The electroplating and surface finishing sector in the United Kingdom is shrinking at an accelerating rate, new research shows, with one in six firms lost in the last 10 years.
Andrew McCluskyWhat is worse, most of the remaining businesses are showing no real-term financial growth, according to research from BEP Surface Technologies, a Greater Manchester company specializing in hard chrome, nickel, and copper finishing.
Analysis by BEP shows that of the 80 independent electroplating firms operating in 2015, only 67 remain. The company says that at least seven of those remaining are already insolvent or are being closed.
BEP says the findings indicate that the sector is approaching a point of irreversible decline, putting the defense, nuclear, aerospace, and power generation supply chains at increasing risk.
“This industry has been slowly and quietly shrinking,” says Andrew McClusky, Managing Director of BEP Surface Technologies. “Not failing in headlines, but gradually thinning out each year, one plant at a time. Once the capability falls below critical mass, it will not return. We are close to that point.”
Inflation Rising By More Than 40%
Across the group of finishing shops, McClusky says the combined net worth has increased only marginally over the past decade, despite inflation rising by more than 40% during the same period. Most of the remaining financial strength is concentrated in the top 10 companies, he says, while the majority are barely breaking even.
According to BEP, the figures confirm what industry bodies have warned for years: surface engineering capability is quietly eroding, and unless addressed, the UK will face longer lead times, reduced resilience, and growing dependence on overseas finishing capacity.
“Authorization stopped the immediate fall, but it didn’t rebuild the ground beneath us. The sector is still under strain, and without coordinated action, we will lose capability that the UK cannot replace.”
McClusky says BEP’s own balance sheet firmly places it in the top tier of the sector, with net assets exceeding £3 million ($4 million) and a long history of supporting nuclear, defense, rotating equipment, and wider industrial clients. However, broader data indicate an industry in which many competitors struggle to remain viable, even after the 2025 authorization of hexavalent chromium under UK REACH, which helped stabilize the market.
The study showed that several firms have already removed plating tanks, exited chrome processes entirely, or closed following fires, restructurings, or prolonged periods of losses. Others now operate with negative equity, sustained by group support or asset revaluations rather than sustainable profitability.
Surface Finishing a Crucial Factor in Industrial Resilience
McClusky says this issue extends well beyond the trade itself. Surface finishing is a crucial, though often unseen, factor in maintaining UK industrial resilience. It guarantees the durability, performance, and lifespan of turbine shafts, propulsion systems, landing gear, reactor components, and precision parts across various sectors. When that finishing capability is lost locally, it results in longer downtime, higher lifetime costs, and reduced control over vital supply chains.
“If a power station is waiting for a refurbished turbine shaft, or if a naval gearbox needs to be back in service, you cannot wait three months for an international subcontract queue,” McClusky says. “Capability is either here when you need it, or it is not. That’s how serious this is.”
He says the UK’s decision earlier this year to permit continued, tightly regulated use of hex chrome (chromium trioxide) under UK REACH restored some stability to the sector and prevented a regulatory cliff-edge that could have quickly moved essential processes abroad. The ruling allows companies to keep using hex chrome for specified applications under strict exposure limits, health monitoring, and environmental protections.”
But while that decision stopped an immediate collapse, it did not resolve the deeper structural problems that the Companies House figures now lay bare.
“Authorization stopped the immediate fall, but it didn’t rebuild the ground beneath us,” McClusky says. “The sector is still under strain, and without coordinated action, we will lose capability that the UK cannot replace.”
Labor a Major Issue in Downfall
At the core of the issue are skills. Over many decades, the sector has lost two generations of practical technical expertise. Many of the remaining experienced platers, process engineers, and quality technicians are approaching retirement. Technical colleges have reduced manual engineering and workshop-based learning, while apprenticeship programs are inconsistent and rarely aligned with the actual needs of operating facilities.
Attracting new entrants is only half the challenge, McClusky says. The more difficult task is ensuring that they learn from those who already hold the tacit knowledge of process control, bath chemistry, certification routines, and finishing judgment. These capabilities are acquired on the shop floor, not from manuals or slide decks.
“You can’t learn surface engineering from a PowerPoint or just from the recently announced V-Level qualifications,” McClusky says. “They have their place, but they are not a substitute for real benches, real plants, and real operators. Surface finishing is a hands-on discipline built on judgement, repetition, and lived experience, none of which you get in a classroom-only model. Unless the UK rebuilds proper workshop-based training, with young people learning alongside skilled operators who’ve spent decades on the shop floor, we will lose this knowledge faster than we can replace it.”
To prevent further irreversible decline, BEP is calling for a national surface-finishing capability task force involving plating specialists, defense and energy OEMs, technical colleges, regulators, and standards bodies. The task force should map UK capability, restore practical training routes, tailor compliance requirements for SMEs, and ensure any substitution decisions are supported by proven performance data rather than assumptions.
“The sector now needs realignment, with a clear understanding of where capability remains strong, where it is strained, and where intervention can prevent irreversible damage,” McClusky says. “Training should revert to practical workshops, compliance support ought to be tailored for SMEs, and substitution must be based on proven performance rather than assumptions. We have a narrow window to safeguard and rebuild this industry. If we don’t act now, we won’t get a second chance.”
