Given its ready availability, low price and environmentally friendly character, iron is an attractive and often advantageous alternative to other transition metals in the field of catalysis. This tutorial review summarises recent progress in the development of novel and practical iron-catalysed reactions with a particular focus on those which provide access to new carbon–heteroatom and heteroatom–heteroatom linkages. It shall be of interest for both the academic as well as the industrial community.