UK engineering and manufacturing news that matters to mechanical engineers, read and summarised by the engineers at Forgepoint: nuclear, defence, pressure equipment, materials, advanced manufacturing and regulation.
Read in the interactive site →Materials · Structural Steel · Government · 2026-09-17Government Moves to Nationalise Speciality Steel UK: Second State Steel Takeover This YearBusiness Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has told Parliament the government will pursue public ownership of Speciality Steel UK after rejecting a…Defence · Manufacturing · Government · 2026-09-17Defence Investment Plan Reaches the Factory Floor: First FEED Contracts Awarded for Munitions ManufacturingTwenty-two firms have been funded to design new munitions and energetics factories under the £298bn Defence Investment Plan, with a new procurement…Regulation · Pressure Equipment · Compliance · 2026-09-17UKCA Marking Is Now Effectively Voluntary for Pressure Equipment: What Changed and What Didn'tContinued recognition of CE marking under the Product Safety and Metrology Regulations 2024 means pressure equipment can legally be placed on the…Advanced Manufacturing · Additive · Materials · 2026-09-17UK Metal Additive Manufacturing Moves From Prototyping to Production: DED and WAAM Lead Growth in Large-Format PartsTrade body AMUK is targeting a 7% share of a global market approaching $5bn by 2030, as UK metal AM shifts from rapid prototyping toward production…Economy · Manufacturing · Industry Data · 2026-09-17UK Manufacturing Holds Near a Ten-Month High: But the Growth Is Not Reaching Every Size of FirmAugust's PMI reading of 51.7 extends the UK manufacturing sector's longest run of growth in years, with employment rising at its fastest pace in two…Advanced Manufacturing · Digital Engineering · 2026-06-17Made Smarter Expansion Brings Digital Twins Within Reach of UK SME ManufacturersA renewed Made Smarter Innovation programme puts £160 million behind digital adoption in UK manufacturing, and for the first time grants are…Nuclear · Manufacturing · Supply Chain · 2026-06-15UK Nuclear Manufacturing Supply Chain Opens as SMR Programme Enters Detailed DesignThe Rolls-Royce SMR programme has moved from generic design assessment into detailed engineering, triggering the first substantive wave of supply…Hydrogen · Pressure Systems · Materials · 2026-06-15Hydrogen Infrastructure Engineering: Material Selection and Pressure System Compliance for the First Build WaveThe first wave of commercial-scale UK electrolysis and hydrogen storage projects is moving from feasibility into detailed design. The engineering…Energy · Offshore Wind · Fabrication · 2026-06-10Great British Energy's First Fabrication Awards Put UK Yards Back in PlayThe first batch of offshore wind fabrication contracts from Great British Energy has landed, and this time a deliberate domestic content clause means…Energy · Carbon Capture · Process Engineering · 2026-06-03HyNet Reaches FID: What CCUS Means for Process Engineers on the GroundThe UK's first major carbon capture and storage cluster has taken its Final Investment Decision. For process engineers, CO₂ at pipeline pressure is a…Workforce · Skills · 2026-05-06The £5.2 Billion Cost of the UK's Engineering Skills GapNew figures put a price on the shortage that fabricators already feel on the shop floor: apprenticeship starts down 40% since 2017, and precision…Energy · Decarbonisation · 2026-04-08UK Hydrogen Strategy Moves From Paper to PipeworkA new green hydrogen agreement at the Port of Tilbury, a funding round opening for further production capacity, and a government review into hydrogen…Automation · Manufacturing · 2026-03-18UK Manufacturing's Robotics Gap: and the SMEs Closing ItThe UK has roughly a ninth of South Korea's robot density on the factory floor, but a Kent fabricator that automated its welding five years ago shows…Materials · Structural Steel · 2026-02-28UK Steel Strategy Reshapes Material Sourcing for Structural EngineersNew import tariffs from July, £2.5bn in state investment, and an electric arc furnace under construction at Port Talbot. What the government's steel…Aerospace · Manufacturing · 2026-02-10Farnborough 2026 Signals Acceleration in UK Aerospace ManufacturingA sixth exhibition hall, fresh supply chain investment, and a sector talking about growth rather than recovery. What July's airshow tells subcontract…Nuclear · Defence · 2026-01-14Rolls-Royce SMR Clears Second Regulatory Hurdle as Wylfa Build BeginsThe UK's first domestic SMR programme has completed Step Two of its regulatory assessment and started site-specific design work at Wylfa, with a new…