Celebrating Excellence: Employee Spotlight on Mary Aiken-Wood

In every organisation, there are individuals whose passion, knowledge, and commitment shine brightly, making a significant impact on both their colleagues and the company as a whole. Today, we turn the spotlight on Mary, a valued member of the BPF team whose work ethic and positive attitude inspires us all.

Mary joined the BPF in April 2023, bringing with her over five years of experience in the chemical industry. Starting in quality control (QC) in the paper industry, Mary has mostly worked as a formulation chemist in the personal care & insect repellent industry. She picked up additional responsibilities, like Brexit coordinator and extra sustainability projects, due to her interest in chemical legislation and passion for green chemistry. Since then, she has consistently demonstrated outstanding performance and a genuine passion for her work.

Currently Mary looks after the raw material members of the BPF.

"Essentially, my role is making sure members are getting the most out of their BPF membership as well as understanding the challenges they face. This leads to lots of different projects to support raw material suppliers in the plastics industry. No day looks the same."

She looks after the Product Safety, Fire Safety, and Education & Skills Committees, which means she is constantly keeping up to date with REACH and legislation changes - communicating to members and responding to government consultations. In terms of Education & Skills, Mary acknowledges there is a significant skills gap in the industry and hopes to support members with their recruitment challenges. She recently developed a strategy for the committee, outlining clear goals for 2024.

One of her greatest achievements thus far, with the support of the BPF Polymer Distributors, Compounders, and Volume Suppliers members and chair Mike Boswell, has been expanding the scope of the group to represent the changing distribution landscape – enabling more members to join so the BPF can better represent the sector.

Outside of work, Mary enjoys learning languages - going to Spanish school every Monday (hoping to become fluent in the next year or so), and also enjoys going to the gym and has recently taken up bouldering.

When asked about Mary, her colleagues described her as 'both a pleasure to work with and force to be reckoned with. She's exactly what the industry needs.' It's clear that she is not only respected but also admired by those who have the pleasure of working alongside her. Her manager, Mohamed Elkalifa (BPF Industrial & Public Affairs Manager), said:

"With an outstanding work ethic and the perfect level of tenacity, Mary has all the skills to excel in her role! She has settled in well already and I look forward to all the great things she will achieve."

What Next For Mary?

Mary's future goal is to make a positive change in the chemical & polymer industry. She's particularly keen to educate the industry on green chemistry and bring her expertise into this role - as the BPF University Network is growing, Mary can see huge potential.

"I believe it is a future trend that will affect the whole chemical industry and offers an opportunity to communicate and assess progress in terms of sustainability using green chemistry principles.

Overall, I am excited to continue working on challenging but exciting BPF projects that have high impact within the industry! "

Thanks for working with us to advance the industry, Mary!

*Please note that this article is not a press release. Do not publish on another website unless given specific permission from the author.