Investment boost for UK manufacturing

Over £2 billion has been earmarked for the automotive industry and £975 million for aerospace, supporting the manufacturing, supply chain and development of zero emission vehicles, and investment in energy efficient and zero-carbon aircraft equipment.

Alongside this, the government has committed to £960 million for a Green Industries Growth Accelerator to support clean energy manufacturing, and £520 million for life sciences manufacturing to build resilience for future health emergencies and capitalise on the UK’s world-leading research and development.

Together with our existing manufacturing support and plans for net zero transition, it is hoped the package will help unlock private investment, provide certainty to investors, boost energy security, and protect and create jobs.

The government has also published its response to Professor Dame Angela McLean’s review of the role that regulation and standards can play in driving innovation and growth in advanced manufacturing.

The government accepts all 14 recommendations in the industry expert-backed report which builds on the UK’s role as a global leader in setting industrial standards and sets out how, with the right regulations, advanced manufacturing processes can enhance safety and support the drive to net zero and a more sustainable economy.

Among the recommendations accepted is to accelerate the deployment of digital twins, which enables companies to create accurate digital replicas of the full manufacturing process. Used across a range of sectors, digital twins have seen significant uptake in the automotive sector including car production where they offer a transformative approach to product development, manufacturing and maintenance, helping firms test how to fix problems or make processes more efficient.

To boost growth in small and medium sized manufacturing businesses more widely, it has also been announced today that the government will expand the Made Smarter Adoption programme, offering the scheme to all English regions in 2025-26 before working with the Devolved Administrations to explore making the programme UK-wide from 2026-27.

The programme helps small and medium sized manufacturing companies to use advanced digital technologies which can reduce carbon emissions and drive-up productivity, and its expansion will also involve inclusion of digital internships.