“We’re going all in for our manufacturers,” Business Secretary Peter Kyle told the Make UK National Manufacturing Conference on Tuesday 3 March 2026, promising a relentless push for growth and a shift to next‑generation production. In a speech published by the Department for Business and Trade on GOV.UK, he set out a package spanning skills, technology and exports.

He opened by addressing the escalating tension in Iran and across the Middle East, urging firms with staff in the region to register their presence and follow Foreign Office travel advice. Officials, he said, are working to manage any disruption to trade and supply chains. For Northern exporters and just‑in‑time suppliers, the message was to stay alert while keeping orders moving.

On policy, Kyle said government and industry had built the Industrial Strategy together and would deliver it “with urgency”. He pointed to the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme to cut power costs for energy‑intensive firms, the Supercharger package on electricity, and DRIVE35 to back electrification across batteries, motors and hydrogen fuel cells. A refreshed Critical Minerals Strategy aims to secure inputs such as lithium, copper and aluminium.

For Northern firms, those levers matter. Lancashire’s aerospace cluster, South Yorkshire’s AMRC network and the North East’s growing battery supply chain are primed for investment if energy costs are brought into line and capital for new kit is accessible. The package is pitched as resilience for the sector and security for the wider economy.

Kyle framed the shift as “next generation manufacturing” across three phases: how things are conceived, produced and sold. More value, he argued, is now captured at the design stage through AI, digital twins and high‑fidelity simulation. Rolls‑Royce is pushing this in aero engines and BAE Systems is embedding advanced modelling into complex platforms-work that runs through Derby and Lancashire as much as the South.

On the shopfloor, the goal is not museum pieces but “models of the future”. The Made Smarter adoption programme will keep helping smaller manufacturers bring in robotics, data and additive processes. Across our regions it’s already live in the North West, the North East and Yorkshire & the Humber, offering advice, leadership development and match‑funded grants to de‑risk first projects.

Skills sit at the centre of the plan. The Business Secretary highlighted more than £1 billion in tailored sector skills packages, an Advanced Manufacturing Upskilling and Reskilling Programme, and short courses funded via the Growth and Skills Levy going live from April 2026. In short, employers will be able to use levy funds for bite‑size training in AI, digital and engineering to move at the pace factories now require.

For colleges and training centres from Sunderland to Sheffield, that’s a clear signal to expand modular provision and deepen ties with local employers. Expect more work‑based routes, more mid‑career reskilling and tighter collaboration between FE, universities and anchor manufacturers. Ministers’ ask is straightforward: engineers as fluent in data as they are with machines.

On exports, Kyle said UK Export Finance will put more shoulder behind SME manufacturers, recognising that products increasingly ship with services-software, analytics and maintenance. That “power‑by‑the‑hour” model, standard in aerospace, is spreading into machinery, medical devices and energy kit made across the North.

Manufacturers will now look for the fine print: eligibility and timings for BICS relief, the next DRIVE35 competitions, the scale of Made Smarter match‑funding, and exactly how the new short courses will be approved and delivered. But the direction was unambiguous. “We can compete. And we can win,” Kyle said. Northern factories are ready to test that promise.