Brexit must accelerate Industrial Strategy not inhibit it - KPMG
2 min read
Speaking on the release of the Government’s Industrial Strategy, James Stewart, Vice Chair at KPMG UK said:
“Brexit has brought the UK’s fractured economic landscape into sharp relief. The way we generate wealth at a national level isn’t working for some people.
“The UK’s patchwork quilt of regional initiatives has left some towns and regions detached from national prosperity. The Government’s Industrial Strategy needs to fix these imbalances urgently and address the UK’s productivity challenge, especially if we are to compete on a global stage post-Brexit.
“Massive gains can be made if we adopt a bold new approach to regional infrastructure, put in place an education system to give people the right skills for tomorrow’s AI enabled workplace, and create faster routes to market through UK-wide incentives to commercialise R&D. Making sure the regionalisation of funding in England catches up with regionalisation policy will also be important.
“Today’s White Paper should be a step towards realising those ambitions, but as business people know only too well, ideas are often the easy part – serious, sustained investment can be a much harder nut to crack. With the Brexit negotiation clock ticking, driverless cars soon to be found on our streets, and drones about to populate our skies - the UK needs to get a move on. We need to make Brexit an accelerant to this process rather than an inhibitor.”
