British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme
Take up to 25% off your electricity bill from April 2027
If you manufacture in Great Britain, the government will exempt you from three electricity levies for the next five years. We prepare, check and submit your application, and only earn more if you actually get the money.
The application window runs from 1 October to 30 November 2026. There is no second window before support begins.
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A large saving, behind a short window and a meticulous application.
British manufacturers pay some of the highest industrial electricity prices in Europe. BICS is the government’s response: eligible sites stop paying the indirect costs of the Renewables Obligation, Feed-in Tariffs and the Capacity Market. That is worth roughly £35 to £40 per megawatt hour, every year, for five years.
The difficulty is not the saving, it is the paperwork. Eligibility turns on the SIC codes registered at Companies House, the six-digit HS codes of the products made at each site, and the proportion of grid electricity used for eligible production. Sites that make a mix of eligible and ineligible goods must be pro-rated. Sites that share a meter, sit behind a landlord’s billing, or run on a private wire need careful evidence.
Applications cannot be amended once submitted, and there is no right of appeal against most refusals. It is worth getting right the first time.
Four factors that decide whether you qualify.
All four must be true. Most manufacturers can tell within a few minutes whether they are worth pursuing.
- You are registered at Companies House, with an eligible SIC code recorded against the business.
- You operate in an eligible sector: a manufacturing frontier industry within the Industrial Strategy growth sectors, or a foundational manufacturing industry that supplies them.
- You manufacture eligible products in Great Britain, matched to the published six-digit HS code list.
- The site uses at least 33 MWh of grid electricity a year. On-site solar, CHP and wind generation do not count towards this, or towards the relief.
Send us your company number and the postcodes of your manufacturing sites. We will come back with an initial view on eligibility and the likely relief band, at no cost.
How much you get back depends on your production mix
Relief is calculated site by site. If everything you make at a site is eligible, you are exempted in full. If not, the proportion of grid electricity used for eligible manufacturing drops you onto one of three bands.
The bands matter more than they look. A site sitting at 48% eligible production receives half the relief of a site at 52%. Where sub-metering or monitoring data exists, you are required to use it in the calculation, so the quality of your energy data directly affects the size of the award. This is the part we spend most time on.
The dates that matter.
1st October 2026
BICS applications open.
30th November 2026
Applications close at 11:59pm. Submissions cannot be amended afterwards.
January 2027
Eligibility decisions issued.
April 2027
Renewables Obligation and Feed In Tariff exemptions begin. Capacity Market follows in October 2027.
Why manufacturers ask us
We have been doing carbon and energy compliance since 2002, and the evidence BICS asks for is the evidence we already gather for ESOS, SECR and Scope 1, 2 and 3 reporting.
100% guaranteed compliance
Over 5,000 reports filed since 2002 and our clients have never failed. That is why we guarantee ESOS compliance.
AI-enabled platform
We have trained our AI to help draft your report, saving months versus manual work, with built-in workflows covering every requirement.
In-house auditors
First-class physical audits by our in-house auditors, plus unlimited access to our ESOS Lead Assessors whenever you need help.
What working with us will look like
You keep running your business. We handle the codes, the calcutations and submission, they stay with it through the five-year obligations.
Eligibility Review
STEP 1
We check your SIC codes against the eligible list, map your products to HS codes, and confirm each site clears the 33 MWh threshold. If you do not qualify, you find out here, before you have spent anything beyond the fee.
Electricity and Production Analysis
STEP 2
We work out the proportion of grid electricity used for eligible manufacturing across a six-month period, using your sub-metering or monitoring data where it exists and a defensible estimate where it does not. This determines which band you land on.
Evidence Pack and Submission
STEP 3
We assemble the bills, MPAN records, production evidence and written rationale, then submit on your behalf once an officer of the company authorises us. Nothing goes in until you have reviewed it.
Five Years of Upkeep
STEP FOUR
Annual declarations, the year-two reassessment, and notifying any material change to sites, meters or production mix. Missing a declaration revokes the exemption, so we track them for you.
Check your eligibility
