Cologne again, naturally
Published by:
IN2 Publishing. Unit 2A Oaklands Court, Tiverton Business Park, Tiverton Way, Tiverton, EX16 6TG
Publishing Director: Charlie Wise charlie @ in2publishing. co. uk
Editor: Dr Andrew Warmington editor @ specchemonline. com
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While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the publication, In2Publishing Ltd. cannot accept liability for any statement or error contained herein. © Speciality Chemicals Magazine 2026
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If you have been reading this magazine for a long time, you may have worked out that I have a weakness for terrible music-related puns. So, apologies for the title of this column to those of you who‘ got it’, but I just couldn’ t resist …
I am writing this column in the unusually short gap between In-Cosmetics in Paris on 14-16 April and Chemspec in Cologne on 6-7 May. Chemspec is returning to the same venue as last year, Messe Köln. Last year’ s show was in part memorable for the bomb scare that led to the evacuation of the entire city centre, including the hotels many attendees were staying.
( The one I was in was all of 40 metres away from the riverbank where they were found. My travelling companion and I spent the whole of the first day unsure where we would be staying that night, until the bombs were defused in no time flat that evening. Surely it must be less eventful this year?)
Chemspec is taking place unusually early this year and, for that reason, this issue is also reaching you earlier than usual. It is easy to forget but Chemspec originally grew out of Speciality Chemicals Magazine. The magazine was launched in 1981 and by 1986 had grown to the point that the publisher, FMJ, saw the need for a show to go alongside it: hence the initial event in a series of rooms at the Excelsior Hotel at Manchester airport that a few of the attendees at Chemspec can still remember.
It’ s quite a thought for me that I have been the editor for almost exactly half of the time we have been publishing. Like so many of you, I imagine, I have stayed in place, bar a two-year hiatus from 2016 to 2018, while the company name above the door changed over and over again.
Although we are no longer under the same ownership, Speciality Chemicals Magazine is still very much aligned to Chemspec in terms of area of coverage. It is a horizontal publication, based on the application of organic chemistry in multiple different end use markets, plus themes of general relevance to the whole industry like regulation, sustainability and supply chain management.
Likewise, the exhibitor base at Chemspec is first and last diversified chemical companies that apply their expertise in many different areas, plus service providers of all kinds. Although the fine and speciality chemicals industries have changed in so many ways since the 1980s, the core missions of both the magazine and the exhibition remain rooted in the same place.
Because of this, Chemspec is the one show in the crowded calendar that I could never miss( though in practice I have also never missed CPHI or ChemUK, and rarely miss DCAT Week or In-Cosmetics). As it happens, Speciality Chemicals Magazine is the only publication present this year to have its own stand( 7A101). Charlie and Alexis Wise, Robyn Gollop and I will all be present throughout.
This issue carries our preview of Chemspec( pages 72-73), which shows that there is an extraordinary range of free-to-attend conference content on the show floor as well as 8,000 m 2 of exhibition space. And, hard on its heels, we also preview ChemUK( page 75) and Specialty & Agro Chemicals America( page 76). It’ s going to be a very busy month and we look forward to meeting you at one or more of these important industry events.
Dr Andrew Warmington
EDITOR – SPECIALITY CHEMICALS MAGAZINE
MAY / JUN 2026 SPECCHEMONLINE. COM
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