The Coatings Industry is playing its part in helping meet the UK Government’s ambition to double export receipts to £1 trillion by 2020.  Figures from the latest Building Materials & Components Report published by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills reveal that at a time when total construction material exports were down by 8%, Paints and Varnishes maintained first place in the league table of construction exports with a growth of 1%. 

This was the third consecutive year in Paint and Varnish export growth, with a total of £630m worth of exports in 2012.  Paint and Varnish exports were even more impressive in 2011, with double-digit export growth during the recession and 2011 exports up 13% on 2010.

To achieve Government targets, Lord Green, Minister of State for UK Trade and Investment, wants to increase the number of companies exporting from one in five to one in four. 

“The good news for the Coatings Industry,” says British Coatings Federation’s (BCF) CEO Tom Bowtell, “is that we are already way ahead of this goal with three in five companies within the paint sector currently exporting from the UK. 

“The Coatings Industry has maintained a solid UK manufacturing base, with three out of every four cans of paint sold in the UK made here.  On top of this, 30% of paint manufactured in the UK is exported. Even the wallcoverings sector, which has suffered from a growth of imports in recent years, saw an 11% increase in export volume towards the end of 2012, so there is good news across all sectors of the coatings industry.”