29 March 2017 – The discussion was facilitated at a Parliamentary event bringing together business and Government, co-hosted by the Chair of the BEIS Select Committee Iain Wright MP, fellow Committee member Chris White MP and Jill Duggan, Director, CLG.
The UK Government’s Green Paper published in January, Building our Industrial Strategy, raised many critical questions about what a 'modern' industrial strategy should look like, including how it can build on Britain’s strengths, address low productivity, harness innovation, and look ahead to an efficient and resilient economy.
In order to meet its wide-ranging objectives, the industrial strategy requires collaboration and discussion across sectors and between government and business.
Today The Prince of Wales’s Corporate Leaders Group (CLG) facilitated such a discussion at a Parliamentary event, co-hosted by Iain Wright MP, Chair of the BEIS Select Committee, fellow Committee member Chris White MP and by Jill Duggan, Director, CLG. The event brought together a cross-section of representatives and experts from business including Doosan Babcock, EDF, Ferrovial and Coca Cola European Partners, think tanks, academia and representatives from across government, including from DEFRA, DfT and BEIS.
Speaking at the event Jill Duggan said:
“Today’s discussion created the opportunity to hear from a cross-section of Government, thought leaders and business on developing an industrial strategy that is fit for the future. There was clear consensus from today’s debate that in order to be successful this strategy needs to be inclusive and cross-sectoral and its remit should not be limited to productivity. The industrial strategy needs to take a long-term view in order to ensure the UK develops a leading role in the industries of tomorrow.”
David Mason, Sustainability Manager at Skanska said:
“An important message from today’s discussion was that a siloed approach to the industrial strategy will not work – we need cross-party consensus and cross-government working to really capitalise on this strategy."
Poppy Maltby, Senior Sustainability manager at EDF Energy said:
“It was encouraging to see the emphasis on education in this debate and the call for a mission-based approach that would provide a unifying point around which Government and industry could work to common objectives.”
The event drew on key findings from the CLG's discussion paper UK Industrial Strategy: Navigating a changing world which was published at the end of January. The paper sets out the wide-ranging and dramatic nature of the innovation trends facing the UK and the world. It argues that to position itself for the future, the UK needs an industrial strategy that focuses on the services and functions that industry should provide; identifies the institutions and support needed to facilitate innovation of both technology and business models; and can co-ordinate economic interventions across Government in support of this strategy.
