The coatings industry expands its network of ambassadors in order to engage with the next generation of professionals.
The British Coatings Federation has recently announced that it has partnered with the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), the Paint Research Association (PRA) and the Oil & Colour Chemists’ Association (OCCA) in order to expand its network of ambassadors from the coatings industry, who will engage with schools and universities students across the United Kingdom.
The new ambassadors – coming from a wide spectrum of businesses in the paints and coatings supply chain – are being trained and given materials to hold careers sessions at schools and universities during which they will introduce the coatings industry and share their career paths and the varied jobs and opportunities available within the sector.
The workshop that took place in April was run by Cogent Skills at the offices of the British Coatings Federation and hosted a diverse group of attendees from several organisations, including AkzoNobel, the University of Cambridge, HMG Paints, Nazdar, Thomas Howse and Generation Phoenix. It provided guidance on how to reach out to the younger generation using activities, presentations and creative projects.
“On behalf of OCCA, PRA, RSC and BCF, we would like to thank the companies and individuals who took part. Our network of Coatings Ambassadors is hugely important to educate the next generation on our industry and we wish them every success in engaging with local schools and universities, to help develop the future workforce for the coatings sector,” has commented Tom Bowtell, the CEO of the British Coatings Federation.