The Pink Policy Briefing #2

Reading policy, in the pink, every Sunday.

Photo by Rinck Content Studio on Unsplash

Fashion Roundtable’s weekly read on the policy shaping UK fashion and textiles for the week ending 11th October 2026.

The scheme nobody told the sector about

This week, applications opened for the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme – support to cut electricity bills for more than 10,000 manufacturing businesses.

Energy costs were raised in the Commons on 1 September as a threat to British industry. Textile manufacturing is energy intensive: dyeing, finishing and laundering all carry significant electricity loads, and cost has been cited repeatedly as a barrier to bringing production home.

So, the first question is whether textile manufacturers are eligible at all.

If they are, this is immediately useful to textile manufacturers who told us over the summer that energy bills make up the majority of their business costs. If they are not, it tells us something more important. Our research with the Local Policy Innovation Partnership Hub found that fashion consistently falls outside manufacturing support frameworks – recognised as a creative industry when funding is for design, and overlooked as a manufacturing one when funding is for production.

A scheme for 10,000 manufacturers that excludes the people making clothes would be that pattern, exactly.

Friday: PFAS restrictions bite in the EU

New REACH restrictions on PFHxA and related substances apply from 10 October. These are PFAS, “forever chemicals”, used to repel water, oil and stains, and the restriction covers textiles, leather, furs and hides in clothing, footwear and accessories sold to the public.