British Glass member hosts UK government department to discuss industry’s future

British Glass has facilitated a visit with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to flat glass manufacturer Saint-Gobain UK.

This visit follows on from the government department’s tours of Allied Glass and Encirc container plants, and Pilkington UK last year.

Eleven members of the BEIS team, including Deputy Director for Energy Intensive Industries Rory Wallace and Deputy Head of Energy Intensive Industries Carolyn Campbell visited the Eggborough site to gain an insight into the industry.

They were joined by members of British Glass Environment team and Technical Director Nick Kirk and hosted by the new British Glass President and Managing Director of Saint-Gobain UK Steve Severs.

As UK glass manufacturers prepare to leave the EU, the site visit maintains British Glass’s close working relationship with government.

On behalf of its members, British Glass strives to ensure that the glass sector continues to give the industry a voice and communicate the challenges facing the sector.

Both British Glass and Saint-Gobain gave presentations on the short term and long term challenges facing the glass sector and held discussions with BEIS on the pressing issues for the industry surrounding energy prices, decarbonisation, carbon reporting and Brexit’s impact on environmental regulations.

This visit gave Saint-Gobain UK direct access to government officials to explain their ambitions and raise their concerns for the future.

Managing Director of Saint-Gobain UK and British Glass President Steve Severs said: “Eggborough were delighted to host representatives of BEIS to actively demonstrate a modern high-performing plant representing many of the positives of glass within the UK manufacturing scene.

“We were also pleased to take the opportunity to reinforce our message regarding the reality of the enormous impact of energy on our cost make –up and to underline how far out on its own the UK sits in relation to energy costs, particularly electricity, with its competitors in the EU and those further afield.”