Geography / United Kingdom
United Kingdom
British factories, the grid, skills, and the gap between industrial strategy and a shift.
October 2026
News · Supply Chain
Resideo and Honeywell plan to close their neighbouring Motherwell factories, with 207 jobs at risk
Resideo is moving its heating-controls production from Newhouse in Lanarkshire to its plants in Brno and Nagykanizsa. Honeywell proposes to move work from the site next door to other Honeywell sites, including Poole. A Bosch site in Suffolk is going the same way.
The Industrial Brief · 21 Oct 2026 · 4 min
News · Energy
Sumitomo Electric opens the UK's first HVDC subsea cable factory at Nigg
The £350m plant at Nigg on the Cromarty Firth will make 525kV cable for National Grid's Sea Link and SSEN Transmission's Shetland 2. Sea Link's planning decision is due by 30 October, and Shetland 2 has not yet applied.
The Industrial Brief · 20 Oct 2026 · 4 min
Now · Energy
Microsoft pulls out of Nscale's planned data centre in Loughton, Essex
Microsoft was the only announced customer for Nscale's planned site, The Telegraph reported. Neither the paper nor Microsoft has said why it pulled out. Nscale says it is looking at other ways to power the site.
The Industrial Brief · 18 Oct 2026 · 2 min
News · Production
GE Aerospace will expand its Prestwick engine overhaul site, with £27m of public money alongside its own £30m
A new 55,000 sq ft building at the South Ayrshire shop that overhauls GEnx engines is due to be fully running in the first quarter of 2028. GE plans to hire about 150 people there over five years.
The Industrial Brief · 13 Oct 2026 · 5 min
News · Energy
Eligible manufacturers in Great Britain can cut electricity costs by up to 25% from April 2027 — applications close on 30 November
The British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme is now open. Relief comes as exemptions from three electricity policy levies, not a cash grant, and only for sites that clear the sector, product and usage tests.
The Industrial Brief · 12 Oct 2026 · 5 min
News · Production
Syngenta has put 377 Grangemouth jobs into consultation
The crop-chemical plant is proposed for closure because it costs more to run than the company’s other sites. A final decision has not been taken. Scottish Enterprise gave the site £2.2 million last year to expand.
The Industrial Brief · 2 Oct 2026 · 5 min
News · Production
Rolls-Royce is putting £300 million into five British factories
Derby takes the largest share, for the civil engines, with the work due in 2028. Bristol’s military site is next. The company has not said how many jobs the money adds.
The Industrial Brief · 2 Oct 2026 · 4 min
September 2026
News · Production
Britain’s chip lab has taken on a wider job
The Newport, Bristol and Glasgow centre is now the Semiconductor Catapult. It will help firms test and package chips for AI hardware and defence. It did not open a factory, and it did not announce any new money.
The Industrial Brief · 30 Sept 2026 · 6 min
News · Energy
Factories have until 30 November to apply for the electricity cut
Applications for the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme run until 30 November. Relief is up to £40 a megawatt-hour, and only on grid power used to make an eligible product. A site under a quarter gets nothing.
The Industrial Brief · 25 Sept 2026 · 7 min
News · Energy
Agratas puts 2,900 on a Somerset site. JLR is cutting 4,000.
Tata’s battery plant near Bridgwater is going watertight and into fit-out, with cells due late-2027 for JLR. The same week, the car company is taking people out.
The Industrial Brief · 21 Sept 2026 · 4 min
News · Production
McLaren will spend £500 million, and build the engines itself
A new assembly plant, more carbon fibre in Sheffield, and the first engines McLaren has made in-house. One thousand jobs by 2032 is the company’s figure. The three thousand supply-chain jobs are the government’s.
The Industrial Brief · 17 Sept 2026 · 4 min
News · Production
Nissan to build the Kicks at Sunderland, with no extra jobs
Nissan will spend £170 million so the Kicks hybrid can be built in Sunderland. The plant employs about 6,000 people, is running at about half capacity, and the company said the plan creates no jobs. There is no start date.
The Industrial Brief · 16 Sept 2026 · 4 min
News · Talent
UK factories hired at a two-year high as output slowed
Output growth slowed in August. Headcount did not. UK plant directors are staffing for a recovery that the order book has not yet confirmed.
The Industrial Brief · 1 Sept 2026 · 4 min