Autumn Statement confirms increase in Innovate UK funding to boost growth and productivity

Last week’s Autumn Statement confirmed strong continued support for research and innovation.

Innovate UK’s support for business growth, scale up and research commercialisation forms a key element of that, with responsibility for £2.6bn for core innovation over the spending review period and over £3bn for managed programmes activity.

The Innovate UK programs span many areas across the key domains of Net Zero, Healthy Living & Agriculture and Digital & Technologies, and include a strong focus on place-based innovation, design, and support for the development of talent and skills.

The Innovate UK funded Catapults play a vital role in business growth and commercialisation, providing UK businesses with access to expertise and facilities, where they can test, develop, and demonstrate new technologies and systems, before taking them to market.

The Autumn Statement confirmed a 35% increase in Innovate UK support for Catapults over the next 5 years, a total of £1.6bn, based on Innovate UK developing a bold and ambitious new deal with and for Catapults, driving even greater impact, focus, and private sector leverage across their UK-wide activity.

Commenting on this, Innovate UK CEO, Indro Mukerjee said:

Innovate UK recognises the importance of the Catapults within our system to support new growth and productivity for the UK. They have many talented people, state of the art equipment and some bold ideas. We worked hard to secure an increased commitment and intend to use that to deliver greater impact and improved efficiency.