UK Business Information / Chemical Industry & Pharmaceuticals
The chemicals industry in the UK covers a range of sectors, including basic chemicals, pharmaceuticals and speciality chemicals. The industry is undergoing a rapid transformation, moving away from basic chemicals toward high-end speciality chemicals.
NORTH WEST
The Chemicals industry makes a huge contribution to the regional economy. Annual sales exceed £10 billion and the sector employs around 43,000 highly-skilled people directly with a further 120,000 in specialist support jobs.
Chemicals is the region’s largest exporter. Each year, the industry spends over £1 billion in operating costs and maintenance, and more than £400 million on research and development. 60% of the world's top 50 chemical companies have a presence in the region.
Links between businesses and academic institutions are good and getting stronger. The £4.3 million Organic Materials Innovation Centre (OMIC) at the University of Manchester and the UK's first National Biomanufacturing Centre on Merseyside, both designed to support start-ups, are evidence of this.
The School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences at Liverpool John Moores University specialises in pharmaceuticals, particularly the manipulation of drugs and polymers to aid drug delivery. The QSAR and Modelling Research Group, part of the School of Pharmacy and Chemistry, has partnered with other academic institutions around Europe to investigate algorithms for evaluating toxicity.
Manchester Metropolitan University's Centre for Materials Science Research has considerable expertise in environmentally friendly coating systems. Collaborating with companies across the globe, the R&D department is working to develop controlled release processes, self-cleaning applications and enhanced biological and anti-bacterial systems.
The Knowledge Centre for Materials Chemistry (KCMC) provides a single point of contact for companies of all sizes to access a substantial range of facilities and expertise in applied materials chemistry at four leading academic institutions: Bolton, Liverpool and Manchester Universities and the Science and Technology Facilities Council at Daresbury.
Northwest companies can also benefit from a new incentive scheme that enables eligible companies to carry out collaborative R&D with KCMC and receive up to 50% subsidy in the first phase of the project.
For further information visit:
A comprehensive list of all science parks in the North West region can be found at:
- North West Innovation Network
SCOTLAND
Chemicals in Scotland refers to more than 100 core companies – not including supply chain businesses – with 5 per cent of units employing 250 or more people. Around 42% of the chemicals companies in Scotland are foreign-owned, many of them global businesses.
The production of 'basic chemicals' such as fertilisers, gases, plastics, rubber and man-made fibres accounts for 40% of the Scottish Chemical industry's GVA making it the biggest chemicals sector in the country. Pharmaceuticals is the next biggest sub-sector, contributing 32% of the GVA.
Scotland produces over 500 graduates each year in Chemistry, or Chemistry-related subjects.
ScotCHEM is a major new collaborative venture for the pooling and enhancement of resources for chemistry research in Scotland. It brings together the major players in research in chemical sciences through the creation of new structures to generate enhanced critical mass and enable joint access to major resources.
ScotCHEM subsidiary organisations include eastCHEM - a joint research venture between Edinbugh and St Andrews Universities - and westCHEM, a simlar venture between Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities R&D departments.
The following links are useful for looking at the Chemicals industry in the UK as a whole:
- Chemical Industries Association
- Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry
