future recruitment, it seeks to raise awareness and change perceptions of the industry by engaging with future logistics talent and highlighting the varied career options and the many access routes into them. Generation Logistics had an extraordinarily successful launch year, reaching over 3.3 million engagements through campaign activities by September 2023. Along with numerous other CBA and Members staff, I am a Generation Logistics Ambassador.

Overall, 2023 was a successful year for the CBA. In terms of addressing future workforce needs, we have been steadfast in implementing initiatives and supporting related campaigns that seek to enhance recruitment, retention, and skills shortages. Our continued efforts in addressing and championing these issues has been recognised and we are proud to be shortlisted in the 2024 Trade Association Forum (TAF) Awards for four categories, including the Member Engagement Award for the second year running – which we were delighted to win in 2023 – along with the Sector Representation Award.

Thanks to the participation and ongoing work of our members and partners, the outreach, and upskilling initiatives we partake in have gone from strength to strength and, in 2024, we will endeavour to build on this valuable progress.

To learn more about the CBA, contact us or visit our website www.chemical.org.uk