One of the UK’s oldest family-owned companies has praised the government’s decision to include forges in its energy subsidy scheme for manufacturers, forecasting savings of up to £250,000 a year on its fixed energy costs.
Somers Forge, which is based in the Black Country and has been owned by the Folkes family since 1697, supplies vital parts for naval vessels including nuclear submarines. The firm, part of the country’s defence manufacturing chain, was recently included in the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS), which waives the obligation to fully pay three of the five levies imposed on UK manufacturers.
Tammy Inglis, the finance director of Somers, said it was “absolutely brilliant” to see forges included in the scheme. “Over a five-year period, we were going to expense an extra £1.1 million on that one-line cost. Now, because we are going to be saving a lot of that and a proportion of other renewable surcharges, we’re going to save around £200,000 to £250,000 per year from our fixed costs on energy,” she said.
The scheme was announced in June last year, promising to cut electricity costs by up to £40 per megawatt hour for more than 7,000 energy-intensive users such as automotive, aerospace and chemicals makers, by reducing what eligible firms pay towards the renewables obligation, capacity market and feed-in tariff from 2027. However, the industry code for businesses classed under forging, pressing and stamping of metal was initially left out.
Last month the government updated the criteria for BICS to include forges, after lobbying from groups such as the Confederation of British Metalforming. This month it published the final list of eligible activities and launched an eligibility checker so firms were aware they could claim.
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