UK bottling giant struggles as energy prices soar

Molten glass drops through chutes before being blown into bottles at manufacturer Encirc's northwest England plant, where intensive operations are under strain from exorbitant energy prices weighing on Britain's heavy industry.

"They are paying a lot more energy costs than the European competitors," said head of corporate affairs at Encirc, which makes over a third of the UK's glass bottles.

Britain has some of the highest energy prices in Europe, driven by its reliance on natural gas and the costs of transitioning to renewables, which are passed on to bills. The country's industrial electricity prices were also the steepest in Europe in 2024, according to the latest annual government data.