The UK’s leading innovators, investors and policymakers came together in Manchester to discuss collective action to make the UK an Innovation Nation, that can lead the world in tackling global challenges, while also creating growth, millions of new jobs, and better living standards.
The Innovation Nation Summit – convened by the Growth and Reform Network think tank and opened by the Rt Hon Gordon Brown featured keynote addresses including from the Prime Minister, Andy Burnham who said “I today set the nation’s goal to be the world’s leading innovation nation” as he made a series of announcements
In his speech, Gordon Brown cited research which reveals that an innovation-led growth strategy focusing on clusters of innovation across the UK could make the economy £100bn larger in a decade, bringing an additional £35bn in tax revenue to the Treasury, making each person in the country £5,000 better off and creating millions of jobs. He also mentioned the results of a new Focaldata survey, indicating that 74% of people in the UK back an innovation-led approach to growth.
The Innovation Nation Summit included contributions from the UK’s leading innovators and policymakers including Sir Paul Nurse, Professor the Lord Darzi, Dame Kate Bingham, Mohamed El-Erian, Business Secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, AI Minister, Kanishka Narayan, and local leaders, including Mayor of Greater Manchester, Bev Craig. They explored how national policy and local leadership can combine to turn more UK start-ups into world-beating business based here can ensure “the UK turns its world-leading science, talent and ideas into the growth, investment and opportunity the country needs”.
Launching the event, the Rt Hon. Gordon Brown said: “Innovation is the only sustainable way to deliver the Prime Minister’s promise of good growth in every postcode……that is why Andy Burnham is right to put sharing power across our nations and regions at the heart of his plans.” And he stressed: “Ours must be a partnership of inventors, investors, industrialists and government, enabling innovation to drive local, regional and national growth. The places that built Britain can rebuild Britain. And if we get this right, then ours will be an innovation nation once again, with all people and all places presenting the best of the UK to the world.” Before warmly welcoming Andy Burnham to the stage, Mr Brown said in his speech to open the conference: “By his very presence today Andy Burnham is showing innovation is at the heart of his broader project to rebuild our country.”
The Prime Minister, Andy Burnham who made a series of announcements from the stage including confirmation the Government was leading a £48 million industry partnership to support clinical studies into dementia research and a pledge to bring in “the Bosman ruling for the innovation sector” and legislate to prevent non-compete clauses said: “Gordon is right, Britain can be the world’s leading innovation nation. We are an innovation nation, but I today set the nation’s goal to be the world’s leading innovation nation. This will mean having a globally significant cluster in every region and nation and within those clusters a globally significant company on the scale Gordon was just describing. And from that having investment, growth and good jobs fairly distributed across the UK as part of a new intentional national drive to reindustrialise the UK for the 21st century as an innovation -led research driven economy.”
Ben Lucas, Executive Chair of summit organisers the Growth and Reform Network (Metro Dynamic Director), said: “Today’s summit is about how we turn an abundance of talent and invention into an abundance of growth and opportunity. The Growth and Reform Network is working with our member mayoral strategic authorities and councils to support innovation-led reindustrialisation of UK regions. We have identified 127 clusters of innovation across the UK and now need to turn these into scalable regional growth opportunities. That’s how innovation can deliver major social benefits and unlock opportunity for people and businesses across the UK.”
Professor the Lord Darzi of Denham OM KBE PC FRS, surgeon, Director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London, former Health Minister and author of the 2024 Independent Investigation of the NHS in England, said: “As a surgeon, I have spent my career watching good ideas wait too long to reach patients. Britain has never lacked brilliant science on dementia. What we have lacked is the plumbing: joined-up data, trials that people can easily take part in, and a fast route from proof to practice. Today’s commitments begin to build it. Dementia also shows why health is an economic question. Most of its cost falls on families and on social care, not on hospitals. If we can prove what works here, and make sure it reaches every family in every region, Britain can lead the world not only in discovering new treatments, but in delivering them.”
The conference paper sets out five shifts: Diffusion of technology across the economy to lift productivity, braver backing of our clusters across the UK, more innovative firms scaling and staying here, relentless execution and delivery, and the dynamism that comes from talent and new ideas breaking through.
And against a backdrop of rapid technological change, shifting geopolitics and a renewed focus on economic growth, organisers The Growth and Reform Network (GRN) used the conference to set out how:
- The UK has the science, talent and ideas to become an Innovation Nation that leads the world in solving its biggest challenges.
- An innovation-led growth strategy is the route to stronger growth, higher living standards and millions of new jobs, as well as improved competitiveness globally.
- The UK can become the world’s leading innovation economy outside the US and China, but it must get better at turning ideas into globally relevant businesses.
- The UK could create three million jobs through an innovation-led growth strategy. Increasing UK R&D investment to levels seen in countries such as Sweden and Japan could make the economy £100bn larger in a decade and generate an additional £35bn a year in tax revenues without increasing tax rates.
The Innovation Summit Agenda and Conference Paper is online here.
The Growth and Reform Network is a partnership between The Future Governance Forum and Metro Dynamics, working to support good growth and better public services at regional and local level. Our network of 27 local and combined authorities across the UK brings together mayors, local leaders and practitioners with national policymakers to develop the innovative ideas, policy and practice to drive local growth and reform. At the heart of this is supporting innovation to increase the trend rate of growth, create better jobs and opportunities for people all over the UK, and improve public service outcomes. The network exists to support devolution to achieve its full potential, with a more preventative and productive model of local growth and public service delivery
Guest Speakers:
- The Prime Minister, The Rt Hon Andy Burnham MP, topped a stellar list of guest speakers – comprising:
- Professor Greg Clark CBE, Global Advisor and writer on cities and innovation
- The Rt Hon Gordon Brown, Former Prime Minister
- The Rt Hon Jonathan Reynolds MP
- The Rt Hon Kanishka Narayan MP
- Baroness Shriti Vadera PC
- Dr Nigel Steward, Director and Professor of Practice at the CSEP at Imperial College London
- Professor the Lord Darzi of Denham, Director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London
- Ruth Nic Aoidh, Vehicle Line Director – Energy Eco Systems and Electrified Propulsion at Jaguar Land Rover
- Prof. Juergen Maier CBE, Industrialist, Chair of Great British Energy
- Sir Paul Nurse – Nobel laureate geneticist and President of the Royal Society
- Professor Dame Jessica Corner DBE – Executive Chair, Research England
- Bev Craig – Mayor of Greater Manchester
- Saul Klein OBE – Co-Founder and Chair of Phoenix Court
- Mohamed El-Erian – Rene M Kern Professor of Practice at The Wharton School
- Sherry Coutu CBE, Senior Independent Director of Raspberry Pi PLC
- Professor Duncan Ivison, President and Vice-Chancellor, The University of Manchester
- Chris van der Kuhl CBE,
- Shaun Grady, Chair of AstraZeneca UK
- Gillian Gregg, Associate Director, Regional Engagement at the Royal Academy of Engineering
- Kasim Kutay – CEO, Novo Holdings A/S
- Dame Kate Bingham DBE – Managing Partner, SV Investors
- Professor the Lord Darzi of Denham – Academic Surgeon and Co-Director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation
- Sir Paul Nurse – Nobel laureate geneticist and President of the Royal Society
- Kellie Beirne, Chief Executive, Cardiff Capital Region
- Stephen Ingledew OBE, Chairman of FinTech Scotland
