British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme: lower electricity costs for refiners and precious metal manufacturers

Deadline: Monday 30 November 2026, 11.59pm
Who it’s for: UK-registered manufacturers in Great Britain, including precious metal refiners and makers of semi-finished precious metals, that use at least 33 MWh of grid electricity a year at a manufacturing site
Organiser: Department for Business and Trade (GOV.UK)

The government’s new scheme exempts eligible manufacturers from some of the policy costs on their electricity bills for five years. The first application window closes at the end of November.

The British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS) is part of the UK’s Industrial Strategy. It exempts eligible manufacturing sites from the indirect costs of the Renewables Obligation and Feed-in Tariffs from April 2027, and the Capacity Market from October 2027. The government expects this to cut eligible manufacturers’ electricity bills by up to 25%.

Is the jewellery trade eligible?

Most jewellers are not. The codes for jewellery manufacture (SIC 3212), imitation jewellery (SIC 3213) and finished jewellery and silverware products are not on the eligible list. The scheme is more relevant to businesses further up the supply chain:

Precious metal refiners (SIC 2441, precious metals production), making gold, silver, platinum, palladium and rhodium in unwrought or semi-manufactured forms, or processing gold and platinum scrap
Metal fabricators in eligible sectors, such as casting of non-ferrous metals, forging and stamping, wire drawing, and metal treatment and coating, making eligible precious metal products such as sheet and wire
Makers of synthetic and lab-grown stones, including synthetic diamonds

Eligibility criteria

Applicants must meet all of the following:

Companies House: the business must be registered on Companies House, with an up-to-date record.
Sector: at least one of the SIC codes on the company’s Companies House record must be on the eligible list, and it must reflect the work done at the manufacturing site.
Products: the site must make goods that match eligible HS product codes.
Electricity use: each site must use at least 33 MWh of grid electricity a year, shown by six consecutive months of bills from the last 12 months.
Location: only sites in England, Scotland and Wales qualify. Northern Ireland is not included.

Relief is worked out site by site, based on the share of the site’s electricity used to make eligible products. Sites where at least half goes on eligible production get a full exemption; between a quarter and a half gets a 50% exemption; a quarter or less gets none.

How to apply

Start with the government’s online eligibility checker, then apply through the BICS application service. Applicants need a GOV.UK One Login and the following:

Companies House registration number and authentication code
Meter numbers (MPANs) for each site
Six consecutive months of electricity bills
Details of the products made, with supporting evidence
An explanation of how much of the site’s electricity goes on eligible production, with sub-metering data where available

Applications can’t be changed once submitted. A paper form is also available but must arrive by the deadline.

Successful applicants receive an exemption for five years, with annual declarations and a review at the end of the second year.

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