The Aluminium Federation (ALFED) brought the voice of the UK aluminium industry to UK Metals Expo 2026, connecting with members, contributing to key industry discussions and highlighting the opportunities and challenges shaping the sector’s future.
The ALFED team joined businesses and organisations from across the metals supply chain at UK Metals Expo, held at the NEC Birmingham on 4–5 November. Across two busy days, the team caught up with existing members, met new contacts and strengthened relationships with colleagues from across the wider industry.
As the voice of the UK aluminium industry, ALFED used the event to champion the sector, share its priorities and contribute to conversations around skills, market developments, competitiveness and the strategic importance of aluminium to the UK economy.
Launching a roadmap for UK aluminium’s future
Alongside our programme of industry engagement and panel discussions, ALFED used the opening day of UK Metals Expo to launch our new white paper, Reindustrialising UK Aluminium, as part of our long-term Make More of UK Aluminium campaign.
The report sets out a practical roadmap for strengthening the UK’s existing aluminium industry, making the case for closer collaboration between Government and industry to unlock investment, strengthen domestic manufacturing capability and retain more industrial value in Britain.
The UK aluminium industry already makes a significant contribution to the economy, generating £3.78 billion in direct gross value added (GVA) and supporting 54,200 direct jobs. Including indirect supply-chain effects, this rises to £5.97 billion in GVA and 81,900 jobs.
Rather than starting from scratch, the white paper argues that the opportunity lies in making more of the substantial industrial base the UK already has.
It identifies five priorities for action:
- Competitive industrial energy
- Circularity and resource value
- Connected manufacturing capability
- Trade and carbon policy
- Strategic resilience and procurement
Through these priorities, ALFED is calling for joined-up action to strengthen existing manufacturing capability, create the right conditions for investment and ensure more of the value generated by the UK aluminium industry is retained in Britain.
The white paper is available to read at: https://alfed.org.uk/reindustrialising-uk-aluminium/
Championing skills, diversity and the next generation
ALFED CEO Nadine Bloxsome took part in the Breaking Barriers: Building Skills panel, alongside Andrea Wilson of Support UK Manufacturing and Laura Crawford, in a session hosted by Laura Davies of Marshall Harmony.
The discussion explored the changing landscape for women in manufacturing, the barriers that remain and how the industry can attract and support the next generation of talent.
Reflecting on her own experience, Nadine highlighted the progress being made in the visibility of women in leadership positions, while stressing the importance of making that representation feel increasingly normal. She also shared her experience of this year’s ALFED Awards, where the strong representation of women across the event prompted her to reflect on whether the industry is sometimes more conscious of gender balance than its audiences.
Looking ahead, Nadine emphasised the need to do more to show young women the breadth of opportunities available across metals and manufacturing, from engineering and technical development to sustainability, commercial roles and leadership. She also highlighted how businesses can make a difference through more inclusive recruitment practices, clearer career progression and greater visibility of the opportunities available.
These themes reflect the aims of ALFED’s Aluminium Allies initiatives, which seek to support younger professionals across the industry by building confidence, creating connections and helping make the aluminium sector a more attractive place to develop a career.
Looking beyond skills to the wider market outlook, ALFED Industry & Skills Development Manager Rachel Wiffen also hosted a panel discussion titled Aluminium in Action: What Does the Future Hold for the Aluminium Industry?
The session brought together Paul Williams of CRU and Adrian Musgrave of Bridgnorth Aluminium Ltd to explore the trends shaping the global and UK aluminium markets. Paul shared valuable insight into the current global aluminium market, while Adrian provided an important UK manufacturing perspective, introducing Bridgnorth Aluminium as a fully integrated aluminium coil rolling mill.
The discussion considered what these wider market developments mean for the UK and what needs to happen for the domestic aluminium market to thrive, highlighting the importance of understanding global trends while creating the right conditions for a competitive, resilient and successful UK industry.
Addressing the metals industry’s skills challenge
On the second day, Nadine joined the State of the Metals Industry Report 2026/27 panel, hosted by Rachel Eade MBE of the UK Metals Council, alongside Kirsty Davies-Chinnock of Professional Polishing Services, Jason Galley of the Metal Packaging Manufacturers Association and Jeff Baker of Enginuity.
The findings highlighted significant challenges facing the sector. 58% of respondents reported an average workforce age of between 41 and 66, compared with just 2% reporting an average age of 16–25. Meanwhile, 75% of respondents said they struggled to find qualified candidates, underlining the scale of the industry’s skills and recruitment challenge.
While 50% of respondents currently employ apprentices, less than half of company respondents see apprenticeships as part of their longer-term workforce strategy. The report also identified difficulties in finding suitable candidates, alongside limited mentoring capacity and administrative demands, as barriers to increasing apprenticeship participation.
Nadine highlighted the importance of making apprenticeships more accessible and workable for employers, particularly SMEs, while also recognising the need to invest in existing employees through technical training and upskilling. The discussion reinforced that addressing the skills gap requires more than recruitment alone: businesses need practical support, stronger links with training providers and a skills system that reflects the realities of modern manufacturing.
ALFED continues to support the development of future talent through initiatives including Aluminium Allies and its Rising Star Apprentice Award, helping to raise the profile of careers in aluminium and celebrate the people shaping the industry’s future.
Putting the future of UK aluminium in the spotlight
The strategic importance of aluminium was also brought into focus through a session chaired by Nadine, Critical Material. Critical Moment. What’s Next for UK Aluminium?, featuring Dan Morear of Hydro Wrexham and Alex Williams of Novelis.
The discussion explored how the UK can make more of growing global demand for aluminium, and what needs to happen for the country to capture more of that opportunity. It considered the importance of understanding customer requirements, including the specific alloys, product forms, quality and recycled-content credentials needed to serve different markets.
A key theme was the need to turn the Government’s recognition of aluminium as a critical and growth mineral into practical action. Nadine highlighted the importance of joined-up decisions on energy, trade, carbon, circularity, skills and investment, alongside earlier engagement between Government and businesses across the aluminium value chain.
The panel also examined how to strengthen domestic circularity and manufacturing capability, including the commercial realities of sorting, remelting and processing aluminium in the UK. The discussion reinforced that retaining more value domestically depends not simply on recovering material, but on having the right processing capacity, customer demand and investment conditions in place.
With industrial energy costs, trade uncertainty and the implementation of UK CBAM all influencing business decisions, the session highlighted the importance of creating a stable and competitive environment in which UK aluminium businesses can invest, grow and serve expanding markets.
Building stronger connections across the industry
Beyond the conference programme, UK Metals Expo provided a valuable opportunity for ALFED to spend time with members and businesses from across the supply chain.
The team visited exhibitors, caught up with familiar faces and made new connections, reinforcing the importance of bringing the wider metals community together to share knowledge, explore opportunities and build stronger relationships.
Nadine Bloxsome, CEO of ALFED, said:
“UK Metals Expo is a fantastic opportunity to bring the metals community together, and it has been great to see so many businesses and organisations contributing to conversations about the future of our industry.
“The launch of our Reindustrialising UK Aluminium white paper was an important milestone for ALFED and our Make More of UK Aluminium campaign. Britain already has a significant aluminium industry, with the skills, businesses and capabilities to support future growth. The opportunity now is to create the right conditions for the industry to thrive.
“The discussions around skills, competitiveness and the strategic importance of aluminium demonstrate just how much we need to work together. At ALFED, our role is to champion the UK aluminium industry, ensure our members’ voices are heard and help create the conditions for the sector to thrive. Events like this are an important part of making those connections and turning shared challenges into opportunities for action.
“Thank you to everyone who took the time to meet with the team, share their perspectives and contribute to such a positive couple of days. We look forward to continuing the conversations.”
UK Metals Expo 2026 once again demonstrated the value of bringing the entire metals supply chain together. For ALFED, the event was an opportunity to strengthen its relationships across the sector, champion the contribution of UK aluminium, share its vision for the industry’s future and continue working towards a more connected, resilient and competitive industry.
