Ineos executive warns UK must rebuild manufacturing base to convert research into growth

Britain must urgently rebuild its manufacturing base or risk losing the ability to convert world‑class research into commercial growth, Peter Williams, group technology director at Ineos, said.

Williams told reporters that the country’s manufacturing sector has been "hollowed out" over the past three decades, leaving the UK with a weaker industrial foundation than any other G7 economy. He said manufacturing’s contribution to gross domestic product has fallen from about 16% in 1990 to roughly 8% today, and that the loss of industrial diversity has reduced the nation’s capacity to absorb and scale new technologies.

The Ineos executive blamed a mix of long‑running high energy prices, rising carbon taxes and what he described as "misguided" policy for the decline. He warned that policies aimed at rapid decarbonisation have sometimes closed existing industrial operations without clear plans for replacement, draining skills, knowledge and supply‑chain capability that are needed to move inventions from lab to market.

"When industries close, it’s not just production that disappears. We lose the people, transferable skills and knowledge that allow ideas to move from concept to commercial product," Williams said, adding that offshoring of production has also shifted associated greenhouse‑gas emissions overseas, raising consumption‑based emissions even as territorial emissions fall.

Williams urged the government to act on several fronts to shore up industrial resilience and create a platform for future sectors. First, he said manufacturers require more affordable, reliable energy and suggested that a pragmatic transition will involve continued use of gas and oil paired with emissions‑reducing technologies such as carbon capture and storage (CCS).

The UK has a chequered record on CCS, Williams noted. Government support was first pledged in 2007 but failed in part because of funding caps, and a 2012 initiative also faltered when investment was withdrawn. The current framework has identified two "track 1" projects for priority delivery, he said, but the projects must be progressed rapidly if CCS is to become a meaningful industrial decarbonisation tool.

Energy storage is another pressing priority, Williams said. The UK holds roughly seven to 12 days of gas in storage depending on the season — a fraction of the reserves maintained by countries such as the Netherlands and Germany — and that limited buffer contributes to price volatility that can deter industrial investment. He called for sustained funding and clear mandates to develop technologies that store wind, solar and other renewables at scale.

Williams also urged streamlined permitting for manufacturing projects, saying ambitious investments of national importance face years of delay because of complex and sometimes disproportionate regulatory hurdles. While he stressed that environmental impact assessments remain essential, he said processes should be proportionate and calibrated to balance societal, environmental and economic needs.

On fiscal policy, Williams proposed incentives rather than penalties to encourage industrial renewal. He cited the example of a value‑added tax exception for recycled goods as a way to remove consumer price penalties, stimulate demand and make circular‑economy investments more commercially attractive.

He pointed to nascent sectors such as the bioeconomy as promising areas for industrial revival. The UK, he said, has strong research nodes and institutions — including the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre in Scotland — that could underpin economic activity if paired with manufacturing capacity to scale innovations such as converting bio‑waste, marginal land use and direct air carbon as feedstocks.

Williams used the UK’s Formula 1 cluster as a model of how research, engineering and manufacturing can combine to create jobs, skills pipelines and spillover innovation. Seven of the ten current F1 teams are based in Britain, he noted, and the sport’s high‑performance engineering ecosystem demonstrates how a critical mass of expertise can attract investment and foster broader industrial benefits.

The Ineos executive said the government’s most recent Industrial Strategy contained constructive language about making the UK a "scientific and innovation superpower," but that rhetoric must be matched by concrete support for the manufacturing base that turns inventions into economic value. Without that foundation, he argued, the UK is strategically exposed: increased dependence on imported goods can create supply‑chain vulnerabilities and concentrate emissions in jurisdictions with looser environmental controls.

Industry groups and some policymakers have for years warned about the consequences of deindustrialisation for regional jobs, productivity and national resilience. The debate has been sharpened by recent supply‑chain disruptions, geopolitical tensions and increasing attention to how territorial accounting masks emissions embodied in imports.

Government officials have highlighted investment in research and development, green technologies and infrastructure as core elements of industrial policy, and have pointed to public‑private partnerships and regional investment funds as tools to rebuild capability. The pace and scale of policy change required to rebuild a diversified manufacturing base, however, remains contested between business leaders urging rapid, pragmatic measures and environmental advocates pressing for accelerated decarbonisation.

Williams’ call joins a string of industry warnings about capacity loss in sectors ranging from heavy industry to components for clean‑energy systems. He said that to turn Britain’s research strengths into sustainable economic growth, policymakers must combine secure, affordable energy, faster deployment of carbon‑reduction technologies, streamlined planning, calibrated fiscal incentives and focused support for promising industrial clusters.

Without those steps, he concluded, the UK risks losing the manufacturing skills and infrastructure that provide a springboard for the industries of the future and underpin long‑term economic resilience.