Applications close on 30 November
The British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS) is a government scheme that cuts electricity costs for eligible manufacturers. Applications opened on 1 October 2026 and close at 11:59pm on 30 November 2026.
Many manufacturers have not heard of it yet, and some of our customers are already preparing applications. If you make eligible products in Great Britain, it is worth checking now.
What BICS gives you
Eligible sites are exempted from the indirect costs of three levies on their electricity: the Renewables Obligation and Feed-in Tariffs from April 2027, and the Capacity Market from October 2027. Decisions on applications are expected in early 2027.
Who can apply
To qualify, your business must:
- be registered on Companies House
- have an eligible four-digit SIC 2007 code on its Companies House record
- manufacture an eligible product in Great Britain, identified by its six-digit HS commodity code
- use at least 33 MWh of grid electricity a year at each site you claim for
The government's BICS eligibility checker gives you an indicative answer in a few minutes.
How much relief each site gets
Each site is assessed separately, based on the share of its grid electricity used to make eligible products.
| Share of site electricity used for eligible production | Exemption |
|---|---|
| 25% or less | None |
| More than 25% but less than 50% | 50% |
| 50% or more | 100% |
The evidence you will need
Electricity bills
Six consecutive months of bills from the last 12 months, showing your supply address, MPAN and grid consumption.
Production evidence
Records from your MRP or ERP system, production logs or quality records, totalled by month. They need to show how eligible production compares with total production on the site. Sales and purchase notes are not accepted.
Your pro-rating method
A short statement explaining how you worked out the eligible share, with sub-metering or monitoring data if you have it.
Where Fitfactory can help
The production evidence is where most manufacturers will need the most work, and it is where your Fitfactory system already holds the data.
Tricorn MRP records every works order issued and completed. If you use SFDC, it also records the actual time booked against each operation as work happens. Machine Monitoring measures the energy each machine uses, which can support your pro-rating calculation.
Our professional services team can add HS commodity codes to your parts in Tricorn, or import them if you don't hold them yet. We can also build a Tricorn dashboard widget that tracks time spent on operations for eligible products, giving you monthly figures ready for your application.
What to do next
- Run the BICS eligibility checker.
- Pull together six consecutive months of electricity bills for each site.
- Talk to us about your production evidence. Existing customers can email customers@fitfactory.com. Not a Fitfactory customer yet? Book a demo with our sales team.
This post summarises the government's published BICS guidance as of October 2026. Eligibility is decided by the government, so read the full guidance before you apply.