6 min read
The UK’s industrial future is being rewritten through the lens of clusters: highly integrated regions that group together energy-intensive industries, shared infrastructure, and cutting-edge innovation. Government policy – from freeports to net zero strategies – has made clusters the cornerstone of regeneration and economic productivity.
But one obstacle threatens to derail this vision: spiralling energy costs. According to Andrew McCallum, CEO of Aspect, the cost of energy has become the defining threat to UK industrial success.
“In the past six to nine months, I’ve spoken to countless leaders across industrial sectors,” he says. “Without hesitation, the number one risk they cite is the cost of energy. And that’s not going away – it’s a 10-to-15-year challenge, not a 12-month blip.”
The promise – and peril – of UK clusters
From Teesside to Grangemouth, clusters promise regional revitalisation, job creation, and climate leadership. But the most successful ones are not simply agglomerations of businesses—they are carefully coordinated ecosystems.
“What makes a cluster work is infrastructure, collaboration, and leadership,” says McCallum. “You need a central operating company, a master plan, and a brand. A reason to believe.”
Indeed, recent progress in Grangemouth – a site with nearly a century of industrial legacy – shows the potential of visionary strategy. Aspect played a key role in shaping the Just Transition Plan and cluster strategy that now guide long-term investment narratives in the region.
Grangemouth, which could otherwise have been resigned as redundant, is now well positioned for industrial renewal after attracting more than 80 investors with a number of viable projects that will support its transition and deliver jobs for the future. The site has also secured a commitment by the Acorn Carbon Capture and Storage Project to capture CO2 at Grangemouth and transport it to storage facilities under the North Sea.
“Clusters don’t just happen. You need a compelling proposition, a shared narrative, and leadership that paints a vision of what’s possible”
The energy elephant in the room
Despite strategic planning, UK energy prices risk scaring off investment.
- UK industrial electricity prices are 60–80% higher than in the EU.
- DSNEZ data shows a 300% increase in energy cost burden for energy-intensive industries since 2021.
- The Resolution Foundation warns that the UK is facing deindustrialisation unless this is resolved.
As McCallum puts it: “We’re trying to build the net zero economy of the future on a cost base from the past. It’s economically incoherent.”
Even clusters with vision and strategy risk stagnation if investors can’t be assured of long-term energy affordability and supply resilience.
The recent decision by Ineos to halt UK investment is a stark reminder of what’s at stake – when energy costs and fiscal uncertainty combine, even industrial heartlands with a century of legacy can see capital and confidence drift elsewhere.
From challenge to solution: the role of communication, marketing and engagement
In this high-stakes environment, strategic communication, marketing and engagement isn’t just PR – it’s about influencing policy, creating compelling propositions, building investor appetite, and winning hearts and minds.
“The best way to engage with policy makers, investors and communities is to go with solutions, not just challenges,” says McCallum. “Go with ideas, investment pledges, new models – something that shifts the conversation from what’s wrong to what’s possible.”
Strategic communication, marketing and engagement can serve three key roles:
- Secure investor confidence through clarity and credibility.
- Engage policy makers with proposals, not just problems.
- Unite cluster participants and communities around a common vision.
Without this alignment, even the best-laid industrial strategies risk inertia.
As the UK approaches a pivotal moment in its industrial renewal, reputation strategy may become as important as energy policy. Clusters that communicate effectively – those that articulate not just needs but solutions, not just challenges but long-term opportunity – will stand a better chance of securing investment, influencing Whitehall, and surviving future shocks.
McCallum concludes:
“Clusters are transformational change programmes.
They need emotional leadership, infrastructure certainty, and a message that inspires investors, communities, and policymakers alike.”
In other words: Britain’s industrial future depends not just on how we power these clusters – but on how we tell the story.
