Dacrylate’s Managing Director, Sharon Harte, has become the first woman President of the British Coatings Federation (BCF) in its 111-year history when she was elected at the BCF’s 2023 Annual Conference.
Describing the honour of taking on ther ole, she says “It’s a unique opportunity of support and lead an award-winning, progressive Federation with a committed membership and an outstanding team of exceptional staff, reinforced through a highly accomplished board and non-executive committee.
“That said, I look forward to the day when a woman being elected President of a manufacturing trade organisation is no longer newsworthy by virtue of its uniqueness and gender association.”
Sharon has been Dacrylate’s Managing Director for over a decade and has been a BCF board member for much of that time. She believes that the broader coatings industry is a vital but unseen part of the national economy. Indeed, one of her priorities is to make sure more people know the importance of coatings in everyday life. She says: “Our members’ products are everywhere – they protect, enrich, and enhance the beauty of the world around us, as well as enabling communication and self-expression. They prevent decay and corrosion, make products last longer, and have a massive role to play in improved sustainability.”
Sharon is equally passionate about advocating for gender parity and inclusion in manufacturing. She says: “I’m determined we will progress the Federation’s wider Equality, Diversity & Inclusion goals.”
Sharon believes her achievement shows there are women in senior roles in the sector and positions of leadership are increasingly open to them. She said: “I was elected not because I’m a woman but because I was a long-standing BCF board member and my colleagues saw me as someone to help drive through the organisation’s and sector’s priorities for the next few years. I hope that as more women take senior and visible leadership roles it will inspire even more young women to enter the industry.
“This is part of the answer to recruitment. BCF, for instance, has four regulatory affairs managers, all of whom are women. The BCF board has more women than ever before and our member companies are increasingly employing more women in a variety of jobs.
“However, there’s still more to be done to encourage more young women to take STEM subjects at school and university to widen the pool of available talent. This outreach is something BCF is looking to work on over the coming year.”
Tom Bowtell, CEO of the BCF, said: “We are all looking forward to working with Sharon in her new role as President. She is a great servant of, and advocate for the industry. We know we have so much more to do in terms of addressing diversity issues in our industry but this marks another step in the right direction. We have more female BCF Board members than ever before too and we have, collectively, pledged to do more to prioritise further progress in terms of diversity and inclusion across the sector as a whole.”
Sharon will be serving as BCF President for the next two years.
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