British Glass CEO commends glass industry

British Glass CEO Dave Dalton praised the glass industry for its resilience over the past few years.

He believed that the industry could become a global leader in manufacturing with the help of the UK Government.

Mr Dalton spoke at the Glass Focus Awards held in Manchester, UK last week.

He said: “It's been a strange few years. I think we can all acknowledge that the world that we recognise four or five years ago is a completely different place these days. As an industry, I’m proud to be part of something so resilient.

“For the last three or four years, we’ve ridden a bit of a roller coaster, and I would like to think that that there is some appreciation for the team here at British Glass that have really tried their utmost to steer the industry through that now.”

Mr Dalton highlighted team’s work on the British Industry Supercharger (BIS), a comprehensive package of measures from the UK Government aimed at enhancing the competitiveness of British energy-intensive industries, including glass.

From April 2024, Mr Dalton said UK glass manufacturers could start to see up to £30 million taken off their fuel bills each year from the BIS.

He continued that economic forecasts predicted a difficult three to five years ahead.

He said: “The idea from the fiscal institutes is that flatlining is good, growth would be tremendous, but not going into recession is the ambition. I think as an industry, we are better than that.”

Mr Dalton believed that working closely with the UK Government would be crucial for the development of the glass industry, particularly in areas such as decarbonisation.

He said: “A big part of what we need to do is to make sure that the government understands the commitment, the investment that has been made by this industry to deliver that future, and how that encourages other sectors.”

Mr Dalton also paid tribute to Encirc Managing Director Adrian Curry, who will be leaving the glass industry at the end of December.

He said Mr Curry had been a leading voice for the UK glass manufacturing industry for nearly three decades, and that his leaving would come at great loss to Encirc and to the rest of the glass industry.