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New Report From 112 Business Leaders Calls for Government to Pick Winning Technologies and Sectors to Drive Innovation-led Growth in the UK
LONDON, May 22, 2012/PRNewswire/ --
PA Consulting Group publishes major report on the views of 112 UK business leaders
from the fastest growing technology and innovation sectors: advanced manufacturing, life
sciences and healthcare, consumer products, ICT and electronics, agri-science and high
growth SMEs.
Government should actively embrace and support a modern 'Industrial Strategy' for
innovation-led growth to secure economic recovery, say UK business leaders. This is not a
call for a return to the 1970s' 'Industry Policy' of picking winners at a company level.
It is about identifying and supporting winning technologies and sectors.
Over the last six months PA's Martin Smith and George Freeman MP have hosted a series
of roundtable meetings with leading entrepreneurs, investors, academics and CEOs from
organisations such as Procter & Gamble, Nokia UK Limited, Kraft Foods and Nestle. The
consensus is clear - to secure the UK's economic recovery, the Government must support an
active business-led strategy of identifying and supporting key technologies and sectors.
There was a clear desire to see more active collaboration between government, industry,
academia and finance to expand the UK's economy effectively.
Martin Smith, technology and innovation expert at PA Consulting Group, said: 'Across
each of these sectors there was a clear message: businesses want Government to embrace a
new partnership to support innovation-led growth. It means playing a key role in
supporting our science base and creating incentives for near-market research and
technology transfer. Government must invest in the skills and infrastructure to build
integrated supply chains and promote a culture supportive of entrepreneurship and
engineering. The clear message from these business leaders is that they are optimistic
about the future and committed to growing their business in the UK. We now need to build
the most supportive environment possible for them to achieve this."
Co- chair George Freeman MP, newly elected to Parliament after a 15 year career in
technology venture capital, said: "This is not a call for a return to 1970s' 'Industrial
Policy' of 'picking winners' at a company level, subsidies or protectionism. It is about a
new partnership approach with Government supporting business led, sector-specific
strategies for key sectors and technologies in which Britain is globally competitive."
There was clear consensus from business around four key actions:
1. Picking winning technologies and sectors
This is not a return to the 1970s' 'Industrial Policy' of 'picking winners' at a
company level, but backing technologies and sectors with the greatest potential to unlock
sustainable UK growth. Other countries have done this to achieve world domination in key
areas such as South Korea in memory chips and Germany in areas of alternative energy.
A modern industrial strategy should be led by industry and supported by Government.
The targeted areas might be sectors such as automotive or aerospace or technologies such
as lightweight vehicles or intelligent highway systems.
2. Aligning organisations active in targeted areas
Business must be empowered to lead change. The work done to rebuild a highly
competitive UK automotive sector since the 1970s, most recently through the Automotive
Council, is seen as a successful case study of what can be done. The UK motor industry is
the sixth largest industry and produces 1.7 million vehicles a year. With the right
support we can, for example, capitalise on Britain's outstanding record in drug
development. Innovation and investment is needed to ensure the related economic benefits
are realised.
3. Encouraging entrepreneurism
A stronger culture of promoting and celebrating entrepreneurship across schools,
universities, banks, public services and Government is vital. A successful innovation
economy needs a high rate of start-up success (and failure) and an environment to support
it. The view was more needs to be done to support SMEs in growing to become the medium
sized companies (GBP50M - GBP100M) of tomorrow. The UK's alternative investment market
(AIM) provides much less depth and continuity of investment than US markets. Many UK SMEs
site R&D offshore in return for funding. Mid-term finance is a particular problem, causing
companies with successful early-stage growth to stagnate or sell out before achieving
their full potential.
4. Increasing excitement about the manufacturing industry
A technologically-advanced and competitive innovation economy needs investment in key
skills across the board. There was a call for more of the UK's school children to study
science, technology, engineering and maths at school or university and greater awareness
of the benefits of industrial careers. To unlock growth in our highest-growth sectors we
need to rebalance the higher education and further education sectors to support these
subjects and develop proven career pathways for a high technology economy. The new 'Inside
Manufacturing' programme, a joint public-private initiative, is a step in that direction.
The scheme invites pupils, teachers and careers professionals to visit some of the UK's
leading facilities to learn about modern manufacturing and the range of jobs available.
For more information, visit
http://www.paconsulting.com/our-thinking/uk-technology-growth-report
Notes to the editor
About PA Consulting Group
We are a firm of more than 2,000 people, specialising in management and IT consulting,
technology and innovation. Independent and employee-owned, we operate globally from
offices across Europe and the Nordics, the United States, the Gulf and Asia Pacific.
We work with businesses and governments to anticipate, understand and meet the
challenges they face. We have outstanding technology-development capability and a unique
breadth of skills, from strategy to performance improvement, from HR to IT. Our expertise
covers energy, financial services, life sciences and healthcare, government and public
services, defence and security, transport and logistics, telecommunications, consumer
goods and automotive.
About George Freeman MP
George Freeman MP was elected in 2010 after a 15 year career in technology start-ups
in Cambridge. Appointed Government Life Science Adviser by the Prime Minister and David
Willetts a year ago, he was instrumental in the UK's Life Science Strategy launched by the
PM in December. A founder of the 2020 Group of Conservative MPs in Parliament, he is an
active advocate of a new industrial strategy for innovation-led growth. For more details
call George on 07855-252-999 or visit http://www.georgefreeman.co.uk/tags/innovation
[http://www.georgefreeman.co.uk ]
About the report
Over the last six months, Martin Smith from PA and George Freeman MP have hosted a
series of 'Roundtable' meetings to draw on the insights and practical experiences of
leading scientists, entrepreneurs, investors and business leaders active in these key
sectors. Over 100 leaders have come together to explore the key drivers, opportunities and
challenges facing their sectors and to identify where they see the greatest opportunities
for growth and what they believe needs to be done in their sector to unlock it. The
participants represented five of the fastest growing sectors: advanced manufacturing, life
sciences and healthcare, consumer products, ICT and electronics, agri-science, small and
medium-sized, and enterprises (SMEs). This report summarises the discussions held at each
Roundtable and captures the views as they were expressed at each sector meeting.
Source: PA Consulting Group
For a copy of the report or more information email Shivani.Joshi@paconsulting.com or call +44-20-7333-5017 / +44-7833-441355.
New Report From 112 Business Leaders Calls for Government to Pick Winning Technologies and Sectors to Drive Innovation-led Growth in the UK
LONDON, May 22, 2012/PRNewswire/ --
PA Consulting Group publishes major report on the views of 112 UK business leaders
from the fastest growing technology and innovation sectors: advanced manufacturing, life
sciences and healthcare, consumer products, ICT and electronics, agri-science and high
growth SMEs.
Government should actively embrace and support a modern 'Industrial Strategy' for
innovation-led growth to secure economic recovery, say UK business leaders. This is not a
call for a return to the 1970s' 'Industry Policy' of picking winners at a company level.
It is about identifying and supporting winning technologies and sectors.
Over the last six months PA's Martin Smith and George Freeman MP have hosted a series
of roundtable meetings with leading entrepreneurs, investors, academics and CEOs from
organisations such as Procter & Gamble, Nokia UK Limited, Kraft Foods and Nestle. The
consensus is clear - to secure the UK's economic recovery, the Government must support an
active business-led strategy of identifying and supporting key technologies and sectors.
There was a clear desire to see more active collaboration between government, industry,
academia and finance to expand the UK's economy effectively.
Martin Smith, technology and innovation expert at PA Consulting Group, said: 'Across
each of these sectors there was a clear message: businesses want Government to embrace a
new partnership to support innovation-led growth. It means playing a key role in
supporting our science base and creating incentives for near-market research and
technology transfer. Government must invest in the skills and infrastructure to build
integrated supply chains and promote a culture supportive of entrepreneurship and
engineering. The clear message from these business leaders is that they are optimistic
about the future and committed to growing their business in the UK. We now need to build
the most supportive environment possible for them to achieve this."
Co- chair George Freeman MP, newly elected to Parliament after a 15 year career in
technology venture capital, said: "This is not a call for a return to 1970s' 'Industrial
Policy' of 'picking winners' at a company level, subsidies or protectionism. It is about a
new partnership approach with Government supporting business led, sector-specific
strategies for key sectors and technologies in which Britain is globally competitive."
There was clear consensus from business around four key actions:
1. Picking winning technologies and sectors
This is not a return to the 1970s' 'Industrial Policy' of 'picking winners' at a
company level, but backing technologies and sectors with the greatest potential to unlock
sustainable UK growth. Other countries have done this to achieve world domination in key
areas such as South Korea in memory chips and Germany in areas of alternative energy.
A modern industrial strategy should be led by industry and supported by Government.
The targeted areas might be sectors such as automotive or aerospace or technologies such
as lightweight vehicles or intelligent highway systems.
2. Aligning organisations active in targeted areas
Business must be empowered to lead change. The work done to rebuild a highly
competitive UK automotive sector since the 1970s, most recently through the Automotive
Council, is seen as a successful case study of what can be done. The UK motor industry is
the sixth largest industry and produces 1.7 million vehicles a year. With the right
support we can, for example, capitalise on Britain's outstanding record in drug
development. Innovation and investment is needed to ensure the related economic benefits
are realised.
3. Encouraging entrepreneurism
A stronger culture of promoting and celebrating entrepreneurship across schools,
universities, banks, public services and Government is vital. A successful innovation
economy needs a high rate of start-up success (and failure) and an environment to support
it. The view was more needs to be done to support SMEs in growing to become the medium
sized companies (GBP50M - GBP100M) of tomorrow. The UK's alternative investment market
(AIM) provides much less depth and continuity of investment than US markets. Many UK SMEs
site R&D offshore in return for funding. Mid-term finance is a particular problem, causing
companies with successful early-stage growth to stagnate or sell out before achieving
their full potential.
4. Increasing excitement about the manufacturing industry
A technologically-advanced and competitive innovation economy needs investment in key
skills across the board. There was a call for more of the UK's school children to study
science, technology, engineering and maths at school or university and greater awareness
of the benefits of industrial careers. To unlock growth in our highest-growth sectors we
need to rebalance the higher education and further education sectors to support these
subjects and develop proven career pathways for a high technology economy. The new 'Inside
Manufacturing' programme, a joint public-private initiative, is a step in that direction.
The scheme invites pupils, teachers and careers professionals to visit some of the UK's
leading facilities to learn about modern manufacturing and the range of jobs available.
For more information, visit
http://www.paconsulting.com/our-thinking/uk-technology-growth-report
Notes to the editor
About PA Consulting Group
We are a firm of more than 2,000 people, specialising in management and IT consulting,
technology and innovation. Independent and employee-owned, we operate globally from
offices across Europe and the Nordics, the United States, the Gulf and Asia Pacific.
We work with businesses and governments to anticipate, understand and meet the
challenges they face. We have outstanding technology-development capability and a unique
breadth of skills, from strategy to performance improvement, from HR to IT. Our expertise
covers energy, financial services, life sciences and healthcare, government and public
services, defence and security, transport and logistics, telecommunications, consumer
goods and automotive.
About George Freeman MP
George Freeman MP was elected in 2010 after a 15 year career in technology start-ups
in Cambridge. Appointed Government Life Science Adviser by the Prime Minister and David
Willetts a year ago, he was instrumental in the UK's Life Science Strategy launched by the
PM in December. A founder of the 2020 Group of Conservative MPs in Parliament, he is an
active advocate of a new industrial strategy for innovation-led growth. For more details
call George on 07855-252-999 or visit http://www.georgefreeman.co.uk/tags/innovation
[http://www.georgefreeman.co.uk ]
About the report
Over the last six months, Martin Smith from PA and George Freeman MP have hosted a
series of 'Roundtable' meetings to draw on the insights and practical experiences of
leading scientists, entrepreneurs, investors and business leaders active in these key
sectors. Over 100 leaders have come together to explore the key drivers, opportunities and
challenges facing their sectors and to identify where they see the greatest opportunities
for growth and what they believe needs to be done in their sector to unlock it. The
participants represented five of the fastest growing sectors: advanced manufacturing, life
sciences and healthcare, consumer products, ICT and electronics, agri-science, small and
medium-sized, and enterprises (SMEs). This report summarises the discussions held at each
Roundtable and captures the views as they were expressed at each sector meeting.
Source: PA Consulting Group
For a copy of the report or more information email Shivani.Joshi@paconsulting.com or call +44-20-7333-5017 / +44-7833-441355.