01 October 2026
3 min read
The new British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS) could help eligible UK manufacturers reduce their electricity costs. But who qualifies, what could the savings look like, and why does the upcoming application deadline matter?
This month, we’re speaking with Alex Burrill, Sales Director at ABGi UK, about a new Government initiative, the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS), how it could benefit UK manufacturers and what businesses should be looking at now.
Q | Hi Alex, BICS is a new UK government initiative that many manufacturers probably haven’t heard of yet. Can you start by explaining what it is?
Absolutely. BICS is designed to reduce electricity costs for eligible manufacturers in Great Britain and help make UK manufacturing more competitive. That’s because for a business, an electricity bill includes more than just the cost of the electricity itself. There are also Government policy costs built into it, and BICS will provide qualifying manufacturers with relief from some of these costs, such as Renewables Obligation, Feed-in Tariff and Capacity Market costs, for example.
Q | Ok, so this isn’t about finding a cheaper energy supplier or renegotiating your electricity contract?
No, and that’s an important distinction! BICS is about establishing whether your business is paying Government policy costs from which it could qualify for relief. And that’s why it could easily be overlooked. A manufacturer might already have an energy broker or regularly review its energy contracts and assume that means it has done everything it can to manage its electricity costs. BICS is a separate opportunity that needs to be considered in its own right.
Q | Can you tell us which manufacturers should be looking at BICS?
I’d encourage manufacturers with meaningful grid electricity consumption to investigate it rather than trying to rule themselves in or out too quickly. There are of course criteria that need to be met. The business needs to manufacture in England, Scotland or Wales, the manufacturing activity needs to fall within an eligible classification and sites will generally need to consume at least 33 MWh of grid electricity annually.
But your eligibility still needs to be properly assessed. Looking at the company name, industry or even its registered SIC code in isolation doesn’t necessarily give you the answer.
Q | That’s interesting. So, if your company’s registered SIC code isn’t on the eligible list, should you just assume you can’t apply?
No! And this is important for manufacturers to understand.
The SIC code registered at Companies House doesn’t necessarily tell the whole story. What matters is the actual manufacturing activity being carried out. So, a company could look at its registered SIC code, decide BICS isn’t relevant and potentially stop there when its manufacturing activities actually warrant further investigation. That’s why I wouldn’t recommend businesses self-select out of the scheme based solely on their Companies House information. If you manufacture in Great Britain and use a meaningful amount of grid electricity, it’s worth checking.
Q | And what could the savings actually look like for a qualifying manufacturer?
Potentially significant, although the actual saving will obviously depend on the individual business and its electricity consumption.
The Government has indicated savings of up to £40 per MWh. So, purely as an illustration, if a qualifying manufacturer consumes 5,000 MWh of electricity a year, that could equate to up to £200,000 annually. At 10,000 MWh, the indicative maximum would be £400,000.
Obviously, a business shouldn’t assume it will receive these figures, but they help put the potential scale of the opportunity into context.
Q | Is there an application window for BICS?
There is, and it’s short. The initial application window opens on 1 October 2026 and closes on 30 November 2026, so timing is important if you don’t want to miss out. Since there isn’t a huge amount of time to establish whether you may qualify, assess the potential benefit and put together the necessary evidence, I certainly wouldn’t recommend leaving it until the end of November to start exploring BICS.
Q | Thanks Alex. And finally, what would you say to a manufacturer reading this who isn’t sure whether BICS applies to them?
I’d say start with the basics: what do you manufacture, where do you manufacture it and how much grid electricity do your sites use? From there, we can look at the actual manufacturing activities, assess whether the relevant criteria could be met and quantify the potential saving before taking things any further.
The important thing at the moment is simply not to dismiss the opportunity without checking. With a new scheme like BICS, particularly one with a limited initial application window, it’s worth establishing your position sooner rather than later.
We hope Alex’s insights have been helpful. If you have any questions about the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme or would like to establish whether your manufacturing activities could qualify, please get in touch with ABGi, and a representative will get back to you to discuss your circumstances and explain how we can assist.