- The University of Sheffield is supporting the UK’s new steel strategy through its world-leading research and innovation and long-standing industry partnerships
- Sheffield is a world-leader in advanced materials research and is already developing advanced metals to meet the evolving needs of vital UK sectors such as energy, defence and infrastructure
- Sheffield researchers are delivering cutting-edge research to support the supply chain of the UK steel industry, as well as helping it cut its carbon emissions, recycle high-quality scrap and replace fossil energy sources with renewables
- The University and its Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) are also helping to close the skills gap through world class engineering degrees and apprenticeships
The University of Sheffield stands ready to support the UK’s new steel strategy, which has been announced this week (19 March 2026).
The strategy, unveiled by the Business and Trade Secretary Peter Kyle, aims to protect domestic steelmaking and build more resilience in the supply chain for critical national infrastructure and defence. Its ambition is for up to 50 per cent of steel used in the UK to be made in the UK, boosting production from 30 per cent, and securing the industry’s role in supporting vital UK sectors like infrastructure, defence and clean energy.
Through its world-leading expertise in steel research and development, and its long-standing partnerships with industry, the University of Sheffield can play a key role in delivering the strategy alongside partners in the South Yorkshire region.
The University is a founding partner of the Henry Royce Institute - the UK’s national institute for advanced materials research and innovation. Across the two purpose-built Royce centres at the University of Sheffield, researchers develop advanced metals to meet the evolving needs of the energy, defense, and infrastructure sectors using state-of-the-art capabilities and technical expertise.
Sheffield is a co-lead in a major manufacturing research hub - IGNITE - that is working to use cutting-edge university research to strengthen the UK steel industry’s supply chain resilience and holistic sustainability. IGNITE’s research directly supports the steel strategy and the priorities in the UK government’s Industrial Strategy. Researchers in IGNITE are supporting the ambition to boost domestic steel production, cut emissions and support low-carbon business models; matching demand across defence, transport, energy and critical infrastructure. IGNITE’s research is developing smarter ways to manage, track and recycle the UK’s abundant supply of high-quality scrap whilst reshaping steel design and use to maintain quality and extend product life.
The South Yorkshire Sustainability Centre - which the University leads - is exploring how heavy industries, including steel, could replace fossil fuel energy sources with sustainable alternatives such as electricity or hydrogen in a way that benefits the communities who rely on these industries.
The University is also ready to support the steel strategy in its action on workforce needs and skills. Sheffield is already home to one of the biggest cohorts of engineering students in the UK with a world-leading education informed by industry to help them develop the skills needed by employers. The University of Sheffield AMRC Training Centre is already supporting the supply chain through its range of apprenticeships, including at degree level.
Professor Sue Hartley, Vice-President for Research and Innovation at the University of Sheffield, said: “Steel plays a crucial role in every part of the UK’s economy, not least critical industries such as energy, infrastructure and defence, so we need to protect this sovereign capability. Universities have a key role to play in this by using our research and innovation to help the industry overcome its key challenges, such as in skills and training, decarbonisation and advancing new materials.
“At Sheffield, we already have strong links with the industry and look forward to building on this in support of the steel strategy.”
Reflecting the University of Sheffield’s commitment to independent thinking and a shared ambition, the University’s research in support of the steel sector demonstrates how creative minds at Sheffield are shaping solutions to global challenges.
