“UK industry faces a cocktail of problems - from over-dependence on specific sectors of the economy and low productivity, to insufficient opportunity and a lack of good jobs. To tackle these, the new Industrial Strategy must be grounded in two complementary sources of competitiveness; innovation and enterprise, the growth of which depend on greater commitment and investment to science and research.

“The announcement by the Prime Minister at the CBI annual conference hints at what the Industrial Strategy might include and is the best science and research funding news to come out of the government in the last ten years. There is always a need to be cautious, but I think we can be optimistic about what this means for R&D in the UK. We hope it goes some way in addressing the North-South funding imbalance and making the UK economy work for everyone."

For additional comment, please contact Kasia Murphy in the Nesta press office on [email protected] or on 020 7438 2160