Chemical Industry

The Chemicals industry is one of the UK’s largest manufacturing industries. Over the last decade it grew more than five times faster than the average for all industry. It is manufacturing’s number one exporter, with an annual trade surplus of just under £5 billion. It spends over £2 billion a year on new capital investment.

All chemicals end up being used in products and services purchased by the consumer. There may be many stages between the processing of a chemical and the final consumer, but it is estimated that each UK household either directly or indirectly spends around £30 per week on chemicals.

The Chemicals industry has a relatively higher proportion employed in medium-sized enterprises when compared to other European countries. On average, full-time employees’ hourly earnings are 19% higher than in manufacturing generally. This reflects high skill, productivity and training levels.

Pharmaceuticals Industry

The industry produces everything from antibiotics to the contraceptive pill and develops products that treat many common illnesses and ailments from allergies and infections through to asthma and diabetes. It also continues to pioneer new treatments for many serious and life-threatening diseases including cancer and heart disease. In short, this is an industry that enhances and, in some cases prolongs, many lives all around the world.

The pharmaceuticals industry is also responsible for the safety and effectiveness of the products it manufactures. Products go through rigorous tests and trials.

In 2005, pharmaceutical companies in the UK spent £3.3 billion on pharmaceutical research and development – that’s an investment of around £9 million every day. Indeed, around a quarter of all UK industry-supported research and development comes from the pharmaceutical industry.

It is also an industry that needs highly skilled people. There are many and varied careers on offer. Career development in the pharmaceutical industry is well respected and the companies which make up the sector are committed to investing in their people, as it is through their employees’ skills and talents that they are able to be innovative and compete internationally.

Nuclear Industry

Nuclear power provides about 18% of the UK’s electricity and by doing so, saves the equivalent of the carbon emissions from most of the UK’s cars on the road. The nuclear fuel-cycle operations in the UK are of major international importance and can provide for all the needs of the UK and for much of the export demand. The Ministry of Defence operates a fleet of nuclear–powered submarines, including the new Astute class and maintains the Trident programme. Download the Nuclear Industry Overview diagram.

The safe and cost-effective decommissioning and clean-up of the industry's power stations and fuel-processing facilities, which are being progressively shut down, are providing future technical and engineering challenges for the industry. The decommissioning of the UK’s civil nuclear facilities and the clean-up of the sites has been the responsibility of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority since 1st April 2005. The industry operators are supported by a wide variety of supply-chain companies, such as engineering and construction contractors, fabricators of specialist equipment, manufacturers and specialist service providers. Companies involved in the design or supply of safety-related equipment or materials must meet strict quality requirements and need underpinning knowledge about the work of the industry.

The UK industry also has a significant international element of its business. The experience and skills held by the industry in reactor operation, design and construction, maintenance and inspection, waste management and decommissioning technology provides a good basis for export business to a growing global market. Many British nuclear companies have substantial business in markets abroad. The recent release of the Energy White Paper also highlights the potential for new build in the UK.

Petroleum Industry

The main products of the downstream sector are transport fuels (aviation fuel, diesel and unleaded petrol) which can amount to 60% of a refinery output. The market for transport fuels in the UK amounts to about 50 million tonnes per year and this is split into commercial and retail markets as well as aviation. The commercial market includes industrial transport (cars, trucks, buses, and trains), marine (marine diesel for ships) and agriculture (tractors etc), as well as Government; which includes public services and military vehicles.

The industry is creating new “greener” fuels such as biodiesel/ bioethanol made from renewable sources such as vegetable oils/ wheat, to reduce harm to the environment. The UK Petroleum Industry Association (UKPIA) has said that by 2009 vehicles will become even cleaner and less polluting. Hybrid vehicles are likely to become more common, particularly in urban areas. (A hybrid car is a vehicle which operates using a mix of petrol and electric power and causes less pollution).

Polymers Industry

The Polymer Industry comprises four discrete processing areas: Plastics Processing, Rubber Processing, Polymer Composites Processing and Signmaking. Over 7,500 companies operate within the sector employing some 286,000 employees. This figure rises to approximately 400,000 employees when companies who process polymers as a secondary operation to their main business, are taken into consideration. The industry is extremely dynamic, being subject to many changes and opportunities arising from technological change, development of new materials and processing technology; not least, the development of new products and changes in consumer requirements.

The industries require innovators, technologists, designers and highly skilled processing technicians to remain at the forefront of developments and changes in the world demand for more versatile, lightweight, low-cost and energy-saving products and applications.

Products and component parts developed using polymers, are used in many applications. Each year the demand steadily grows.

Oil and Gas Industry

The UK Oil and Gas extraction industry, also referred to as Upstream, covers the exploration, extraction and initial processing of North Sea oil and gas (hydrocarbons) from around the UK, both onshore and offshore. The centre of activity for the oil and gas extraction is off the coast of Aberdeen, Scotland. Hydrocarbons are produced in other areas of the UK such as the southern North Sea, from around offshore Humberside to Norfolk and Suffolk, and offshore Liverpool and Morecambe Bays.

The majority of these offshore sites have landfall sites around the coast to where the hydrocarbons are piped for further distribution or processing. Some off-load from the offshore facility to small tankers which transport the cargo to various onshore terminals for onward transmission. The principal onshore production area is in Poole, Dorset where the reservoir of hydrocarbons is literally under Poole Harbour but produced onshore in an environmentally sound method. There are other lesser known onshore fields, too many to mention here but as an example, Surrey, South of London.

The UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) is facing significant challenges as the province matures. In future its ability to compete will depend critically on rapid and continual improvement in performance. This, in turn, will depend on greater collaboration to ensure this performance can be delivered with the resources available. The UK still has substantial recoverable reserves of oil and gas potentially exceeding the amount already produced. However many existing large producing fields are declining and discoveries are becoming fewer and smaller.