In his latest blog, CW Growth Hub CEO Craig Humphrey urges the next Government to prioritise formulating the UK’s Industrial Strategy

In his latest blog, Craig Humphrey, CEO at the Coventry and Warwickshire Growth Hub, urges the next Government to forge ahead with an Industrial Strategy for the UK as one of its key priorities.

“An Industrial Strategy for the UK to boost productivity backed by businesses and create jobs with investment in skills, industries and infrastructure has been discussed by Governments for many years but has never, really, seen the light of day.

“Every business knows its own plans over the short, medium and long-term and it’s important that Government has its own strategy too in order to create the infrastructure and conditions for companies of all sizes and sectors to thrive.

“Whatever the outcome of the next General Election, the next Government should work with businesses to devise a workable Industrial Strategy.

“Some of our global competitors have plans that stretch five or ten years and beyond and that’s a really important hook for businesses that are starting and growing. It is the realisation that they have synergy with the country in which they are located and that there is a plan which sits alongside their own ambitions.

“In the USA, Joe Biden introduced the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022 to mobilise private capital to strengthen long-term growth and achieve its climate goals which has acted as the catalyst for around £270 billion of inward investment because the hook is that they can underpin that with an Industrial Strategy that is working.

“The Small Business Administration has been going since the 1950s in the USA so people know it is consistent and that they can engage with it.

“This is important for growth within individual businesses. It is great running a team of four or five people but when a company starts growing to 20 or 30 employees then you are entrusting your staff to do something you did yourself at the start and that’s when running a business starts to become more difficult because you are relying on the expertise of others to deliver.

“Owners need help for those different stages and here at the Growth Hub we work with companies on this journey.

“It is important that our account managers are aware which businesses have growth potential and to understand how we can plug them into the advice and information that is available in Coventry and Warwickshire.

“Some of that support will come from the private sector because it is not always right and proper that it comes from the public sector.

“But I would like to think that if we can spot a high-growth business with potential of anything between five and ten per cent growth, through intervention, we can accelerate their growth to double digits and beyond. If we can, then we’re making a difference not only to the regional economy but the national economy. That, in turn, would help productivity.

“An independent piece of research commissioned by the British Government in 2019 called The Business Productivity Review highlighted that those companies that tap into support are, on average, seven per cent more productive than those that had no external support.

“I would say that’s because they forge a relationship with a single point of contact who – when the time is right – will plug them into the support the company needs and the by-product of that is an increase in productivity.

“We work quite closely with The ScaleUp Institute and their definition of a Scale Up company is 20 per cent growth year-on-year over a period of three years.

“Scale-Up businesses are one per cent of the entire SME business community but they contribute over 50 per cent of the total SME turnover in the UK.

“That’s why it is so important to have a long-term Industrial Strategy which will help to see more businesses grow at a faster pace, and that has to be good news for everyone.”