The Guardian15 Jun 2026Macro
Automatically composed with AI from the cited sources
The joint call demands expanding the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS) from 10,000 qualifying companies to all 130,000 UK manufacturers at a calculated cost of £3bn, while a Make UK survey found almost one in ten members have already moved some production overseas and 38% have delayed investment because of energy bills. The existing BICS is due to cut electricity costs for eligible firms by up to 25% from next April, backed by £600m in levy removals, but the lobby bodies argue this narrow targeting falls short of a comprehensive solution for UK industry.