78 million from the UK Government and £5 million from Tata Steel UK, is designed to support companies offering skilled, well-paid employment opportunities and help them grow. The fund will complement the work of the Welsh Government and Neath Port Talbot Council to strengthen the local economy. This funding is the latest from the Tata Steel / Port Talbot Transition Board, chaired by Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens and including representatives from the UK and Welsh Governments, local authorities, unions, and business.
The board was set up to protect jobs and the local economy during Tata Steel’s ongoing transition to greener steelmaking in the town. Since August 2024, the Transition Board has allocated £122 million—£102 million from the UK Government and £20 million from Tata Steel—into different funds. These funds provide skills training for ex-workers, support for businesses and the supply chain, and regeneration projects.
So far, they have offered financial support for the creation of 85 new businesses using grants for equipment through the Start-Up Fund, provided grants to 59 companies in Tata Steel UK’s supply chain from the Supply Chain Transition Fund, and given grants to 141 businesses in the local area from the Resilience and Business Growth Funds. Additionally, thousands of training courses have been offered for individuals affected by the Tata Steel transition. The rapid delivery of UK Government funding has helped ensure no increase in unemployment benefits take-up in the Port Talbot region since the transition began.
Port Talbot is set to become the first dedicated hub for floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea, with Associated British Ports (ABP) beginning detailed design and engineering work on new port infrastructure after securing grant funding of up to £64 million from the UK government. The project will support the assembly and deployment of floating turbines that operate in deeper waters off the Welsh coast. ABP said the development could support thousands of jobs and attract hundreds of millions of pounds in further investment, while the UK government stated the new port would help deliver clean, homegrown electricity, protect households from volatile fossil fuel markets, and create up to 5,000 new jobs.
Redeveloping the port to handle wind turbine assembly could position Port Talbot at the centre of a fast-growing clean energy sector, with offshore wind expected to play a major role in meeting future electricity demand and reducing the UK's reliance on volatile global oil and gas markets. Floating offshore wind technology allows turbines to be installed further from shore, opening up areas of the Celtic Sea with some of Europe's best wind resources. 5 million homes—following last year's seabed leasing round.
ABP said business groups had previously argued that securing a major offshore wind port would be central to attracting new industries and supply chain companies to the area.