Backing British Metals: ALFED Members Join Parliamentary Launch to Champion Aluminium’s Strategic Role

By Nadine Bloxsome, CEO, Aluminium Federation

On Tuesday 20^th May, I had the pleasure of joining colleagues from across the UK metals sector in Westminster for the official launch of the Back British Metals Parliamentary Pledge – an important milestone in ensuring aluminium, and the wider metals industry, are placed at the heart of the UK’s industrial strategy.

The event, hosted by Chris McDonald MP, brought together more than 30 representatives from across the UK’s critical metals supply chains, and I was incredibly proud to see the aluminium sector so strongly represented.

ALFED member companies including Bridgnorth Aluminium, BACALL Ltd, Arconic, Amari Metals Ltd, and Novelis UK Inc joined the event to show their support for the campaign and to reinforce the vital role aluminium plays in defence, energy, automotive, construction, and packaging.

Throughout the session, MPs including Sarah Coombes MP (West Bromwich) and Gurinder Singh CBE MP (Smethwick) spoke of the importance of these industries to their constituencies and to the future of British manufacturing. The Pledge, signed by all MPs in attendance, calls for Government to adopt a full value chain approach to metals and to recognise aluminium, steel, copper, PGMs and other strategic materials within both the Industrial Strategy and Critical Minerals Strategy.

The unified voice at the event was clear: aluminium is not just a material of the future, it is a material of now. And it must be treated as a strategic asset in policymaking that spans net zero, economic security, skills and innovation.

The Back British Metals campaign, of which ALFED is a founding member, has already begun to build traction across Parliament, and I encourage all members to engage with this important initiative as it develops.

Thank you again to our members who made the journey to Westminster and helped send such a strong and united message from our sector.

You can find out more about the campaign at www.backbritishmetals.org, or contact the ALFED team to get involved: alfed@alfed.org.uk