The Chairman of Staffordshire Chamber of Commerce’s International Trade Forum has been appointed President of The British Compressed Gases Association (BCGA).
Chris Street takes up the leadership role of the multi-billion-pound compressed gases sector for a two-year term of office.
The BCGA is the UK membership body for the industrial and medical gases industry.
With a commitment to stringent quality, safety and environmental measures, its members employ 19,000 people directly and account for an annual turnover of £2.7 billion.
In a career within the industrial gases sector spanning almost 40 years, Chris has been an active BCGA member, being involved with the trade association for two decades.
Chris began his career at Air Products in 1986 after graduating from The University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology. He later worked across Asia and Europe and completed his MBA on China before a move to Air Liquide – Calgaz.
He became owner and CEO of Newcastle-under-Lyme based Scientific and Technical Gases in 2006, building the specialty gases company into a major international, which was bought by Air Liquide in 2014.
After almost a decade supporting the Calgaz business, Chris has been providing commercial expertise to the Air Liquide UK Biogas business since 2023.
BCGA CEO Ellen Daniels said: “We are delighted that Chris Street has been appointed as the new President of the BCGA, replacing David Hurren who steps down after serving a very successful two-year tenure.
“Chris brings a wealth of experience to the role having been a member for over 25 years, serving on Council for six years and having been part of a number of the technical sub-committees.
“We welcome Chris as our new President and look forward to working with him over the next two years.”
Speaking at the recent BCGA Annual Conference in Manchester, Chris thanked out-going President David Hurren and urged the industry to think creatively and embrace new technologies to ensure it remains at the forefront of innovation.
He said: “David is a hard act to follow and has been driving many of the progressive changes we have seen, including the development of our pioneering Future Leaders’ programme, and his technical work with the hydrogen and technical renewables business.
“We are entering a new period of time and need to ensure that we help the leaders of tomorrow embrace new technology and keep ourselves relevant, and fully embrace renewable energies.
“We need to encourage inclusion and diversity, particularly diversity of thought to challenge the ways we work and bring in people who see things in different ways.
“It really is an exciting time for our industry.”
