Prepare your business to benefit from lower electricity costs under BICS from 2027.
Our Energy Tax Relief Specialists will assess your eligibility and help you prepare your BICS application before the first application window opens in October 2026.
Prepare your business to benefit from lower electricity costs under BICS from 2027.
Our Energy Tax Relief Specialists will assess your eligibility and help you prepare your BICS application before the first application window opens in October 2026.
The British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme is a government electricity cost relief scheme for eligible manufacturers in Great Britain.
It will exempt those manufacturers from part or all of the indirect costs of the Renewables Obligation, Feed-in Tariffs and Capacity Market. The exemption will reduce the policy-related costs that electricity suppliers include in business electricity prices.
The Renewables Obligation and Feed-in Tariffs exemptions are scheduled to begin in April 2027, followed by the Capacity Market exemption in October 2027.
The first application will also include a back-dated payment for the 2026 year, which will further support eligible businesses.
BICS is open to manufacturers in Great Britain that meet all of the following conditions:
Business must carry out a manufacturing activity covered by an eligible SIC code.
Business must manufacture at least one product covered by an eligible HS code.
Business must be registered with Companies House.
Business must import more than 33 MWh of electricity from the grid each year.
The government assessed electricity intensity at sector level when selecting the manufacturing activities covered by BICS. We complete any required electricity-intensity calculation on the applicant’s behalf as part of the application process.
The final BICS lists cover selected manufacturing activities and products across advanced manufacturing, clean energy, defence, digital technologies and life sciences. They also cover foundational manufacturing industries that supply products and materials to those sectors.
At a broad level, eligible manufacturing activities include specific areas of:
These categories provide an overview only. The business must carry out an activity covered by a code on the final BICS SIC list.
Manufacturing Frontier Industries
Manufacturing Foundational Industries
A BICS application requires more than confirming that your business meets the main eligibility conditions. It must show that your manufacturing activities and products qualify for the scheme. It must also support the exemption level calculated from the eligible electricity use at each site. Incomplete records or incorrect allocation of electricity use can affect the outcome.
Our compliance guarantee: Our energy specialists ensure a clear basis for the application and check that each conclusion is supported by the available business records before submission.
BICS Application Management
Reduce your electricity costs under BICS from 2027. Eligible manufacturers could save up to 25% on their total electricity bill.
Savings with BICS
Potential Electricity Cost Reduction
We estimate the potential BICS saving across your manufacturing sites before you decide to proceed with a full application. The proportion of exemption is calculated by dividing the electricity used for eligible manufacturing by the site’s total electricity use.
Groups, Shared Supplies and Private Networks
We identify the correct applicant and confirm which electricity use and costs should be included where group or shared supply arrangements apply.
Businesses seeking BICS support in the first year must apply during the initial application window in 2026. The exemptions will then begin in two stages during 2027.
Application window opens. Businesses must prepare SIC + HS + MPANs evidence to DBIST that will assess whether they qualify. DBIST(Department for Business, Innovation, Sciences and Trade).
Application window closes 11:59pm.
DBIST aims to confirm which first-year applicants qualify. A small number of complex cases may take until the end of January.
The Renewables Obligation and Feed-in Tariffs exemptions begin for eligible businesses.
The Capacity Market exemption begins for eligible businesses.
Businesses confirmed as eligible in the first year will receive a separate one-off payment after BICS launches. The payment will reflect the support they would have received if BICS had been operating from April 2026. The government has not yet confirmed the payment date.
Speak with our Energy Tax Relief Specialist now to check your likely eligibility and prepare your business before the first BICS application window opens.
The published timetable is subject to parliamentary approval of the secondary legislation required to implement BICS.
Bonham & Brook assigns each business relief scheme to specialists with relevant sector expertise.
Your BICS application will be led by our Energy Tax Relief Specialists, who will remain your direct point of contact from the initial assessment through to submission.
Mohamed, an Engineering graduate, started in facilities management, collaborating with energy and sustainability experts. He became an Energy Manager at a large biomedical research facility, overseeing one of the largest inner city renewables installations in the UK. Transitioning to financial consu...
Njomza holds a Geography degree from King’s College London and was instantly interested in the energy sector upon graduating. She now works at Bonham and Brook in the Energy department, where she assists clients in identifying and claiming incentives related to reducing their energy costs. An Energy...
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Discover how Bonham & Brook supported leading UK food manufacturer Weetabix secure valuable Energy tax relief.
Weetabix
Your business can still apply after the first window.
From the second year of BICS, the government will provide a longer application window and set a cut-off date for each delivery year. An approved business will enter the scheme at the start of the next relevant delivery year. Mid-year entry will not be available.
BICS eligibility lasts for five years. The Department for Business and Trade will review your eligibility and site exemption levels after the second year. You must also submit an annual declaration confirming whether your circumstances have changed.
At the end of the five-year period, your eligibility and exemption levels will be reassessed.
Yes, you must confirm relevant changes in your annual declaration.
Changes to your electricity supplier, meter number or legal entity may need to be reported during the delivery year. The government will confirm the full reporting requirements in the BICS business guidance.
It may be, but this is not guaranteed.
Your electricity supplier will apply the exemption to the relevant charges and decide how to show the saving on the bill. Government guidance will encourage suppliers to show it separately.
No, a business receiving British Industry Supercharger support cannot also receive BICS.
The schemes cover overlapping electricity policy costs, so the same support cannot be provided twice.
You can start with basic information about your manufacturing activities, products, sites and annual grid electricity use.
Our Energy Tax Relief Specialist will then identify any additional records needed for the review.
Book a structured, no-obligation review with a specialist. We'll assess your manufacturing activities and provide a clear eligibility recommendation.
All discussions are held in strict confidence.
Initial eligibility consultation is always complimentary.