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Country benchmark · 2026
OEE benchmark United Kingdom 2026: manufacturing data, sector targets and downtime cost
The short answer: Manufacturing is 8.0% of GDP in United Kingdom (2024) and employs about 2,460,000 people. Loaded labour cost in manufacturing is 29.6 USD/h (2019), which is the number that turns an hour of downtime into money. Typical OEE in the country's leading sectors runs 60–92%; the sector world-class targets are in the table below.
Official manufacturing statistics for United Kingdom, the OEE ranges that apply to its leading sectors, a downtime-cost calculator preloaded with national labour and energy costs, and the incentives that can fund a monitoring project.
Key figures
Robot density
not published in an official source we could read
Enterprises using AI
not published in an official source we could read
Leading sectors and the OEE ranges that apply
The first columns are United Kingdom's own sector mix (Office for National Statistics (ONS)). The OEE columns are the oee-benchmark.org editorial ranges for that sector type: they are benchmarks for plants, not national statistics.
| Sector | Weight | Typical OEE | World-class target | Dominant loss | A × P × Q |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food & drink and transport equipment (largest sub-sectors) | named as largest subsectors; no value given (2025) | 70–85% | 85% | Changeover & minor stops | 92% × 95% × 99.5% |
| Engineering & vehicles | GBP 19.5bn investment (largest investing sector, of GBP 44.1bn total) (2024) | 70–85% | 85% | Changeover & minor stops | 92% × 95% × 99.5% |
| Chemicals & man-made fibres | GBP 7.8bn investment (2024) | 80–92% | 92% | Unplanned stops | 95% × 97% × 99.5% |
| Food & drink | GBP 5.8bn investment (2024) | 60–80% | 82% | Changeover & startup losses | 90% × 93% × 98% |
Downtime cost calculator: United Kingdom defaults
Change any input and the result updates. The labour and electricity defaults are the national statistics quoted above, not your plant's figures; replace them with your own numbers for a real estimate.
Estimated downtime cost
–
per year · – per month
- labour–
- energy–
- lost margin–
Industrial hubs
Regions ranked by official manufacturing employment or output. Each hub page lists the plants that set the local benchmark.
| Hub | Manufacturing employment | Key sectors | Notable plants |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Midlands / Birmingham–Coventry | 24.2 GBP bn (2023) | automotive, aerospace components, engines, construction equipment, metals | BMW Group, JCB |
| North West / Manchester–Liverpool | 31.7 GBP bn (2023) | aerospace & defence, automotive, chemicals, food & drink, nuclear | BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce |
| East Midlands / Derby–Nottingham | 20.8 GBP bn (2023) | aerospace engines, automotive, rail, food & drink, construction equipment | Toyota Motor Manufacturing (UK), Rolls-Royce, JCB |
| North East / Sunderland–Newcastle | 9.70 GBP bn (2023) | automotive, batteries, chemicals & pharma, rail, offshore/energy | Nissan, Rolls-Royce, BAE Systems |
| Yorkshire & Humber / Sheffield–Leeds | 21.6 GBP bn (2023) | steel & forgings, food & drink, chemicals, aerospace, wind energy | Sheffield Forgemasters, Nestlé UK, BAE Systems |
| Wales / Deeside–Swansea | 12.7 GBP bn (2023) | aerospace (wings), steel, automotive engines, food & drink, semiconductors | Airbus, Toyota Motor Manufacturing (UK), Tata Steel UK, BAE Systems |
Funding and incentives for monitoring projects (status October 2026)
Programmes a production-monitoring or OEE project can use. Status was checked on the operator's page in October 2026; anything we could not confirm is marked unverified.
| Programme | Operator | What it funds | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Made Smarter Adoption | Made Smarter (UK government-backed, delivered by regional partners) | Digital/technology adoption support for SME manufacturers (<=249 employees): advice, digital leadership programme, internships, and 'up to 50% matched grant funding to adopt hardware and software'. Active locations: North East, North West, Yorkshire & Humber, East Midlands, West Midlands, South East, South West, East of England, London (Wales/Scotland/NI not listed). | open | madesmarter.uk |
| Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF) | Department for Energy Security and Net Zero | Grants for energy efficiency and decarbonisation projects at high-energy-use industrial sites (£500m to 2028, three phases). | closed | gov.uk |
| Full expensing / 50% first-year allowance | HMRC | Companies deduct 100% of qualifying new plant & machinery (main rate) and 50% of special-rate assets in year of purchase, for assets bought from 1 April 2023. | open | gov.uk |
| Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) | HMRC | 100% deduction on qualifying plant & machinery up to £1 million per year (limit since 1 Jan 2019). | open | gov.uk |
| R&D tax relief (merged R&D expenditure credit scheme + ERIS) | HMRC | Expenditure credit on qualifying R&D for accounting periods beginning on/after 1 April 2024; enhanced support for R&D-intensive SMEs. | unverified | gov.uk |
Trade shows and events 2026–2027
| Event | City | Dates | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced Engineering 2026 | Birmingham (NEC, Halls 3 & 3a) | 4–5 November 2026 | advancedengineeringuk.com |
| Southern Manufacturing & Electronics 2027 | Farnborough (FIEC Hall 1) | 2–4 February 2027 | southern-manufacturing-electronics.com |
| Smart Manufacturing Week 2027 (incl. Smart Factory Expo) | Birmingham (NEC, Hall 5) | 9–10 June 2027 | smartmanufacturingweek.com |
| Subcon 2027 | Birmingham (NEC, Hall 4) | 9–10 June 2027 | subconshow.co.uk |
| MACH 2028 (MTA) | Birmingham (NEC) | 3–7 April 2028 | machexhibition.com |
Editor's note
Manufacturing is a smaller share of the UK economy (8% of GDP) than in Germany or Italy, but the hubs are dense: the West Midlands, the North West and the East Midlands each employ well over 250,000 people in manufacturing. Two cost signals matter for OEE work: industrial electricity at 17.4 pence per kWh is among the highest in Europe, and robot density (112) is below the world average, so automation and monitoring projects compete for the same budget. Made Smarter Adoption remains open across the English regions with up to 50% matched funding, and full expensing applies to qualifying equipment.
How to use this benchmark
Measure first. Log availability, performance and quality per line for four weeks before comparing with the sector ranges; a benchmark without your own baseline is a guess.
Compare within your sector, not with the national average. A packaging line at 72% may be world-class; a bottling line at 72% has room.
Price the gap. Use the calculator with your own labour cost and margin, then check the incentives table: several programmes fund the sensors and software that close it.
Free download
United Kingdom OEE Benchmark Pack 2026
Excel workbook: country profile, hubs, sector OEE ranges, downtime-cost calculator and incentives, with every source linked.
- Country profile and hub table with sources
- Sector OEE ranges: typical, world-class, A×P×Q
- Downtime-cost calculator preloaded with United Kingdom labour and energy costs
- Incentives and 2026–2027 events
You're all set ✓
Your download should start automatically. If not, click here.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good OEE in United Kingdom?
There is no national OEE statistic: OEE is measured per line, and the useful comparison is by sector. For United Kingdom's leading sectors the typical range is 60–92% and the world-class targets are listed above. Most plants that start measuring sit near 60%.
Where do these figures come from?
Manufacturing weight, employment, labour cost, energy price and robot density come from official statistics (Office for National Statistics (ONS), Eurostat, the World Bank and the IFR); every figure links to the page it was read from. The OEE ranges are oee-benchmark.org editorial benchmarks.
What is in the United Kingdom benchmark pack?
An Excel workbook with the country profile and sources, the hub table, the sector OEE ranges, a downtime-cost calculator with the national defaults already filled in, and the incentives and events lists. It is free; we ask for a work email.
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Sources and method
Figures are quoted as published, with the year and unit of each source; we do not convert currencies or estimate missing values. OEE ranges follow the oee-benchmark.org editorial process. Published by TEEPTRAK SAS, which sells production-monitoring and OEE software.
- https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/GBR;CAN/indicator/NV.IND.MANF.ZS?format=json&date=2020:2025&per_page=50
- https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/GBR;CAN/indicator/NV.IND.MANF.CD?format=json&date=2021:2025&per_page=50
- https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/grossdomesticproductgdp/articles/bluebook2026industryimpactanalysis/2026-08-20
- https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/timeseries/jwr7/lms
- https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/activitysizeandlocation/bulletins/ukbusinessactivitysizeandlocation/latest
- https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/timeseries/k5ca/emp
- https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6aba2810fe72ed1e2b02f0e7/Quarterly_Energy_Prices_September_2026.pdf
- https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/quarterly-energy-prices-september-2026
- https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/quarterly-energy-prices
- https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/grossdomesticproductgdp/bulletins/regionaleconomicactivitybygrossdomesticproductuk/1998to2024
- https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/grossvalueaddedgva/datasets/nominalandrealregionalgrossvalueaddedbalancedbyindustry
- https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/datasets/workforcejobsbyindustryjobs02
- https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8353/
- https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn01942/
- https://www.makeuk.org/docs/manufacturing-facts-2025pdf/download
- https://www.makeuk.org/insights/reports/uk-manufacturing-facts-2025
- https://makeukcampaigns.substack.com/p/make-uk-2025-regional-outlook
- https://www.bdo.co.uk/en-gb/news/2025/make-uk-bdo-report-output-for-all-english-regions-and-devolved-nations-back-above-pre-pandemic-level
- https://ifr.org/ifr-press-releases/robot-density-surges-in-europe-asia-and-americas
- https://ifr.org/downloads/press_docs/DE-2026-APRIL-_8-IFR_PRESSMELDUNG_Roboterdichte-deutsch.pdf
- https://ifr.org/downloads/press_docs/2026_06_24_IFR_Executive_Roundtable_market_presentation.pdf
- https://ifr.org/downloads/press2018/2024-SEP-24_IFR_press_release_World_Robotics_2024_-_UK.pdf
- https://www.logisticsmanager.com/uk-slips-in-global-innovation-rankings-and-lags-behind-in-robotics-density-make-uk-report-finds
- https://www.themanufacturer.com/articles/global-robot-report-highlights-uks-urgent-need-to-increase-automation/
- https://www.therobotreport.com/ifr-reports-robot-density-increase-across-europe-asia-americas/
- https://www.madesmarter.uk/
- https://www.madesmarter.uk/adoption/in-my-region/
- https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/industrial-energy-transformation-fund
- https://www.gov.uk/capital-allowances/full-expensing
- https://www.gov.uk/capital-allowances/first-year-allowances
- https://www.gov.uk/capital-allowances/annual-investment-allowance
- https://www.gov.uk/guidance/corporation-tax-research-and-development-rd-relief
- https://www.bmwgroup-werke.com/hamshall/en.html
- https://www.jcb.com/en-GB/explore/insight/news/2026/09/jcb-invests-for-the-future-after-hydromax-world-record/
- https://www.baesystems.com/en-uk/locations
- https://www.rolls-royce.com/country-sites/uk/uk-sites.aspx
- https://www.rolls-royce.com/country-sites/uk.aspx
- https://www.toyotauk.com/
- https://uk.nissannews.com/en-GB/releases
- https://www.sheffieldforgemasters.com/
- https://www.nestle.co.uk/en-gb/aboutus/locations
- https://www.airbus.com/en/our-worldwide-presence/airbus-in-europe/airbus-in-the-united-kingdom
- https://www.tatasteel.com/media/newsroom/press-releases/
- https://www.advancedengineeringuk.com/
- https://www.southern-manufacturing-electronics.com/en/
- https://www.smartmanufacturingweek.com/
- https://www.subconshow.co.uk/
- https://www.machexhibition.com/