It feels hard to argue that the UK is serious about growing its engineering and manufacturing while asking industry to shoulder some of the highest industrial electricity costs in the developed world.

Across the sector, businesses are competing for investment, contracts and jobs against overseas rivals operating with significantly lower energy bills. The result is a competitive handicap that no amount of innovation, efficiency or determination can fully overcome on its own.

A reminder to embrace government policies that for some could help offset that challenge came to us in the form of an offer from member company Leyton to brief our organisations on the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS).

Leyton are a global innovation consultancy with offices in Glasgow and Edinburgh that apply their understanding of complex financial incentives to help companies increase competitiveness.  The following is a summary of their excellent insight on this opportunity.

Scots manufacturer emerges from restructuring with 'new generation' of engineers

For years, the cost of electricity has been the line on a manufacturer’s accounts with the least room to move. Supply contracts can be renegotiated at the margins, alongside investment in efficiency, but the underlying price of industrial power has sat well above what competitors in Europe pay, and there has been very little a business could do about the policy costs bundled into every bill.

Beginning this........

© Herald Scotland