CONTENTS

ADVERTORIAL
ADVERTORIAL
BREXIT – AN OPPORTUNITY OR A DISASTER?
The UK’s Paper Industry is European. The vast majority
of UK mills report directly to head offices dotted around
Scandinavia and mainland Europe. The material itself is
traded freely across the continent’s borders, both in its
virgin state and as a waste material.
The sector is, therefore, very concerned about the future
relationship between the UK and the EU. We accept that
“Brexit means Brexit” but how do we define Brexit? It
could mean anything from an acrimonious and complete
divorce to business as usual, with some modifications
to the rules surrounding the free movement of people.
Until this issue is resolved, we can expect industry to
be wary about large scale investment in the UK. For any
capital intensive sector this could have serious long term
consequences.
Our Energy Intensive Industries (EIIs) are vulnerable,
particularly in light of the UK’s tight energy supply
position and the direct and indirect costs that they bear in
achieving the UK’s very ambitious climate change targets.
As a priority we need to ensure that the UK retains tarifffree
non-discriminatory access to the European Energy
Market and that we are involved in the future development
of that market. It is essential that supplies of both gas and
electricity continue to flow through the interconnectors
with continental Europe.
We need a fundamental review of climate change policy. It
is crucial that in the years to come our EIIs are not put at a
competitive disadvantage. The new administration needs
to continue the policy of its predecessor by exempting or
compensating EIIs for costs not born by our European
competitors. The Carbon Floor Price must be scrapped.
Fresh incentives should be introduced to encourage EIIs
to invest in and operate on-site auto-generation of heat
and power.
There is also a very strong case for targeting carbon
consumption as well as emissions as this will give
us a much clearer indication of the impact that we
are having on the global environment. We must be
wary about entering fresh trade agreements with
countries that are still free to exploit low global
prices for oil and coal which could put them at a
very considerable competitive advantage over us
here in the UK.
Because the Paper Industry here operates within
a European framework, it must continue to be free
to move senior executives and skilled operatives
around its sites – including to the UK – and to
employ foreign labour when it cannot recruit locally.
The Paper Industry – along with all other EIIs – has been
working with officials in developing a series of 2050 Roadmaps.
These are due to be published early in 2017 and need to be
used in developing a meaningful industrial strategy aimed at
maintaining and growing the presence of EIIs in the UK. They
are, after all, the backbone of manufacturing.
If we get our strategy right there is a huge opportunity for
us to expand papermaking in the UK. We are currently the
world’s largest net importer of paper and we now have a
chance to reverse recent declines and to exploit potential
export markets. If we fail to create the market conditions for
growth then the European owners of our industry are likely to
focus future investment elsewhere – which would be a social,
economic and environmental disaster.
The Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI) is the leading
trade association representing the UK’s Paper-based
Industries. CPI represents an industry with an aggregate
annual turnover of £6.5 billion, 25,000 direct and more
than 100,000 indirect employees.
For further information call 01793 889600
email: cpi@paper.org.uk
twitter: @Confedofpaper
or visit www.paper.org.uk
Advertising really does matter. It matters to peoples jobs, to our
national wealth, to our international success and may be can
help with our nation’s health.
UK exports of advertising services are worth a staggering
£4.1 billion. This helps boost the international success of UK
brands and the UK brand itself; advertising demonstrates how
globalisation can be made to work for our nations. The UK
advertising and media markets and our advertising exports are
a vibrant reflection of London’s and the UK’s kaleidoscope of
talent which has its roots worldwide.
Ad spend in the UK funds the creative industries and much
of the media. Whether it is our newspapers and magazines
to the TV programmes we enjoy on ITV, Channel 4, Channel
5 and Sky, or viewing accessed via the Internet, perhaps
directly from YouTube and others. Much of our digital and
traditional media are ad funded with the rise of ad blocking
this is now become a challenging time for publishers and
content creators alike. There may come a point where a
decision will have to be made on whether content is paid
for or not. Sponsorship directly supports many sporting and
cultural events. Advertising also helps subsidise much of the
country’s transport; for example TfL who have an estimated
ad revenue of £250 million a year which is re-invested in the
network and used to subsidise journeys.
Advertising plays a wider role and makes a serious contribution
to helping overcome some of society’s problems. Advertising
is rarely the problem itself or even a major cause of the issue,
advertising is simply not that powerful. Perhaps advertising is a
reflection of the problem not the cause. The growth in obesity is
not caused by the ads; but advertisers and the media can help
ADVERTISING
IN OUR
NATIONS AND
REGIONS
Ian Twinn, Director of Public Affairs
reinforce responsible consumption and lifestyle messages
by working long term with governments, health experts
and campaigners. That needs commitment on all sides;
commitment to work in genuine partnership; commitment to
long term goals and consistent messages.
At the heart of the UK’s advertising success story lies strong
self-regulation aided by government. UK governments have
been very supportive of the advertising ecosystem including
working with the industry to give it the tools to compete
worldwide.
Advertising is strictly regulated and consumer protection is the
driving force behind the advertising codes. The UK consumer
law and the underlying EU directives reflect a common desire
from Parliament and the ad industry to encourage responsible
practices. Compliance with ad rules is very high; anyone
can complain to the independent regulator, the ASA, which
enforces the rules.
The advertising industry plays a proactive role in education
through Media Smart. Media Smart is a not-for-profit organisation
which works alongside independent educationalists to create
free educational materials for schools and youth clubs, for
teachers and parents. This helps young people think critically
about the advertising they come across in their daily lives.
Advertising after Brexit will be a key tool for our country to
turn towards a global role whilst maintaining strong trading
relationships with our former partners in the EU. As the fog of
uncertainty clears the UK’s creative and media skills can help
us define our new role whilst themselves being a strong export
of our services.
Find out more about our mission on behalf of responsible advertisers
See who our members are www.isba.org.uk Ask us the difficult questions iant@isba.org.uk