Advanced Ceramics Industry: North Staffordshire

David Williams Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd December 2025 Westminster Hall

[Dr Allison Gardner (Stoke-on-Trent South) (Lab)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered Government support for the advanced ceramics industry in north Staffordshire.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Jeremy. I thank the House for allowing this debate today. Although the ceramics industry is typically known for producing bespoke mugs and saucers, the advanced ceramics industry plays a critical but often discreet role in the manufacture of specialist components for key industries. We cannot manufacture steel, aluminium, glass, bricks or cement without ceramics or refractories. Materials such as zirconia, silicon nitride, alumina and silicon carbide are hidden components that form a critical part of the supply chain for high-tech industries, including defence, nuclear energy, electronics and aerospace.

I was delighted when ceramics was recognised as a foundational sector in the industrial strategy. The contribution that our local companies make to the IS-8 critical sectors is remarkable. North Staffordshire is a recognised cluster for advanced ceramics. It is home to world-leading companies such as Mantec, Ross Ceramics and Lucideon. Our local industry is particularly important for defence capability. I have been working with the Ministry of Defence to highlight the importance of advanced ceramics to procurement, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises such as Mantec.

Mantec produces for Rolls-Royce ceramic molten metal filters that remove impurities from molten turbine blades used in civil aviation and defence, and it is asking how SMEs can access defence funding projects to bolster their expertise. Will the Minister outline what practical steps SMEs such as Mantec can take to access SME support from the Department for Business and Trade and the Ministry of Defence, and who they can contact for guidance?

Advanced ceramics is the only class of materials capable of enabling hypersonic weapons for defence. Silicon carbide, boron carbide and alumina are used in ballistic-resistant armour and military vehicles. Advanced ceramics are used in antennae and sensors for defence communication and surveillance, and in jet engine coatings for civil and defence aerospace. Without ceramic coatings, aero engines would not be able to operate. Ultra high-temperature ceramics have some of the highest melting points of any material and are used in rocket nozzles and nose cones, and on the leading edge of wings and stabilisers on hypersonic missiles and thrust diverters.

For example, Ross Ceramics in Trentham, which is part of Rolls-Royce, manufactures complex geometry ceramic cores used in the investment casting of gas turbine engine components. Lucideon, which is based in the constituency of the right hon. Member for Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge (Sir Gavin Williamson), specialises in high-tech applications of advanced ceramics in aerospace, nuclear energy and construction. I have been working with Lucideon on its proposal to establish sovereign capability for the development of ceramic matrix composites, or CMCs.

[David Williams (Stoke-on-Trent North) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend makes a really important point about sovereign capability. Does she agree that a nation of Britain’s standing simply cannot depend on foreign powers for materials critical to our defence and our energy security?

[Dr Gardner]

Yes, sovereign capability is vital to ensure this nation’s security.

CMCs are essential as lightweight replacements for alloys in high-temperature aggressive environments, such as turbine engines and exhaust systems. They are vital to maintaining technical advantage and capability in defence, offering high temperature resistance, low weight and superior durability. Carbon matrix and silicon carbide matrix composites will be needed in fusion energy systems, hypersonic vehicles, space vehicles and defence infrastructure.

At present, the UK has no sovereign CMC manufacturing capability, and there is no sovereign supply for critical raw materials such as silicon carbide fibres and precursors. The Rolls-Royce CMC factory is in California, and it can only supply some civil aerospace requirements, leaving UK defence turbines vulnerable to export controls, US supply chains and tariffs.

Lucideon wishes to create a UK manufacturing facility to produce CMC materials and components, including oxide and non-oxide composites. Those products would be world leading. They would replace heavy metal rotating parts in high-temperature turbines on jet engines, making them lighter and able to run at higher temperatures. They would significantly reduce fuel burn on aero engines, giving UK aerospace a huge commercial advantage.

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[Dr Gardner]

I heartily agree with my hon. Friend. The people of north Staffordshire really are ready and waiting to offer their skills and energy, and that history of technology, to our advancement.

We must be forward-thinking and establish the UK as a leader in advanced ceramics manufacturing. The UK’s share of the global market in 2024 was 6% and worth roughly £4.5 billion. There is huge potential for further growth, as supporting advanced ceramics will attract investment in other high-tech manufacturing industries. As noted by the Henry Royce Institute, the electronics industry is expected to increase demand for electroceramics, which can handle higher fields and temperatures. In healthcare, biocompatible ceramics are being used for dental implants, bone replacements and spinal correction segments. The application of advanced ceramics is also being explored in waste disposal. Mantec manufactures ceramic cross membrane filters, which can separate solids from liquids to de-water valuable materials and extract critical minerals, ensuring environmental compliance when wastewater is discharged. These issues are often cross-departmental, so will the Minister outline how he is working with colleagues across all Departments to support innovation in this sector?

Economic growth in Stoke-on-Trent and north Staffordshire has lagged behind other regions, yet there is real potential to establish north Staffordshire as a cluster for advanced ceramics. The AMRICC centre already provides testing space for new ceramic technologies and products. Lucideon’s CMC proposal would greatly expand R&D in critical materials at Keele University. Combined with the growing engineering expertise at the University of Staffordshire and Keele University, this would build a cluster aligned with our modern industrial strategy. Traditional ceramics drove industrialisation and wealth in north Staffordshire, led by pioneers such as Josiah Wedgwood. Will the Minister ensure that advanced ceramics becomes the flagship for our modern industrial renewal?

I must also give credit to our beloved tableware industry. Our pottery is our heritage, and beloved household names like Wedgwood and Duchess China have produced bespoke products for hundreds of years, including the tableware used in this House. Cross-working between traditional and advanced ceramics is growing, with traditional ceramics creating a skills pipeline into advanced ceramics. I know of an excellent example in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Amber Valley (Linsey Farnsworth) between Denby and Ross Ceramics. Investment in advanced ceramics will support our traditional industries, which, as Members will know, have been struggling with energy costs.

[David Williams]

I am really pleased that my hon. Friend has talked about tableware as well as advanced ceramics. She mentioned Wedgwood, and in my constituency we have names such as Moorcroft that are known the world over. They have been saddled with high energy costs. Does she agree that the Government must look at all the levers they can pull, whether it is gas costs or anything else, to ensure that those companies have a level playing field and can compete globally?

[Dr Gardner]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend.

Members will know that the ceramics industry has been struggling with rising energy costs. Alongside my hon. Friends the Members for Stoke-on-Trent North (David Williams) and for Stoke-on-Trent Central (Gareth Snell), I have had sustained discussions with DBT and DESNZ about a support package for industry gas and electricity costs. Ceramics production is incredibly energy intensive, and it is the hardest energy-intensive industry to decarbonise; gas-fired tunnel kilns cannot be converted to electric plants without significant capital. I have been working with the TUC and the GMB on a proposal to develop a decarbonisation innovation fund, which would offer capital loans and grants to invest in decarbonisation technologies. As I have raised with the Minister previously, there is further potential to offer innovation vouchers to SMEs and tableware companies to access scaling and testing facilities at larger sites.