The UK has announced a £350 million Critical Chemicals Resilience Fund to support strategically important chemical producers and sites.

The fund, announced on 21 May 2026, is intended to help chemical firms remain competitive, modernise infrastructure, decarbonise and move energy supplies from gas to electricity. It is separate from the £120 million ceramics package announced on the same day.

For employers and candidates across process and manufacturing, the announcement matters because it places chemicals firmly within the UK’s wider industrial resilience agenda. The fund is not yet open, and detailed eligibility criteria have not been published, but the direction is clear: critical chemicals are being treated as part of the industrial base that keeps essential sectors operating.

Key takeaways

• £350m Critical Chemicals Resilience Fund announced
• Chemicals-only fund, separate from ceramics support
• Designed for strategically important producers and sites
• Focus on competitiveness, modernisation and decarbonisation
• Further fund details expected after summer 2026 design work
   

What has been announced?

The Critical Chemicals Resilience Fund will support the UK’s most strategically important chemical producers and sites.

According to the announcement, these producers supply critical inputs used by sectors including food, energy, water and healthcare. That means the fund is not only about supporting chemical manufacturing itself. It is about strengthening the wider industrial supply chain that many essential sectors depend on.

The fund will be designed from summer 2026 in partnership with industry representatives and independent experts. It will be made available over a multi-year period, with further details to follow.
 

Businesses should treat the announcement as a clear policy signal, not a finalised funding route. The existence, value and broad purpose of the fund are confirmed. The detailed mechanics are still to come.
 

Why critical chemicals matter to UK industry

Chemicals sit upstream of many of the products, systems and supply chains that keep the UK economy moving.

Government industrial strategy material describes chemicals as a foundational industry and states that at least 96% of manufactured goods contain chemical industry content. The same material estimates that chemicals contributed £13.2 billion in gross value added to the UK economy in 2022.

Chemical products and inputs are used across automotive, healthcare, technology, food and green energy markets. They also support areas such as water treatment, industrial cleaning, process manufacturing, energy systems and regulated production environments.

That is why the word “resilience” matters. If strategically important chemical inputs are unavailable, delayed or exposed to sustained cost pressure, the effects can move into other sectors quickly.

Steve Elliott, Chief Executive of the Chemical Industries Association, described the announcement as:

...a very welcome first step in turning those words into action.

Steve Elliott, Chief Executive, Chemical Industries Association, in the Government announcement

Why the timing matters for UK producers

Chemical manufacturing is energy intensive. Energy cost, grid access and long-term competitiveness are therefore central to the sector’s future.

The Office for National Statistics reported that UK industrial electricity prices were the highest among 24 International Energy Agency reporting countries in 2023. UK industrial electricity prices were almost 50% higher than France and Germany, and four times higher than the United States and Canada.

The same analysis found that UK petrochemicals gross value added fell by 30.2% between the first quarter of 2021 and the fourth quarter of 2024.

Those figures help explain why the fund is framed around competitiveness, modernisation and decarbonisation together. For many sites, resilience is not only about keeping production running today. It is also about adapting plant, utilities, infrastructure and energy systems for the next phase of industrial operation.

The announcement also sits alongside wider measures on industrial power costs, including the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme and the British Industry Supercharger. For chemical producers, the long-term question is how investment, energy transition and operational reliability can move together.
 

What the fund signals about industrial resilience

The fund does not apply to every chemical business automatically. It is aimed at strategically important producers and sites, with the final scheme design still pending.

That distinction is important. The announcement points to a focused industrial resilience approach, where support is directed towards inputs and sites that matter to wider supply chains.

For chemicals businesses, that could make future workforce planning more closely linked to plant resilience, utilities infrastructure, process safety, energy transition and operational continuity.

For the wider economy, it reinforces a practical point: chemicals are not a standalone sector sitting outside the rest of UK industry. They are part of the supply chain for other sectors that rely on stable, compliant and technically capable production.
 

What this could mean for technical hiring

The fund should not be presented as a confirmed hiring boom. No detailed jobs forecast has been published for the chemicals fund, and the final scheme design is still to come.

The stronger conclusion is that the announcement points towards future demand for site resilience, maintenance, modernisation, project delivery, process capability and energy transition skills.

The Engineering Construction Industry Training Board has reported that 71% of employers across engineering construction are experiencing hiring difficulties, up from 53% in 2021. Hard-to-fill vacancies include electrical engineers, pipefitters, riggers and design technicians.

The ECITB’s wider labour forecasting also indicates that the engineering construction industry could need 40,000 extra workers by 2030, with demand expected across mechanical fitters, electrical technicians, process engineers, project managers, pipefitters, welders and design technicians.

For chemical producers, that matters because future site upgrades, maintenance programmes and energy transition work will draw from the same technical labour market as other industrial sectors.

Roles likely to remain important include:

• Process engineers
• Process safety specialists
• Electrical and instrumentation engineers
• Control and automation engineers
• Maintenance and reliability engineers
• COMAH and HSE specialists
• Project and commissioning engineers
• Utilities and energy specialists
• Plant managers and technical supervisors
• Supply chain and procurement professionals

The immediate issue for employers is not simply whether the fund creates new vacancies. It is whether chemical businesses can secure the skills needed to keep critical sites safe, resilient and ready for future investment.
 

The role of transferable skills

Chemical employers will not always be able to rely on candidates who have spent their whole career in chemicals.

That is not necessarily a problem. Many of the skills needed on chemical sites are transferable from adjacent process and regulated environments.

Maintenance, reliability, instrumentation, process control, commissioning and project delivery experience can all translate well where the operating context is similar. Relevant backgrounds may include pharmaceuticals, FMCG, water, energy, oil and gas, utilities, advanced manufacturing and other regulated plant environments.

For candidates, the opportunity is to make that transferability clear.

A maintenance engineer with shutdown experience, an electrical and instrumentation technician used to fault-finding on live plant, or a project engineer from a regulated manufacturing environment may already have relevant experience. The key is to show where that experience connects to safe operation, process improvement, plant reliability or compliance.

For employers, transferable skills should be part of the recruitment strategy. A narrow search for candidates with identical sector backgrounds can limit the available talent pool, particularly when multiple industrial sectors are competing for similar technical profiles.
 

Where the effects may be watched most closely

No regional allocation has been announced for the fund, so it would be wrong to suggest that any specific location has already been prioritised.

Established chemicals and process industry areas are likely to watch the fund closely because they already have relevant production assets, supply chains and skills bases. These include Teesside, the Humber, the North West including Ellesmere Port, and Grangemouth-linked supply chains.

These locations also overlap with wider industrial cluster activity, including hydrogen, carbon capture, utilities infrastructure and industrial decarbonisation. That makes the skills picture more complex.

Chemical producers may be competing for similar engineers, technicians and project professionals as energy, utilities, infrastructure and advanced manufacturing employers. Regional workforce planning will therefore matter, especially where future investment could land in areas that already have tight labour markets.
 

What employers should do now

The fund is still being designed, but employers do not need to wait for the final scheme rules to start preparing.

A practical first step is to review which roles are most critical to safe, reliable and resilient operations. That includes permanent employees, contractors, specialist suppliers and roles where succession risk is already visible.

Employers should also assess where future modernisation or decarbonisation projects could create pressure on teams that are already stretched. A site that needs more electrical capacity, improved process control, new utilities infrastructure or energy-efficiency upgrades will need people who can specify, deliver, commission and maintain those systems.

A strong workforce plan should include:

• Critical role mapping
• Succession planning for ageing skills
• Contractor and supplier strategy
• Internal upskilling routes
• Apprenticeship and early careers planning
• Transferable skills from adjacent sectors
• Early engagement with hard-to-find technical talent

This is especially important in chemicals because competence cannot be rushed. Safety-critical, regulated and continuous-process environments need people who understand both the engineering and the operating context.
 

Millbank’s perspective

The Critical Chemicals Resilience Fund is a clear signal that chemical production is being viewed through a wider national resilience lens.

For employers, the value of the announcement is not only in the funding headline. It is a prompt to assess the workforce needed to support resilient, modern and compliant operations. Process, safety, maintenance, electrical and instrumentation, automation, utilities and project delivery skills are likely to remain central.

For candidates, the announcement reinforces the long-term relevance of chemical and process manufacturing careers. Engineers and technical professionals with experience in regulated, continuous-process or safety-critical environments may be well placed to explore opportunities in the sector.

Millbank supports employers and candidates across process, manufacturing, energy, utilities and highly regulated engineering environments. If you are planning future workforce needs in chemicals, or exploring where your technical skills could fit next, our team can help you understand the market and plan your next step.

For candidates: If you have experience in process engineering, maintenance, electrical and instrumentation, automation, project delivery or regulated manufacturing, submit your CV or speak to our team about relevant opportunities.

For employers: If you are reviewing technical hiring needs across chemical, process or manufacturing operations, contact our team to discuss workforce planning and specialist recruitment support.
 

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the UK Critical Chemicals Resilience Fund?

The UK Critical Chemicals Resilience Fund is a £350 million fund announced on 21 May 2026. It is designed to support strategically important chemical producers and sites, with a focus on competitiveness, infrastructure modernisation, decarbonisation and supply chain resilience.

Is the £350m fund for ceramics as well?

No. The £350 million Critical Chemicals Resilience Fund is separate from the £120 million ceramics package announced at the same time.

Who will the Critical Chemicals Resilience Fund support?

The announcement says the fund will support strategically important chemical producers and sites that supply critical inputs used by sectors including food, energy, water and healthcare. Detailed eligibility criteria have not yet been published.

Is the fund open for applications?

Not at this stage. Government has said the fund will be designed from summer 2026 with industry representatives and independent experts, then made available over a multi-year period.

Will the fund create more engineering jobs in UK chemicals?

The fund may support future technical demand, but no detailed hiring forecast has been published. The strongest signal is around workforce planning for resilience, modernisation, maintenance, process safety, energy transition and project delivery.

Which roles could be most relevant to chemical site modernisation?

Relevant roles are likely to include process engineers, process safety specialists, electrical and instrumentation engineers, control and automation engineers, maintenance and reliability engineers, commissioning engineers, utilities specialists, COMAH professionals and plant managers.

Can engineers from other sectors move into chemicals?

Yes, in many cases. Experience from pharmaceuticals, FMCG, water, utilities, energy, oil and gas, advanced manufacturing and other regulated environments can be relevant, particularly where candidates can evidence safe operations, plant maintenance, process control, reliability or project delivery.

Which UK regions could be most affected?

No regional allocation has been announced. Established chemical and process industry areas such as Teesside, the Humber, the North West and Grangemouth-linked supply chains are likely to watch the fund closely because of existing industrial capability and related cluster activity.