DESNZ Industry Minister, Chris McDonald MP, will provide the opening address at BEAMA’s Annual Conference 2025 today, timed to align with the association’s publication of the Electrification Market Pulse Q3 2025 report.
With the Government’s Industrial Strategy, clean jobs growth plan and commitment to Clean Power 2030 setting a solid foundation for growth, the latest Pulse Report shows room for industry optimism, while warning of the effects of greater policy and political uncertainty upon the industry; a point raised at Conference by BEAMA CEO Yselkla Farmer.
The reports findings show a bounce back in sales for Q3 vs Q2 across many sectors of the electrotechnical industry. However, continued policy delays, bottlenecks in construction approvals, and long network infrastructure lead times has dragged back optimism to a 5 year average.
The Government has set ambitious goals for decarbonising the UK energy system by 2030, banning the sale of new ICE vehicles from 2035, and accelerating progress towards Net Zero 2050 – all measures which should increase industry confidence in reliable demand for electrification products over the coming decades. However, lack of detailed implementation plans and policy reversals, such as the Government’s decision to water down the ZEV mandate, have undermined causes for optimism, which should be some cause for concern for Government.
Industry optimism is not a theoretical metric, but translates into tangible benefits for the UK economy: a more optimistic industry - confident in the demand for its products - can invest in UK manufacturing capacity, creating thousands of high skilled jobs. Greater investment leads to a more efficient industry, driving down the cost to consumers of essential upgrades to UK energy, transport and heating infrastructure.
BEAMA CEO, Yselkla Farmer, outlined the challenges the industry is facing:
“Whilst we are very pleased to see sales growth in the last reported quarter, we must be mindful that members’ lukewarm optimism could soon undermine investor confidence if the UK Government does not address growing political uncertainty and a lack of clarity on market delivery. Construction and network investment are both coming under pressure from Gateway 2 and 3 delays. Electrical network business plans must prioritise more consistent and predictable order patterns under Ofgem’s supervision. To accelerate progress towards Clean Power 2030, the Government must urgently address these challenges and follow through with credible delivery plans.
“Policy delays are starting to bite. Repeated delays to the Future Homes Standard and the Warm Homes Plan do not inspire confidence. Couple these with the lack of a sustainable long-term resolution to electricity pricing other than the ‘quick fix’ budget intervention and we can see there is much more Government can be doing to promote growth.
“Amongst the greater concerns for our sector is the average underutilisation of manufacturing capacity across our industry; operating between 67.8% and 76.8% depending on the specific BEAMA sector measured. With at least 25% of manufacturing capacity sitting idle and unproductive, our industry is not experiencing a one-in-a-generation ‘all hands to the pump’ coordinated effort often described in Government rhetoric. During our ongoing dialogue with Government, BEAMA is consistently calling for policy action to catch-up with the UK’s ambitions to inspire business confidence again.”
The Conference, being held in Westminster, includes an impressive line up of speakers from industry and market specialists including Laura Sandys (Energy Networks Transformation Taskforce), Jon Slowe (LCP Delta), Henrik Juhl Hansen (Vaillant) and Andrew Eldred (Electrical Contractors Association). The focus will be very clearly on Industrial Growth and the pathway to Clean Power 2030 and it is clear from pre-conference briefings that there is still some way to go but strong intentions from BEAMAs members to invest if the market conditions are right and action is taken.
