Alistair Houghton meets Dr Jenny Clucas, chief executive of Chemicals Northwest

THE high-level bash on the 23rd storey of Manchester’s Beetham Tower, to honour the stars of the region’s chemical industry, was anything but Dickensian.

But Dr Jenny Clucas knows that too many people outside the industry still see it as dirty and dangerous – and may not even be aware of just how important it is to the local economy.

Isle of Man-born Dr Clucas is chief executive of Chemicals Northwest, the 150-member body that promotes the region’s chemical industry.

It organised last week’s awards which saw chemicals firms, including Ellesmere Port’s Innospec and Widnes’s Pentagon, honoured for their technological innovation and business growth.

Runcorn-based Dr Clucas is an evangelist for the chemicals industry, determined to tell the world about the successes of Merseyside and Cheshire’s chemical businesses.

The North West’s chemical industry generates annual sales of some £10bn and chemicals make up around half of the region’s exports of manufactured goods. The industry employs 51,000 people directly and supports the jobs of 120,000 more.

With the disappearance of the name ICI, the region’s leading chemical employers are not well-known to the general public. But Dr Clucas says people should not forget how important chemicals are in our everyday lives.

She said: “The vast majority of chemicals companies sell to other chemicals companies or other sectors, so they’re not necessarily selling products the general public is aware of.

“But it’s hard to think of anything we use in everyday life that hasn’t at some point had chemicals in it.

“Chemicals are absolutely vital to our everyday lives. All the things we use – your mobile phones, your shampoo, the packaging on what you buy in the supermarket – there are chemicals behind them.”

Chemicals Northwest, which is largely funded by the Northwest Development Agency and is based at The Heath Business and Technical Park, in Runcorn, aims to promote the industry .

It focuses on improving skills in the sector, promoting sustainable and innovative working practices, and promoting the industry.

Dr Clucas, who lives in Stockport, wants to change the widely-held perception that the sector is dirty and dangerous.

She said: “In the past – a long time in the past, maybe even back in the 19th century – the chemical industry wasn’t regulated and was seen as somewhat dirty and Dickensian.

“For some people, it hasn’t really lost that image.

“There has been a tendency, when chemicals hit the media, it’s because of bad news. One incident at one plant tars the whole industry.

“There’s been a reluctance for the chemical industry to put its head above the parapet and say ‘we’re the good guys’.

“If you look at the challenges the world faces in the future, such as how we get clean energy production, greener cars and how we have enough food for a world population that’s expected to rise significantly, the solutions to all of those will involve chemicals or chemical processes.”

ONE of Chemicals Northwest’s key projects is promoting the industry to young people through the schools programmes it co-ordinates.

“The industry needs a pipeline of people coming through,” said Dr Clucas. “At the moment, we have an ageing demographic in the industry. The average age in most chemicals companies is 45 or above.

“There are still perceptions we need to tackle, like that it’s dirty, that it’s about mad people in white coats, or that it’s boring.

“What we want to do is change people’s perceptions when they’re young.”

The Children Challenging Industry project aims to show 8-11-year-olds and their teachers experiments that prove chemistry has the “wow factor”.

Dr Clucas said: “Children told us it was more fun than the London Eye or Alton Towers.”

The Collaboration of Schools & Industry project sees chemical firms working with sixth-formers to demonstrate what careers are available in the chemicals sector.

It’s a message that’s close to Dr Clucas’s heart, as her career in the chemicals sector was inspired by a great teacher.

At school, the dairy farmer’s daughter enjoyed science and maths, and had considered careers in either accountancy or veterinary science. But, at 16, she was taught chemistry by a teacher who had worked in the chemicals sector and who inspired her to do the same.

“He had a real enthusiasm for the subject,” she said. “He taught with a mix of theory and practice, and told us how chemistry related to the real world.”

Dr Clucas went to the University of Liverpool where, after securing a first-class degree, she went on to complete her PhD.

In 1986, she moved to Widnes chemicals firm Laporte, rising through the ranks there and moving to rival Solvay through a joint venture between the firms.

In 1995, she joined industry advisers Wentworth Consultancy, where she worked with companies including Glaxo SmithKline.

Dr Clucas joined Chemicals Northwest in December, 2007.

Among the key challenges faced by the industry is increasing regulation, with Chemicals Northwest members still concerned about the new EU Emissions Trading Scheme to slash carbon emissions. Last year, industry leaders, including the billionaire founder of Ineos Jim Ratcliffe, warned thousands of jobs could be at risk under the strict new rules, which are still under Government discussion.

The chemicals industry is a high energy user, with Ineos, in Runcorn, using the same amount of electricity as the whole of Liverpool. Volatile utilities prices have therefore hit firms hard.

Those issues come on top of the recession, which is hitting all sectors – but Dr Clucas says the picture is not all bleak.

“The automotive sector, for example, is suffering,” she said. “Companies supplying the construction sector or industries where there’s discretionary spend are seeing volumes fall.

“But there are other sectors doing relatively well, including food and drink and some consumer products. People still need to wash and eat.”