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Gov Owed
Closing soonSector-specificVerified 6 Nov 2026

British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS)

Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade

Check if you qualifyFree to check · no sign-up · full report £19.95

Worth

No set amount

Discount, not cash

Deadline

Closes 30 November 2026

Type of funding

Discount, not cash

Where

England, Scotland and Wales

What it is

A discount on your electricity bills, not a grant: eligible manufacturers in Great Britain are exempted from some government levies on electricity, worth up to £40 per megawatt hour, from 2027. Applications for the first year close at 11:59pm on 30 November 2026.

Checked 6 Nov 2026 on GOV.UK: applications for year 1 close at 11:59pm on 30 November 2026; open to manufacturers registered at Companies House in England, Scotland and Wales making eligible products (by SIC and HS code) and using at least 33 MWh of grid electricity per site a year; decisions in January; suppliers apply the discount from April 2027 (renewables obligation and feed-in tariff) and October 2027 (capacity market).

Official source

Who can apply

A summary of the main rules, not the full list. Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade decides who is eligible, so read their guidance before you apply. The free scan checks these against your own business.

  • Your business manufactures products
  • Business based in England, Scotland or Wales
  • Registered at Companies House
Read the full rules at the official source

How to apply, in brief

You, through the BICS online application service on GOV.UK (GOV.UK One Login needed); an offline paper form is also published.

  1. 1Run the eligibility checker
  2. 2Gather six months of evidence for each site
  3. 3Apply online before 11:59pm on 30 November 2026
  4. 4Get your decision in January and check your bills from April 2027

How long a decision takes: Eligibility decisions are confirmed each delivery year in January

The full guide, with what to do at each step, the official link for it and a draft to work from, is part of the £19.95 report.

Common questions

Is British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS) open for applications?
Yes, but it is closing soon: the deadline is 30 November 2026.
How much is British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS) worth?
There is no single published figure: what you get depends on your project and the funder's assessment. It is a discount, not cash.
Who runs British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS), and where is it available?
Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade runs it. It is available in England, Scotland and Wales.
How do I apply for British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS)?
You, through the BICS online application service on GOV.UK (GOV.UK One Login needed); an offline paper form is also published.

Does your business qualify?

Eligibility rules are where schemes get fiddly. Gov Owed checks your business against British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS) — and every other UK scheme we track — in about two minutes, free. The £19.95 report then explains exactly why you qualify, drafts your answers and walks you through the real application step by step.

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Information, not financial advice; eligibility is decided by the funder. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Schemes change — confirm details on the official page before applying.