The government publishes a delivery update on the UK Modern Industrial Strategy every quarter, tracking the investment, jobs, and schemes landing across the eight high-growth sectors. We read each one and pull out what actually matters for engineering, manufacturing, and defence companies and their supply chains.
This is the fastest way to see the strategy moving from announcement to money in the market, and to spot the schemes worth acting on before the shortlist forms. For the full picture of the strategy, start with our overview.
Quarter by quarter
January to March 2026
Published 9 April 2026.
Delivery continued across all eight sectors, with a notable push on defence exports, quantum, and energy costs. Highlights most relevant to our clients:
- Advanced manufacturing: the DRIVE35 Supplier Readiness and Transformation Fund went live through regional growth hubs in the West Midlands and the North East, opening automotive supply chain funding to apply for now.
- Energy costs: the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme was expanded and accelerated, set to cut electricity bills for around 10,000 manufacturers by up to 25%, with payments backdated to April 2026.
- Defence: a £1 billion Leonardo helicopter deal securing 3,300 British jobs and up to £15 billion of UK exports, a £500 million RAF Typhoon upgrade supporting 1,500 jobs, and new Defence Growth Deals for Scotland (£50 million) and Wales (autonomous technology).
- Clean energy: a record offshore wind auction (Allocation Round 7) supporting around 7,000 jobs and £3 billion of investment, a new Fusion Strategy with the STEP project at West Burton, and the government response to the Nuclear Regulatory Review.
- Digital and quantum: a £1 billion commitment to British quantum computing, a Sovereign AI Fund, and an AI Skills Boost aiming to give 10 million workers AI skills by 2030.
- Finance, skills and place: an £11 billion UK Export Finance push for British businesses, seven new areas confirmed for the £500 million Local Innovation Partnerships Fund, and a new Lanarkshire AI Growth Zone with potential for 3,400 jobs.
What it means for suppliers: the schemes are becoming concrete and regional. Automotive supplier funding is live, energy relief is locked in for 2027 with backdated payments, and defence export wins are creating immediate supply chain demand.
Source: Industrial Strategy quarterly update: January to March 2026.
October to December 2025
Published 14 January 2026, revised 9 April 2026.
Headline figures: more than £72 billion of investment commitments into the eight sectors (revised down from £79 billion after a post-publication correction), over 50,000 jobs, more than £18 billion of government-supported exports, and over £2.4 billion of public finance support. Highlights:
- Advanced manufacturing: DRIVE35 was expanded to £4 billion to 2035, and Nissan committed £450 million to build its next-generation Leaf in Sunderland, supporting 6,000 jobs.
- Defence: sites were identified for new munitions and energetics factories with potential for up to 1,000 manufacturing jobs, a "Back British" consultation launched to direct procurement to UK businesses, a National Armaments Director was appointed, and MBDA won a £316 million contract for the DragonFire laser weapon (600 jobs).
- Clean energy: Wylfa on Anglesey was selected as the UK's first Small Modular Reactor site with over £2.5 billion of funding and 3,000 construction jobs, a Clean Energy Jobs Plan identified 400,000 new jobs by 2030 with five clean energy technical excellence colleges, and Great British Energy's £1 billion supply chain fund launched.
- Skills: applications opened for 19 new technical excellence colleges across Defence, Clean Energy, Advanced Manufacturing, and Digital and Technologies, and UKRI set out £9 billion of allocations to the sectors, including £4.5 billion for innovative companies.
- Finance and energy: the British Business Bank published a five-year plan focused on the strategy sectors, the Sterling 20 partnership of pension funds and insurers launched, and set-up was completed for energy-intensive businesses to receive up to a 90% discount on electricity network costs from April 2026.
- Major deals: an £8 billion Eurofighter Typhoon deal with Turkey securing 20,000 UK jobs across Edinburgh, Warton, Samlesbury, and Bristol, and nearly £5 billion of India deals including a £350 million defence deal supporting 700 jobs in Belfast.
What it means for suppliers: the technical excellence colleges, the expanded DRIVE35, and the confirmed energy network discount are all things a manufacturer can plan around now. The Typhoon and Leaf programmes pull in long supply chains.
Source: Industrial Strategy quarterly update: October to December 2025.
July to September 2025
Published 31 October 2025.
Headline figures: over £250 billion of investment commitments into the eight sectors, over 45,000 jobs, and over £5 billion of public finance support. This was also the quarter the strategy was completed: the final three sector plans (Defence, Financial Services, and Life Sciences) were published, so every sector now has a 10-year plan. Highlights:
- Advanced manufacturing: DRIVE35 launched with £2.5 billion for the automotive sector, a £650 million electric vehicle grant scheme opened, and £70 million went to over 50 automotive projects alongside £190 million of aerospace R&D.
- Defence: a £182 million Defence Skills package with five Defence Technical Excellence Colleges, £220 million to transform test and evaluation and deliver the Defence Tech Scaler, and £65 million for a Defence Office for Small Business Growth and an Office for Defence Exports.
- Defence Growth Deals: launched across Plymouth, South Yorkshire, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, backed by £250 million.
- Clean energy: the Contracts for Difference Allocation Round opened including a £544 million Clean Industry Bonus for the offshore wind supply chain, and a UK-US nuclear partnership was agreed.
- Energy and skills: a consultation completed on lifting electricity network charge compensation from 60% to 90% from April 2026, and a £54 million Global Talent Fund was allocated to 12 universities.
- Major deals: Norway agreed to buy at least five Type 26 frigates built primarily in Glasgow by BAE Systems, in a deal worth about £10 billion.
What it means for suppliers: this was the quarter the door opened. The Defence Office for Small Business Growth and the Growth Deals are explicitly about pulling smaller suppliers into programmes, and the energy and skills support began to take shape.
Source: Industrial Strategy quarterly update: July to September 2025.
What's coming next
The government has signalled several things to watch in upcoming quarters: the Defence Investment Plan, setting out a decade of procurement and capability choices; a new semiconductor centre in King's Cross; the British Business Bank ramping up activity ahead of deploying its £4 billion of Industrial Strategy growth capital; and £135 million of Creative Industries funding for screen, video games, and music.
Next update expected: July 2026, covering April to June 2026. We will summarise it here.
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You can speak with Simon Batchelar, Co-Founder and Marketing Strategy Consultant at Pallant, who tracks this analysis and can discuss how your business can position itself to benefit from the funding and support available.
Sources
- The UK's Modern Industrial Strategy (gov.uk hub)
- Quarterly update: January to March 2026
- Quarterly update: October to December 2025
- Quarterly update: July to September 2025
Last reviewed June 2026. We update this page each quarter as the government publishes new delivery data.