Jess Brown-Fuller Visits S-FABS to Stand Up for Chichester's Steel Fabricators

On Friday 19 June, Jess Brown-Fuller visited S-FABS, a specialist steel fabrication business based at Ferry Yard Industrial Park in Selsey, to meet the team and hear directly about the serious challenges facing the UK steel fabrication sector ahead of new tariffs due to take effect on 1 July 2026.

S-FABS had contacted Jess to raise concerns about the government's Steel Strategy, and the potentially damaging consequences of the incoming quota and tariff regime for businesses like theirs. Highly skilled and deeply rooted in the local economy, S-FABS is a key part of the wider construction supply chain: exactly the kind of business the government's own Industrial Strategy should be protecting.

Jess Brown-Fuller visiting S-FABS, a specialist steel fabrication business based at Ferry Yard Industrial Park in Selsey.

A central concern discussed was the blunt application of tariffs to specialist steel products that are simply not manufactured in the UK in the required grades, specifications or volumes. For fabricators like S-FABS, that means significantly higher input costs with no realistic domestic alternative, at a time when margins are already tight and demand is fragile. A further worry is that fabricated steel products appear to fall outside the tariff regime entirely, creating a perverse incentive for steel to be processed overseas, undermining UK fabricators and threatening skilled jobs in constituencies like Chichester.

Jess has co-signed a letter to the Secretary of State led by Sarah Olney MP, the Liberal Democrat Business Spokesperson, calling for the government to delay implementation of the new quotas and work with industry on targeted mitigations before irreversible damage is done.

Speaking after the visit, Jess said:

"It was a pleasure to visit S-FABS in Selsey and hear directly from Tony and the rest of the team about the challenges facing UK steel fabricators. Businesses like this are highly skilled, rooted in our local economy, and essential to the wider construction supply chain. 

We discussed the concerns raised around the UK Steel Strategy, particularly the potential impact of tariff structures on competitiveness, supply chains, and the availability of key materials for fabrication, as well as job opportunities businesses like theirs provide for our coastal community in Selsey. 

Following the meeting, I have submitted a series of Written Questions to the Secretary of State, following up on the concerns raised with the government directly."