In the thick of all of the economic turmoil, it is welcome news that the Government is committed to supporting research and innovation with the announcement of the allocation of the £13.9 billion Department of Science, Innovation and Technology research and development budget.

A path to economic prosperity, better employment prospects for all and the solving of major world challenges must surely be underpinned by research and innovation and taking away the barriers that prevent businesses being formed or that limit their growth and impact will benefit everyone.

I’m delighted that funding is available for innovators and entrepreneurs. I hope this will inspire them to innovate and seize the opportunity to create businesses that realise the full potential of their ideas.

I also hope that the planned investments will help to create the environment for business success by enabling the infrastructure to support innovators, including incubator and scaleup facilities.  

Scaleup businesses will surely benefit from access to capital, but by removing the barriers to commercialisation of cutting-edge research and by supporting their growth through appropriate infrastructure, we see the potential for a multiplier effect, where the funding will deliver quicker and better outcomes.

Failure to invest in the supporting and enabling ecosystems for scaleup businesses will reduce the benefit of the proposed investment and will ultimately constrain the growth of new firms and the realisation of the benefits of their innovations, limiting their opportunity to be global market leaders of the future.

Read the Government R&D Fund announcement here