UK firms trail in R&D spend

The UK is lagging behind its foreign counterparts in R&D investment

The UK is lagging behind its foreign counterparts in R&D investment, although software R&D is a growing sector in the UK, according to government research.

The Department of Trade and Industry’s annual R&D scorecard discovered that the top 750 companies in the UK cut their R&D budgets by 0.5 per cent last year, whereas Korean, Swiss and US companies increased theirs by 40 per cent, 10 per cent and seven per cent respectively.

The government wants to increase the UK’s spending on R&D to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2014, up from today’s 1.9 per cent.

Simon Jackson, sales director at vendor NEC Display Solutions, wanted to see more from companies when it comes to R&D. “We are very heavy in R&D investment. It is critical for companies to put a lot of resource into it to stay ahead of the game,” he said.