Industrial strategy lays foundations for productivity gains

The whitepaper’s Five Foundations address ways in which productivity will be improved, whilst Four Grand challenges identify global trends and the opportunities they represent.

The white paper’s Five foundations for improved productivity are concentrated on ideas, people, infrastructure, business environment and places. Much of the detail – including investing in digital, maths and technical education, supporting electric vehicles and boosting digital infrastructure – was announced in the Budget on November 23, 2017. Also included in the chancellor’s Budget were the support structures for each foundation, including increasing the rate of R&D tax credit to 12 per cent.

The white paper also confirms that government will go ahead with a series of Sector Deals, with construction, life sciences, automotive and AI the first to benefit from these long-term partnerships with government, backed by private sector co-investment.

Ahead of the signing of the Life Sciences Sector Deal, the government today confirmed that life sciences company MSD is set to make a major investment into the UK economy with the opening of a new UK life sciences discovery research facility in London. The new UK Discovery Centre is expected to create 150 new research roles and accommodate approximately 800 additional staff.