Back British Metals Responds to UK Industrial Strategy Announcement

The Back British Metals Initiative welcomes the UK Government’s renewed focus on manufacturing and industrial competitiveness in the publication of its Industrial Strategy this week. The strategy rightly identifies the importance of energy reform, resilient supply chains, and future-facing manufacturing, but stops short of fully recognising the foundational role of the UK metals sector in delivering that vision.

We strongly welcome:

• The expansion of the British Industry Supercharger, which will help bring UK industrial energy costs closer to those of our European competitors - a key policy ask from across the metals sector.
• The emphasis on boosting strategic manufacturing, innovation, and security of supply in key sectors such as defence, infrastructure, transport, and renewables.

However, we are concerned that the strategy fails to meaningfully reference the very materials that underpin those ambitions. The word “metal” appears only once in the full 100- page document. Aluminium, steel, copper, titanium and other critical metals are absent entirely.

“The Industrial Strategy offers a strong platform for investment, but fails to name the core materials needed to deliver it. We welcome the tone, but implementation must now reflect the full value chain. Without metals, there is no industrial transformation,” said Nadine Bloxsome, CEO of the Aluminium Federation (ALFED) and Director of Back British Metals.

“The UK has an opportunity to champion sovereign materials capability, from processing and fabrication through to recycling and re-use. But this will require bold thinking and joined-up policy across departments.”

The Back British Metals coalition urges the Government to work closely with industry to ensure that upcoming strategies, particularly the Critical Minerals Strategy expected this summer, fill these gaps and take a broader, more realistic view of what constitutes a "critical" or "strategic" material.

“A credible Critical Minerals Strategy must reflect the full value chain and the full range of growth-enabling metals, including strategic and advanced metals like aluminium, steel, copper, cobalt and Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) and others that are essential to every major industrial sector,” added Mike Smith, Director of Back British Metals.

The Initiative calls on government to:

• Recognise metals as critical enablers of industrial resilience, growth and net zero.
• Support investment and policy for sustainable domestic supply chains, including recycling, processing, remelting and advanced fabrication.
• Align the delivery of the Industrial and Critical Minerals Strategies to ensure consistency and long-term impact.

“We welcome the strategic shift, but this is only the beginning. With the right recognition and partnership, the UK metals sector can be a cornerstone of our industrial future.”