British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme

Adam Thompson Excerpts

Thursday 16th April 2026 Commons Chamber

[Peter Kyle]

I was down in the south-west just last week at Agratas, one of the largest battery production plants for electric vehicles in the whole of Europe. The sheer scale of manufacturing development in the south-west is typical of the renaissance and the capability of the region. The Agratas plant also shows the Government’s securonomics approach in action, with 230 tonnes of British steel being used in the production. From the roof, we can look across and see Europe’s largest nuclear power station being built. It is a real testament to the vibrancy, ambition and capabilities that we see right across the south-west.

[Adam Thompson (Erewash) (Lab)]

Erewash has a proud manufacturing history, from the ironworks, whose grates cover almost every manhole in the country, to our high-end furniture manufacturing industry, whose sofas adorn palaces, to our advanced manufacturing firms and the concrete makers building the tunnels for High Speed 2. As a former manufacturing engineering researcher, I am very proud of this Government’s investment across the advanced manufacturing sector. Can the Secretary of State elaborate on how the action he has announced today will help Erewash’s manufacturers sell their goods to the world?

[Peter Kyle]

My hon. Friend mentioned palaces—is he living in a palace, I wonder? Given the success he has outlined in his career in manufacturing, who knows? I can assure him that manufacturers across his constituency will benefit from the BIC scheme. In the summer, the eligibility checker will confirm which businesses can benefit, but this is about competitiveness. He is describing businesses that are already competitive and will become more competitive on the back of the BIC scheme and therefore be able to export and be a real credit to our country and economy.