What is the Sheet Plant Association (SPA), and should you join?

If you work in the corrugated packaging industry, you’ll know how quickly things can change, from rising material costs to new sustainability regulations and evolving customer expectations. For independent sheet plants, keeping up can feel like a constant challenge.

That’s where the Sheet Plant Association (SPA) comes in: acting as the collective voice of the UK’s sheet plant community, the SPA helps businesses like yours connect, share knowledge, and find practical solutions to common challenges. It also provides access to training, technical support, and a network of experts who understand the pressures and opportunities facing the industry.

In this article, we’ll explore how the Sheet Plant Association is helping to strengthen the UK corrugated packaging sector, from fostering collaboration and best practice to driving innovation across the supply chain.

The Sheet Plant Association exists to bring together the people and businesses that make up the UK’s corrugated packaging sector. Its main goal is to create a space where the owners and managers of sheet plants can meet, share experiences, and discuss the issues that affect their daily operations. By providing this open forum, the association helps members learn from one another and find practical solutions to shared challenges.

Suppliers also play a crucial role in these discussions. The association provides them with the opportunity to discuss new materials, technologies, and services directly with representatives from the sheet plant. This collaboration ensures that innovation continues to flow both ways, helping to improve the performance and competitiveness of the entire sector.

Beyond networking, the association takes coordinated action on key industry matters. Whether responding to new legislation, tackling sustainability targets, or promoting the corrugated sector to potential customers, it works on behalf of its members to present a unified voice. In doing so, it raises awareness of the value and capability of independent sheet plants across the UK.

Training and development are also central to its purpose. The association offers opportunities for staff at all levels to acquire technical knowledge and enhance their professional skills. These programmes help businesses strengthen their teams and prepare for future growth.

Finally, the Sheet Plant Association maintains close links with similar organisations both in the UK and overseas, including in Europe and the United States. By exchanging information and best practices internationally, it ensures that its members remain informed, competitive, and connected to a global industry network.

The following is the mission statement of the Sheet Plant Association, as set out by the Chairman, Tim Gray:

“My vision for the Sheet Plant Association for the next two years is very clear, to help our member companies to become and continue to be excellent businesses. I plan to achieve this by offer two flavours of professional support for sheet plants.

On a Micro level – training, best practice initiatives and good professional advice and support for all sheet plants within the association.

On a macro level – keep our members well informed and safe with regular updates on the economic outlook, new legislation and health and safety guidelines, whilst continuing to use the association as a vehicle to influence our industry peers, government, and consumers.”

The video below shows GWP Packaging Sales Director, David Mason, giving his thoughts on the benefits of membership in the Sheet Plant Association.

You can also see a wide range of additional videos from the association by visiting their YouTube channel.

The UK corrugated sector, particularly sheet plants, faces pressure on multiple fronts: raw material supply, energy costs, environmental regulations, and evolving customer demand for sustainable packaging. If a single plant tried to weather all of these alone, the burden would be heavy.

However, through the Sheet Plant Association, plants can pool their insights, forecast changes, and collectively adapt. For instance, adopting more sustainable coatings, collaborating on energy procurement or research, or influencing policy via a unified industry voice.

Still, challenges remain, and ensuring that all members actively participate, especially those from smaller or geographically remote areas, is crucial. Likewise, keeping up with rapid technology shifts (automation, digital print, innovative packaging) demands continuous learning.

The UK corrugated packaging industry is a dynamic and challenging sector. In that environment, the Sheet Plant Association helps sheet plants band together, share expertise, and collectively raise standards. Its role in training, benchmarking, and community-building amplifies what any single plant could achieve.

GWP is committed to being a part of that journey. As an active member of the Sheet Plant Association, we not only offer the technology and operational support, but we also listen, advise, and co-develop with the converter community.

For further information on becoming a member of the Sheet Plant Association, its training courses, seminars, events, and how it can benefit your sheet plant, please visit their website.