Following the result of the Referendum on the United Kingdom’s membership of the European Union, the head of the Country’s number one manufacturing exporting sector has given his reaction.

Steve Elliott, Chief Executive of the Chemical Industries Association which represents chemical and pharmaceutical businesses across the UK, said “This is democracy in action – both in terms of the result and the level of participation. It is not the decision that our sector wanted, but we fully respect the wish of the people for change. Whilst business craves certainty, it is also used to operating in challenging and changing circumstances;  this is what companies and their representative bodies do wherever they operate. We now have to look to the future and I am confident that an important and resilient industry such as ours can prosper in this new situation.

This morning I am calling on the Government to work hard on securing the best exit plan for the UK and then establishing the new trading arrangements. Whilst we need to progress both these negotiations as soon as we can to limit uncertainty, we also need an immediate period of calm reflection to minimise instability. As an Association we will do everything we can to help our members through any period of uncertainty and to be influential in the Government’s negotiations, both here in the UK and with our partners in Brussels. Our sector looks forward to playing its part  in helping to carve out a new role for our country, maximising UK chemical and pharmaceutical competitiveness and jobs in the global economy.

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For further information or to speak to Steve Elliott please call Simon Marsh 07951 389197

The chemical and pharmaceutical industry adds £15 billion of value to the UK economy every year from total annual turnover of around £50 billion. This represents around 10% of the value added by the whole of manufacturing.

The UK is a leading global chemical and pharmaceutical producer

The chemical and pharmaceutical sector is the UK’s largest manufacturing exporter with annual exports of close to £50 billion.

Over £4 billion of capital and R&D investment by UK chemical and pharmaceutical companies.

The sector employs around 140,000 people directly and supports in total around half a million jobs in the UK economy. The direct workforce is highly skilled and earns on average 30% more than the average UK manufacturing worker.