The Chemical Business Association (CBA) has elected a new Chair – Kate Mingay, Managing Director, Dakram Materials Limited. She was elected by the membership of the Association at its Annual General Meeting on 28 April 2021. Richard Gilkes, Managing Director, Stort Chemicals Limited, was elected Vice-Chair.
Kate Mingay said, “I am honoured to have been elected as Chair of CBA’s Council. The industry faces significant challenges as its adjusts to the post-Brexit business environment and the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.”
“The industry has a justified reputation for its resilience and CBA will support its member companies in managing these changes and maintaining profitable supplies of key chemical components to thousands of manufacturing and process companies,” she added.
Kate Mingay founded Dakram Materials in 2003 to import, export, and distribute metal-based chemicals. The company now sources and sells more than 1,500 tonnes of key chemical components every year and has annual sales of around £3 million.
She studied Materials Sciences with Management at Brunel University, London, graduating with a first-class honours degree.
A fluent French speaker, her 30-year career in the industry began as a Research then Marketing Assistant with ICI Films. She joined the Rare Earths Division of Meldform Metals Limited becoming the European Sales Manager and then Business Manager of its Germanium division with product, planning, and profit responsibility for this international business with sales in excess of £12 million. Following three years consultancy work, during which she managed a multi-million-pound start-up in Finland, she founded Dakram Materials Limited.