The Henry Royce Institute (Royce) has today welcomed The UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy – the first formal government industrial strategy since 2017.
The new strategy outlines priority sectors vital to the UK’s economic future: Advanced Manufacturing, Clean Energy Industries, Creative Industries, Defence, Digital and Technologies, Financial Services, Life Sciences, and Professional and Business Services.
The Industrial Strategy has a big ambition for advanced manufacturing, with an objective to “near double the annual business investment in the sector from £21 billion, to £39 billion in 2035, driving growth across the economy.”
Crucially, within the Advanced Manufacturing pillar (as indicated in the Industrial Strategy’s Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan), Advanced Materials is highlighted as one of six “frontier manufacturing industries” with the greatest growth potential.
A national approach to the advanced materials sector is being stimulated through an initial £50 million commitment to deliver Phase 1 of a new, ambitious National Materials Innovation Programme (NMIP).
Responding to the Government’s Industrial Strategy, Professor David Knowles, Royce CEO, said:
“Our world has changed dramatically over the past decade. The urgent need to decarbonise, the immense pressure on our healthcare systems, the imperative to reduce waste in all its forms, and the challenge of extending the life of our critical infrastructure are now central to our national priorities.
“Materials, and the tremendous innovation that brings them to market, have rightly been recognised in this vital strategy as key to tackling these issues head-on. I often say materials ‘operate in the shadows’ – quietly enabling progress behind the scenes. It’s therefore encouraging to see materials science acknowledged as a cornerstone of the UK’s long-term industrial future.
“Throughout history, humanity’s ability to create and harness new materials has been the foundation of technological progress and economic growth. Today that same ability is essential if we are to build a more sustainable, resilient and prosperous society and we look forward to working with the Materials Innovation Group and Government to drive transformational materials programmes.”
Allan Cook CBE, Chair of the Materials Innovation Group added:
“This important new Industrial Strategy significantly strengthens the partnership between Government and business, paving the way for a more collaborative and resilient economic future. As the Strategy highlights, our Manufacturing sector has been a cornerstone of the UK’s industrial strength for the past three centuries.
“I am particularly pleased to see materials placed at the heart of the Advanced Materials pillar, and to see the vision of the National Materials Innovation Strategy taking shape. While advanced materials research is a longstanding UK strength, we must do more to translate that excellence into commercial success. We look forward to working with Government to close this gap, ensuring the UK leads the way in embedding materials innovation across manufacturing, energy and healthcare.”
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves MP said:
“The UK has some of the most innovative businesses in the world and our Plan for Change has provided them with the stability they need to grow and for more to be created.
Today’s Industrial Strategy builds on that progress with a ten-year plan to slash barriers to investment. It’ll see billions of pounds for investment and cutting-edge tech, ease energy costs, and upskill the nation. It will ensure the industries that make Britain great can thrive. It will boost our economy and create jobs that put more money in people’s pockets.”
THE ROLE OF ADVANCED MATERIALS WITHIN THE INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY
The Strategy sets out the case for advanced materials and how vital they are for the future of Advanced Manufacturing, while also underscoring energy, digital technologies, defence and life sciences industries.
Using the recently published economic analysis from the Royce facilitated National Materials Innovation Strategy, the new Industrial Strategy confirms that material businesses create significant opportunities.
- There are approximately 2,700 companies in the UK active in materials innovation, employing over 630,000 people, adding £45 billion to the economy every year, around 2% of the UK total.
- 90% of them are SMEs and 70% are located outside London and the South East, offering valuable growth opportunities around the UK.
- In the last 4 years, UK companies active in advanced materials have secured more than £8 billion a year in private and public funding for innovation activity within the UK, meaning demand for materials-related jobs is also on the rise, expected to at least double by 2035.
To facilitate the collaboration, coordination and growth required, the Industrial Strategy sets out the following approach:
- Coordinate a national approach to advanced materials with government, industry, and academia.
- Accelerate the development and adoption of new and improved strategically important materials.
- Maintain our world-class environment for R&D in advanced materials.
- Build international partnerships to set standards and strengthen innovation globally.
The following Key Interventions will now be accelerated:
- Champion a national approach to Advanced Materials, bolstering defence capabilities.
- Deepen our research and training offer around advanced materials, including through international partnerships
The Industrial Strategy also indicates a commitment to continue to work with industry through existing sector councils and taskforces, which have been vital to the sector’s success. This includes the Materials Innovation Group, composed of senior representatives from across the UK Advanced Materials community, with strong industry representation.
Download The UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy
Download the Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan
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ABOUT THE HENRY ROYCE INSTITUTE
The Henry Royce Institute (Royce) was established to ensure the UK can exploit its world-leading expertise in advanced materials and accelerate innovation from discovery to application. With over £200 million of facilities in dedicated state-of-the art laboratories, Royce is ensuring that academics and industry in the UK’s materials community have access to world-class research capabilities, infrastructure, expertise, and skills development
Royce supports world-recognised excellence in UK materials research, accelerating commercial exploitation of innovations and delivering positive economic and societal impact for the UK:
- Enabling national materials research foresighting, collaboration and strategy
- Providing access to the latest facilities and capability
- Catalysing industrial collaboration and exploitation of materials research
- Fostering materials science skills development, innovation training and outreach
Royce research is investigating how we make the materials around us work for us in a more sustainable way – embracing safety, durability and minimal environmental impact in order to deliver clean economic growth.
From future cities and their energy supplies, to computing, manufacturing and medicine, the research and innovation facilitated by Royce has the potential to significantly impact peoples’ lives. With its hub in Manchester and with capability distributed across nine founding Partners and two Associates, Royce works collaboratively to create real solutions and to have a positive economic and societal impact for the UK.
