The foundation industries are vital to the UK manufacturing and construction sectors.
This challenge aimed to transform the UK’s foundation industries by:
The UK’s foundation industries are vital for its manufacturing and construction sectors. The foundation industries are:
The challenge aimed to transform the UK’s foundation industries by:
The ‘Transforming Foundation Industries’ (TFI) challenge was part of the ‘clean growth’ theme of the UKRI Challenge Fund.
The Transforming Foundation Industries Celebration Brochure details the projects, impacts and benefits of the challenge. Further details on all of the individual projects are provided in the project summaries provided below.
Our key achievements include the successful completion of 73 projects, ranging from small-scale feasibility studies to large-scale demonstrator projects. This work has led to significant results, including:
The TFI Challenge created new networks, including Women Innovators in Foundation Industries (WINFI), a community of professionals and organisations that advocate for and champion women in innovation in the Foundation Industries. The WINFI vision is to increase the number of women innovators in the Foundation Industries, helping us deliver the industry’s 2050 vision.
The Transforming Foundation Industries Challenge has successfully leveraged significant funding, fostered extensive collaboration, and driven impactful innovation.
The TFI Challenge led to the creation of the Foundation Industries Sustainability Consortium (FISC) to continue to support the UK foundation industries through sustainability leadership and cross-sector collaboration, accelerating the adoption of disruptive innovation.
The challenge’s programme addressed barriers affecting the sector in several ways. The following are examples of the projects.
In partnership with St Helens Council, Liverpool City Region and the not-for-profit company Glass Futures, we established a £57 million open-access, industrial-scale pilot facility that enables the UK glass sector to trial and validate new technologies under realistic operating conditions. It acts as a ‘learning factory’ for the foundation industries, bridging the divide between R&D and commercialisation.
We launched a series of industry-led collaborative research and development competitions, which focused on cross-sectoral working, skills, knowledge transfer and adoption, to transform the sector’s thinking.
Information on some of the projects funded can be found in our mid-point portfolio, Shaping the future for the foundation industries in the UK.
The EPSRC research and innovation hub, connected university innovators with companies to deploy their technologies in industrial settings.
Transforming Foundation Industries Research and Innovation Hub (TransFIRe)
Through TFI Network+ and Innovate UK Business Connect (formerly KTN), we helped coordinate and develop a network across the foundation industries to remove common barriers to innovation and adoption.
Through partnerships with private equity institutions, we leveraged our funding to provide capital for fast-growing small and medium-sized enterprises.
Our partners included:
All our partners supported the development of a vibrant foundation industries community through virtual and in-person workshops and presentations, as well as networking events.
The Future Leaders Group helped the UKRI challenge team engage more deeply with the foundation industry sectors and provided active feedback on initiatives and support programmes.
The foundation industries exist as we know them today thanks to a series of crucial innovations. These allowed them to manufacture materials at a scale and price that economies worldwide could afford.
The foundation industries have continually evolved over the decades to meet our widening needs. Today, around 75% of the materials we see around us have been made by one of these six key industries.
As we move further into the 21st century, we must rapidly address the challenges posed by climate change, and strive for long-term sustainability in all our endeavours.
Innovation is key to achieving this aim and is the reason the Transforming Foundation Industries Challenge was established.
For more information, see UKRI Challenge Fund blog posts.
Invested £23 million in an experimental glass furnace facility run by Glass Futures Ltd, a not-for-profit company.
The facility is capable of producing 30 tonnes of glass a day for R&D into products such as bottles, jars or windows. It is located in St Helens on a former glassworks site historically occupied by United Glass.
Check out the Large Collaborative R&D Project Showcase, which highlights the seven funded projects spanning all six foundation industries and focusing on various technological innovations.
£8 million funding to support seven innovative new projects. They aimed to improve the productivity and competitiveness of the UK’s foundation industry companies and their supply chains.
Read Small Collaborative R&D and REforMM Project Showcase, where we celebrate the inspiring projects funded through REforMM and Small Collaborative R&D.
£1.2 million funding to support 15 innovative new projects. The projects focused on resource or energy efficiency in the foundation industries and their immediate supply chains, helping companies to adapt and prosper in response to their customers’ increasing demands for more sustainable products.
Check out the IVP and Demonstrator Project Showcase, where we celebrate the funded projects and their impact on industry.
Eight innovative projects were supported by £24 million in funding. They aimed to reduce waste and improve energy efficiency at scale. These projects also showed cross-sector and collaborative elements, with significant industry investment and opportunities.
Check out the IVP and Demonstrator Project Showcase, where we celebrate the funded projects and their impact on industry.
£4.8 million in funding to support seven innovative projects, with the addition of £20 million aligned private equity investment. These investment funds were keen to support innovations that meet the growing demand for more sustainable products in the sector.
Read Resilient Recovery Project Showcase, where we celebrate the inspiring projects that have come through the TFI Challenge Resilient Recovery funding programme.
£8 million funding to support 19 innovative projects, focused on resource and energy efficiency in order to help make the industries more environmentally sustainable, while maintaining their global competitiveness.
Check out the Fast Start Project Showcase, where we celebrate the inspiring projects that have come through the TFI Challenge Resilient Recovery funding programme.
£4.7 million in funding was awarded to the Transforming Foundation Industries Research and Innovation hub (TransFIRE). Led by Professor Mark Jolly, Cranfield University, along with 12 partner universities. Check out the Transforming the Foundation Industries Research and Innovation Hub Completion.
£2 million in funding was awarded to the TFI Network+. The network coordinated and channelled a wide range of expertise throughout UK academia to conduct research projects focused on industrial challenges in UK foundation industries. Check out the TFI Network+ brochure of the funded projects.
£19.5 million in funding was awarded to the Foundation Industries Sustainability Consortium (FISC).
This award was to run the Economic Material Innovation for Sustainable and Efficient use of Resources (ECONOMISER) programme. The programme developed a network of scale-up centres to support industry and academic engagement in innovation, focusing on carbon reduction, process improvement, and product development.
Last updated: 1 December 2025
