Three Takeaways for Green Industry from the National Manufacturing Conference

“Doubling down on renewables is right for climate change, right for jobs, and right for climate technology,” Kyle said. “But it is also essential because we keep seeing how regional instability is creeping into our energy prices, for which the British government has no agency.” The argument for energy sovereignty and producing clean power at home rather than remaining exposed to volatile global fossil fuel markets was made with real conviction.

Ben Morgan, CEO of the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC), added a note of urgency from the innovation side. The growth from the green transition is a market for manufacturers to capture, he argued. “Green growth is an opportunity for a whole economy transition. A trillion pounds to the UK by 2030.” Turbines, heat pumps, hydrogen infrastructure, small modular reactors. All of these products need seals, fittings, pipes, welding, robotics. “It's all manufacturing. It's all places where businesses in the room can play their part.”

Lucy Adams, Policy Advisor at Electrify Industry (Make UK), set the scene plainly: “In a perfect environment, about 70% of manufacturers could electrify today.” However, there are structural barriers like long connection queues, site-specific infrastructure costs, and a knowledge gap that leaves many manufacturers not knowing where to begin.

The concern is understandable. UK manufacturers already face some of the highest industrial electricity prices in the developed world and yet the mood in the room was not defeatist; it was practical. Ben Godfrey, Director of Distribution System Operations at National Grid Electricity Distribution, called for early, open engagement between manufacturers and network operators as the grid electrifies further. “My plea is that when businesses are looking at their decarbonisation pathway, they don't do that in a silo,” he said. Early engagement with the networks is key, he added, saying the grid has capacity in different areas and at different voltage levels; unlocking that capacity requires a two-way conversation, not a waiting game.

There is also significant potential in flexibility. Businesses that can shift their demand in line with grid signals through on-site storage, flexible processes or phased connections can access faster connection dates and, in some cases, generate revenue from the network.

For manufacturers beginning to think about electrification, the practical advice from the event was to start with a clear picture of current energy usage: what assets are drawing power, what infrastructure will need replacing, and what future load will look like. From that informed position, the conversation with network operators and energy partners becomes far more productive.

The challenge, Professor Steve Evans of the University of Cambridge said, is that energy is largely invisible. “I can see somebody being lazy from 25 metres away,” he said. “What energy is worth spending money on and what isn't, you can't tell.” Making energy visible, through monitoring, measurement and data, is the first step toward reducing it. And reduction, in the current UK energy cost environment, is directly equivalent to profit.

Oliver Conger, owner of British Rototherm Group, put the concept in more pragmatic, human terms. Every person in his 120-strong organisation spends 30 minutes every day working on any improvement they choose. “We make it consistent, day in, day out. And, for the last 10 years, I've never missed one single day.” Sustainability, he argued has simply become an extension of this continuous improvement mindset, meaning efficiency gains are being discovered on a regular basis.

The energy question is central to all of it. Whether you're looking to electrify your processes, reduce your consumption, generate your own power or simply understand what you're spending and where, the starting point is always the same: visibility. And the exciting theme coming out of the National Manufacturing Conference and the wider world of British production, is that the tools and solutions to enable this are starting to emerge at pace.