Nigel Ward, the new Director of the British Stainless Steel Association, has outlined some new initiatives for the Association to address the lack of growth in the UK for the demand of stainless steel.
Speaking at the Associations recent Annual Dinner in Birmingham, he reasoned that a major factor why the stainless market continued to lag behind its European counterparts was that countries such as Germany, Italy and Spain had a record of substantial investment in market development activities over a long period. He commented: "Whilst we should recognise the manufacturing environment in which we work, we know that we cannot influence the macroeconomic landscape. However, this should not deter us from identifying specific areas where we can make a real contribution, either as the BSSA itself, or as part of the wider network of market development associations, utilising a market sector approach to embrace sectors such as energy, food and drink, transport and consumer products". The BSSA Director also suggested that a UK-based stainless steel design competition would increase the awareness of stainless steel. Mr Ward concluded that continuing efforts will be maintained to establish the BSSA as the prime provider of information, training and education on stainless steel.
