Energy costs are threatening future investment in UK manufacturing

Make UK’s and Ecotricity Business’ recent report confirms what many of our clients are already telling us; energy costs are the biggest obstacle for current productivity and future investment across industries in the UK.

The report calls for urgent reform to reduce those costs and unlock investment by, among other things, reforming the electricity market design and grid connections. Calling for market and policy reform is both correct and fundamental, but manufacturers can’t wait for Westminster to act before they start improving their own position.

Some of the headline findings from the report:

• 90% of manufacturers say energy bills have risen since 2022
• 87% would invest more in electrification if the gap between gas and electricity prices (‘the spark gap’) was closed
• 63% have already taken steps towards electrification
• High upfront capital cost (53%) and grid connection barriers (26%) remain the biggest blockers

That’s where energy optimisation across the lifecycle of your asset estate comes in. It’s an ongoing discipline that should sit alongside every automation investment decision, rather than be thought of as a one-off project.

In practice, that usually starts with:

💡An electrical energy audit – understanding where energy is actually being consumed, wasted and constrained across your operation, before committing capital
💡Microgrid solutions – reducing dependency on the national grid and volatile wholesale pricing, while improving resilience
💡Energy-efficient drives and controls – often the fastest payback route to lower consumption on existing plant

As a lifecycle industrial technology partner, this is exactly the conversation we have with manufacturers every day, helping them build the business case for electrification and resilience into their automation, power and controls investments from the outset, not bolt it on afterwards.

If high electricity prices and grid uncertainty are shaping your investment decisions, it’s worth starting with the audit rather than the technology.

Full report from Make UK and Ecotricity here.

Want to find our how we can help you tackle your energy costs? Get in touch.