The Spring Statement
While the Spring Statement offered little opportunity for the UK’s ceramics sector, the industry’s trade body is hoping that the government will act in the future on key requests.
Ceramics UK is pressing for policy changes in three key areas, industrial competitiveness, a fair path to Net Zero and trade enforcement, to give the sector the platform it needs to thrive.
Rob Flello, CEO of Ceramics UK, said: “Our sector is deeply place-based, provides long-term employment, and underpins wider supply chains.
“With the right policy framework, it is exactly the kind of industry the government wants to see thrive.”
Ceramics UK’s three key asks of government are:
1. Energy costs and Supercharger access – industrial competitiveness
Our most urgent ask is access to the Supercharger scheme for all UK ceramic manufacturers and suppliers.
Ceramics is energy-intensive by design, not by inefficiency. High-temperature kilns and continuous processes are unavoidable, and many of our members face energy costs that undermine productivity and investment — despite being excluded from existing support.
Extending Supercharger access would be a textbook example of active industrial strategy:
• protecting skilled, well-paid manufacturing jobs
• anchoring industry in regions like the Midlands and North
• and giving businesses the headroom to invest in decarbonisation rather than manage crisis.
This isn’t about propping up the past — it’s about securing the future competitiveness of a strategic sector.
2. UK ETS – a fair, credible path to Net Zero
On decarbonisation, ceramics is committed to Net Zero and already investing in innovation — hydrogen readiness, electrification, and new kiln technologies.
But ceramics has a high proportion of process emissions that can’t be eliminated quickly. If the UK Emissions Trading Scheme doesn’t reflect that reality, it risks driving carbon leakage rather than emissions reduction.
What we’re asking for is sector-specific flexibility within UK ETS — a fair transition that recognises industrial realities while keeping us on a credible decarbonisation pathway. That aligns with Labour’s commitment to a just and achievable Net Zero.
3. Trade enforcement – fair competition and resilience
The third issue is trade. UK ceramic manufacturers are competing against imports produced with ultra-low-cost energy, including Russian gas used indirectly in countries such as India, Turkey, and China.
At the moment, the burden of bringing trade cases sits with individual companies, many of them SMEs. That’s neither fair nor effective.
We’re asking for government leadership on trade enforcement — using trade defence tools to ensure fair competition, protect domestic capability, and strengthen UK manufacturing resilience
Published: 3rd March 2026