#189 The UK’s Composites Industry: A Strategic National Asset Driving Innovation and Growth
10.11.2025 13 min Staffel 5 Episode 147
Zusammenfassung & Show Notes
UK Composites Industry Breaks £14 Billion Barrier – Why It Matters More Than Ever
Composites UK - Trade Association unveils growth figures and a bold five-year strategy to secure the UK’s place in advanced manufacturing and clean energy.
At the Advanced Engineering Show 2025 in Birmingham, Composites Lounge had the privilege of speaking with David Bailey FRAeS Ph.D, CEO of Composites UK (CUK), about the state of the UK composites sector and the association’s forward-looking strategy.
For the first time, the UK composites industry has surpassed £14 billion in turnover, marking a 4.8% growth year-on-year. Employment figures are equally impressive, with over 52,000 high-value manufacturing jobs now supported by the sector. These numbers underscore the critical role composites play across aerospace, automotive, defense, energy, marine, and renewables—industries that are central to the UK’s economic resilience and global competitiveness.
The association’s five-year strategic plan, built on five pillars:
Policy Engagement – Strengthening ties with UK Government to secure support for composites as a foundation for clean growth. Recent initiatives include an All-Party Parliamentary Group for Materials for Clean Growth and high-level receptions at the Houses of Parliament.
Workforce Development – Addressing the skills gap through upskilling programs and attracting new talent into advanced manufacturing.
Supply Chain & Sustainability – Driving circularity and decarbonisation across the composites value chain.
Technology & Innovation – Collaborating with academia and the High Value Manufacturing Catapult to accelerate R&D and commercialization of next-generation materials.
Events & Exhibitions – Providing platforms for members to showcase innovation
The roof of this strategy: Sustainability.
CUK is committed to enabling a low-carbon future through advanced materials that reduce weight, improve durability, and support electrification and renewable energy systems.
A Business Model Built on Advocacy and Collaboration
As the UK’s leading trade association for fibre-reinforced polymer composites, Composites UK offers its 380+ members:
Government Influence – Shape policy and industrial strategy through consultations and lobbying.
Market Intelligence – Access exclusive reports, funding updates, and technical guidance.
Visibility & Networking – Pavilion stands at major shows, marketing opportunities, and industry awards.
Sustainability Resources – Tools to reduce carbon footprint and meet Net-Zero targets.
Skills & Safety – Workforce development programs and health & safety best practices.
Why It Matters
Composites are not just materials—they are enablers of the UK’s industrial strategy, clean energy transition, and global competitiveness. As Bailey emphasized, “Composites are a Strategic National Asset.” Without them, achieving Net-Zero and maintaining leadership in advanced manufacturing would be impossible.
YouTube Episode: https://youtu.be/DGDIQAjuJaA
Composites UK - Trade Association unveils growth figures and a bold five-year strategy to secure the UK’s place in advanced manufacturing and clean energy.
At the Advanced Engineering Show 2025 in Birmingham, Composites Lounge had the privilege of speaking with David Bailey FRAeS Ph.D, CEO of Composites UK (CUK), about the state of the UK composites sector and the association’s forward-looking strategy.
For the first time, the UK composites industry has surpassed £14 billion in turnover, marking a 4.8% growth year-on-year. Employment figures are equally impressive, with over 52,000 high-value manufacturing jobs now supported by the sector. These numbers underscore the critical role composites play across aerospace, automotive, defense, energy, marine, and renewables—industries that are central to the UK’s economic resilience and global competitiveness.
The association’s five-year strategic plan, built on five pillars:
Policy Engagement – Strengthening ties with UK Government to secure support for composites as a foundation for clean growth. Recent initiatives include an All-Party Parliamentary Group for Materials for Clean Growth and high-level receptions at the Houses of Parliament.
Workforce Development – Addressing the skills gap through upskilling programs and attracting new talent into advanced manufacturing.
Supply Chain & Sustainability – Driving circularity and decarbonisation across the composites value chain.
Technology & Innovation – Collaborating with academia and the High Value Manufacturing Catapult to accelerate R&D and commercialization of next-generation materials.
Events & Exhibitions – Providing platforms for members to showcase innovation
The roof of this strategy: Sustainability.
CUK is committed to enabling a low-carbon future through advanced materials that reduce weight, improve durability, and support electrification and renewable energy systems.
A Business Model Built on Advocacy and Collaboration
As the UK’s leading trade association for fibre-reinforced polymer composites, Composites UK offers its 380+ members:
Government Influence – Shape policy and industrial strategy through consultations and lobbying.
Market Intelligence – Access exclusive reports, funding updates, and technical guidance.
Visibility & Networking – Pavilion stands at major shows, marketing opportunities, and industry awards.
Sustainability Resources – Tools to reduce carbon footprint and meet Net-Zero targets.
Skills & Safety – Workforce development programs and health & safety best practices.
Why It Matters
Composites are not just materials—they are enablers of the UK’s industrial strategy, clean energy transition, and global competitiveness. As Bailey emphasized, “Composites are a Strategic National Asset.” Without them, achieving Net-Zero and maintaining leadership in advanced manufacturing would be impossible.
YouTube Episode: https://youtu.be/DGDIQAjuJaA
Transkript
So dear Composites Lounge members,
LinkedIn Community, Composites UK members
and the leadership and organisers
of this fantastic pavilion
here in Birmingham. I have now the honour
to speak one more time with David Bailey.
David, as you know,
is the managing director of Composites UK.
We had before Faye Smith,
she's the elected president
and now we have David Bailey.
Thanks, David, for being part of my show.
Thank you.
-Let's dive into the UK one more time,
because the UK is strategically a very,
very important country,
in composites anyway.
And I listened to David's presentation
yesterday, which was
really well, I applaud you for that.
David presented yesterday the first time
the current figures out of their survey
about the current market situation
here in the UK.
And it's very much related,
of course, to composites, but not only.
And I would like to know, David, from you.
Can you run us
through your presentation very fast?
What were the main conclusions
and what did you find out
with that survey?
Yesterday we presented Composites
UK's latest industry numbers.
So we've done this now
for the last four years.
We were delighted to announce yesterday
here at the Advanced Engineering Show
2025 in Birmingham
that for the first time,
our industry has broken
through the £14 billion turnover barrier.
So I'm really pleased
that we've seen growth
of the order of 4.8%.
This is clearly reflecting 2024 data.
But also on top of that we've also broken
through 50,000
high value manufacturing employees.
Actual number
52,262, which we're delighted with.
It shows the strength of the industry
and the importance of composites
to so many manufacturing sectors
aerospace, automotive, defense, energy,
marine, renewables, sports and leisure.
There are so many.
And you know, it's clearly showing
a composite sector in strength in 2024.
-David, these are really impressive
figures on the one side
the UK market has grown
since the lift up post-Covid,
both in terms of market size
and the employment,
but productivity remains flat.
Let me just ask out of curiosity
also, I mean,
these surveys are not so easy.
You don't send out just a survey form
and everyone is happy to share their data.
So what is the methodology
that you have used to collect this data?
Tell us how robust are those figures?
We believe the figures are very robust.
It's the same process
that we've used for the last four years.
Composites UK has a hub database
with over 1,000 composite companies in it.
The turnover and employment
numbers are based
on official published data
at companies House (?)
in the UK.
So that's UK government data.
It's not a survey of the members.
It's based on the financial reports
that the companies
have to make themselves.
Clearly there are assumptions to be made
about the level
of composites in certain companies.
We've made those assumptions using experts
to help us validate
the assumptions that we've made.
But it's the same calculation
that we've made
across the last four years.
So this reminds me what David says,
of course, also to the surveys
that we have in Germany
with the AVK, Composites United,
not Composites UK. And of course
these figures are very reliable.
And therefore for me personally, I think
they are quite pleasing.
The market is growing in an environment
where growth
is not happening in every area.
So this is good news
and I'll take that as a momentum
also to relay this
to the European markets.
Now David, my next question to you
is let's talk about strategies
now an association of that size
that you are managing right now of course
needs a proper strategy
and you have laid out obviously a strategy
that you have also
shown in your presentation yesterday.
Can you just quickly run us
through what is the strategy
that you have rolled out
for the foreseeable future?
-We've now developed our second five year
strategic business plan,
agreed by the board
at the start of this year,
and the five year strategy
is focused around key elements
of the business.
So we have five pillars
to the strategy temple policy,
where we're increasing the work we do,
engaging with UK government
to try to influence them
to support the UK's composite sector.
That's been a really important piece
of work that we've put a lot of time
and effort into.
We have a policy working group
and two weeks
ago we were in the Houses of Parliament
with 100 representatives from industry,
with our ask of UK government.
Our second pillar
is workforce development.
So it's all about the upskilling
of the existing workforce
and how we bring new talent
into the UK's composite sector.
Our third pillar is around supply chain.
We work with a number
of groups cross-sector,
but also focus on things
like sustainability.
We then have a technology pillar
to our temple
where we work with academic organizations
and the high value manufacturing Catapult
in the UK
to try to ensure
that our industry is developing
and innovating
the right technologies for the future.
And then our final pillar
is events and exhibitions,
which is absolutely core
to any trade association.
And of course, delighted to be here
at the Advanced Engineering Show
with the Composites UK Pavilion,
where we've got 18 of our members
who've joined us in exhibiting
and showcasing their businesses.
The foundations of our strategy
is membership, of course.
The roof of our strategy temple
is sustainability,
decarbonisation and circularity
so key to the UK's composite sector.
So thank you, David, really for your time.
I appreciate that.
But after an event like you said,
events are a core of your business.
Of course, next events are in the planning
and I would like to touch base with you
on the JEC World's 2026 edition.
How pumped are you on a rate
of 1 to 10
to attend with the pavilion in Paris?
-JEC is such a pivotal event
for the global composites industry.
We're delighted to represent
the UK's composites industry in Paris.
We will have an
exhibition stand the same size
that we had earlier this year
and we'll be taking
the best UK companies to Paris with us
and hopefully have a fantastic show.
Really looking forward to it.
And it's always great to see
what's going on
with the rest
of the world's industry as well.
It's a great place to go
and see the latest technologies,
the latest capabilities
and help our UK companies to do business.
Thank you David also
for this concluding topic
with JEC World 2026.
My final call to action
is please follow
Composites UK on LinkedIn.
They're really crushing it
we would say in social media terms.
I have an internal list
of some associations
and you are by far on the activity level
the number one on LinkedIn,
I would say after JEC,
because they have a complete team on that.
Also, JEC Group
is doing a great, great job there.
So follow Composites UK
connect with David.
You are on LinkedIn as well.
Connect with Faye Smith, all the people,
all the key people here in the UK
and join them as a member and exhibitor
maybe if you have exhibitor slots.
Let's move
and let's keep
moving this industry forward.
And that's great to hear, Ilkay,
because to get that independent feedback
tells me that the Composites UK team
is doing a great job.
Exactly. You're welcome. See you, Bye bye.
-Thank you.
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