Chemicals and pharmaceutical manufacturing is on the government’s list of eligible BICS sectors — there’s no intensity ratio for you to prove. Eligibility attaches to genuine chemical manufacture — producing primary chemicals or active pharmaceutical ingredients under an eligible SIC code and HS heading — not to blending, formulating or repackaging bought-in inputs, which may fail the HS gate.
Chemicals and pharma are core eligible sectors, but the breadth of activity under the SIC code means the HS gate does real work: the scheme targets manufacture, not downstream handling.
Does chemicals & pharma qualify?
Both are on the eligible-sector list, so the government has already confirmed they’re in scope — no intensity calculation required. The question is product transformation:
- Likely to qualify: manufacturing primary chemicals, intermediates or active pharmaceutical ingredients through genuine chemical transformation.
- Unlikely on its own: blending, formulating, filling or repackaging finished inputs without manufacturing a new chemical product.
Synthesising an active ingredient qualifies; blending bought-in actives into a finished mix may not clear the HS gate. Where a site does both, the eligible line is what’s assessed. See the AND-rule →
Site mix & evidence
Chemical and pharma sites frequently mix manufacturing with labs, warehousing, clean rooms and utilities. Support is pro-rata to the eligible manufacturing share above the 25% floor, so attributing process load cleanly — and separating it from ancillary and non-qualifying activity — is what defends the band.
What it's worth
Large chemical sites are among the biggest beneficiaries: at an indicative £37/MWh, a 60 GWh site is in the region of £2.2m a year before site-mix scaling, plus the backdated April 2026 payment. See the savings table →
Chemicals or pharma manufacturer?
Confirm manufacture-vs-formulation eligibility and band — summary within 24 hours.