Tax breaks in UK seen to help foster greater innovation
London, 2nd September, 2013: New research from GE Capital shows mid-market firms in the UK are putting a greater strategic focus on innovation and new product development as they push for growth. 30% of mid-market firms in the UK say that they will be placing a greater emphasis on having dedicated funding for R&D, matching Germany.
The mid-market study, based on a combination of telephone interviews with 2,200 board level mid-market executives and extensive database research of over five million company records, finds one in three (35%) UK mid-market firms said they will be putting greater emphasis on investing in innovation and new product development in the coming 12 months. This again matches the German mid-market response - a segment long seen as a centre for innovation.
Within the UK, publically-available data[1] shows that mid-market firms are responsible for registering 300,000 new patents, representing just over half (53%) of all patents registered in the UK. This compares to 27% for Germany.
Professor Stephen Roper, Director of Enterprise Research Centre, Warwick Business School, said: "Much has been written about Tech City and London being one of the foremost centres in Europe for start-ups, but innovation is by no means restricted to new ventures. Mid-market firms in the UK are forging ahead with research and development. The UK patent box is making it more attractive to register patents in the UK and mid-market firms in the UK are punching above their weight. Germany relies far more on its larger companies for innovation."
Ilaria del Beato, CEO of GE Capital UK, commented: "Our research showed that one of the characteristics of high growth firms is that they re-invest in the business for research and development, innovation, and productivity improvement.
"While Germany has long been held up as a centre for innovation, our research shows UK mid-market firms are starting to place a greater emphasis on R&D, positioning them strongly for future success. In fact, public data shows the UK mid-market sector filed more patents last year than the equivalent for France and Italy combined."
Other key findings from the report include:
- 54% of mid-market firms in the UK said that companies their size are uniquely advantaged to maximise opportunities for innovation (vs. 46% in Germany)
- 17% of UK mid-market firms say they are striving to set the standard for their entire industry through innovation and fresh thinking (vs. 14% in Germany)
- Industries where the UK was more innovative than Germany:
- Administrative activities (14,000 patents vs. 4,500)
- IT and Communications (4,500 patents vs. 1,200)
- Mining (3,200 vs. 200)
- Transportation and storage (1,200 vs. 750)
Tom Steiner
GE Capital EMEA
[email protected]
+44-(0)-208-185-2494