Over in the Analysis page of our Substack, our Head of Science and Technology Anastasia Bektimirova writes about her latest report, Governing in the Age of AI: Building Britain’s National Data Library, and how to drive innovation and growth through a new National Data Library.
Three Big Ideas #27
Three Big Ideas is our weekly roundup of ideas (and our takes on them) in entrepreneurship, innovation, science and technology, handpicked by the team.
In this week, Eamonn Ives draws attention to ways to reform the Office for Budget Responsibility in a pro-growth fashion, Anastasia Bektimirova asks whether tokenisation of the economy may require us to rethink institutions, and Jessie May Green looks at how smart siting could boost the rollout of renewable power.
Spring Statement 2025
This afternoon, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves gave her Spring Statement. Read below for our team’s snap reaction to some of the main points concerning economic growth, innovation and entrepreneurship.
On the revised growth forecasts
Eamonn Ives, Research Director at The Entrepreneurs Network, said:
“For a Government which regards growth as its central mission, today’s forecasts are the epitome of a mixed bag. Supporters of the Chancellor will point to the upward revisions to growth figures from 2027. These are fuelled by the Office for Budget Responsibility deciding it can now evaluate the estimated impact of Labour’s planning reforms – which it thinks could single-handedly raise growth by 0.5%.
“Detractors, however, will note that growth projections for 2026 were slashed in half – to an abysmal 1%. What’s more, even if subsequent years do see higher output than previously anticipated, Britain will nonetheless fail to break 2% annual GDP growth by the end of this Parliament. Contrary to the cheers of Labour backbenchers, that should be no cause for celebration from anyone. Furthermore, while the OBR has factored in the positive growth effects of planning reforms, it has not done the same for the forthcoming regulations promised in the Employment Rights Bill. Should this legislation slow down hiring or impose additional burdens on employers, we should only expect yet more changes to the forecasts – and not in a welcome direction.”
On the additional investment pledged for defence capabilities
Anastasia Bektimirova, Head of Science and Technology at The Entrepreneurs Network, said:
“Today’s announcements signal recognition that our security landscape demands not just greater investment, but a fundamental transformation in how we deliver military capability. The £2.2 billion uplift for the Ministry of Defence, including investment towards technologies such as autonomous systems and AI-enabled capabilities, is welcome. The focus on bringing these innovative technologies to the frontline faster through UK Defence Innovation supported with £400 million ringfenced budget, scaling over time, is promising, as is the segmented procurement approach which could finally address the notoriously slow acquisition processes that have hampered our defence capabilities.
“But as always, the true test will be implementation. The new Defence Growth Board must include frontier expertise from the defence tech ecosystem, especially given the Government’s commitment to make it easier for startups to bring innovative technologies to the frontline at speed. Success will be measured not by announcements or budgets, but by whether our frontline forces can rapidly deploy cutting-edge capabilities that replace the dated systems they’ve been relying on for far too long.”
On the announcement on tax reliefs for entrepreneurs and investors
Eamonn Ives, Research Director at The Entrepreneurs Network, said:
“Britain is Europe’s leading entrepreneurial ecosystem but it didn’t get that mantle by chance. It took years of careful policy making to incubate an environment where founders, investors and alike can take bets on launching dynamic startups and growing them to scale. Longstanding and globally revered tax reliefs like the Enterprise Management Incentives Scheme, the Enterprise Investment Scheme and the Venture Capital Trust Scheme all fall firmly into this category – supporting not only home-grown entrepreneurs but also enticing foreign talent from around the world to choose Britain as their place to build.
“The Government’s announcement to convene a series of roundtables to examine these reliefs is therefore encouraging. Though they have proven successful to date, aspects of some now require inspection – not least around limits and thresholds for qualifying companies which have stayed static since their inception. With minor tweaks, we can ensure they continue to deliver for our precious entrepreneurial ecosystem, and by extension, the whole of the British economy.”
On the consultation on R&D tax relief
Philip Salter, Founder of The Entrepreneurs Network, said:
“For many founders of the UK’s most innovative companies, delays and uncertainty around the UK’s R&D tax credits regime have hit them hard. While the Government has made efforts to improve the system, more work is needed, with the announced consultation offering an opportunity to improve the system.
“However, the consultation is too focused on widening the use of advance assurance. While this can provide certainty to businesses, it’s not without an administrative burden – both for businesses and the government – and fails to address the more serious problems in the system: delays, errors, and a lack of avenues to reach HMRC.”
On the continuation of Making Tax Digital
Philip Salter, Founder of The Entrepreneurs Network, said:
“Continuing the rollout of Making Tax Digital is the correct decision from the Government. This will nudge Britain’s businesses towards increasing their productivity, as it reduces the time entrepreneurs devote to dealing with tax, while minimising inaccuracies. As a next step, the Government now needs a solid plan to present at the next Budget for the four million taxpayers who have income below the £20,000 threshold.”
Three Big Ideas #26
Three Big Ideas is our weekly roundup of ideas (and our takes on them) in entrepreneurship, innovation, science and technology, handpicked by the team.
In this week, Eamonn Ives calls for the Digital Services Tax to be scrapped, Anastasia Bektimirova examines what ‘Everythingism’ is and how it impedes good policymaking, and Jessie May Green looks into the innovators trying to solve water scarcity.
Three Big Ideas #25
Three Big Ideas is our weekly roundup of ideas (and our takes on them) in entrepreneurship, innovation, science and technology, handpicked by the team.
In this week, Eamonn Ives argues the case for technological solutions over behavioural adaptations, Anastasia Bektimirova weighs in on a debate about entreprenerial scholars, and Philip Salter explains why the path of liberalism is the one he’d prefer to take.
Three Big Ideas #24
Three Big Ideas is our weekly roundup of ideas (and our takes on them) in entrepreneurship, innovation, science and technology, handpicked by the team.
In this week, Eamonn Ives implores smart entrepreneurs to work on reducing the cost of far-UVC, Anastasia Bektimirova unpacks a new report that criticises Whitehall’s siloed approach to Industrial Strategy, and Jessie May Green asks whether President Trump’s DEI pushback will ripple across to the UK.
Three Big Ideas #23
Three Big Ideas is our weekly roundup of ideas (and our takes on them) in entrepreneurship, innovation, science and technology, handpicked by the team.
In this week, Eamonn Ives questions whether culture really can explain the economic gap between Britain and the US, Philip Salter weighs up the case for and against banning non-competes and Anastasia Bektimirova makes a plea for greater diversity in funding innovation.
Three Big Ideas #22
Three Big Ideas is our weekly roundup of ideas (and our takes on them) in entrepreneurship, innovation, science and technology, handpicked by the team.
In this week, Eamonn Ives advocates for zonal electricity pricing, Philip Salter discusses IQ and entrepreneurship, and Jessie May Green writes about the health of the UK’s net zero economy.
Three Big Ideas #21
Three Big Ideas is our weekly roundup of ideas (and our takes on them) in entrepreneurship, innovation, science and technology, handpicked by the team.
In this week, Eamonn Ives questions Reform’s latest policy idea, Anastasia Bektimirova discusses how the UK can become a global leader in AI-powered scientific discovery, and Jessie May Green ponders the right approach to thinking innovatively when it comes to decarbonising the economy.
Three Big Ideas #20
Three Big Ideas is our weekly roundup of ideas (and our takes on them) in entrepreneurship, innovation, science and technology, handpicked by the team.
In this week, Eamonn Ives discusses how to ensure policy change doesn’t simply create business uncertainty, Anastasia Bektimirova explains why staying ahead in sensor tech advances is critical, and Philip Salter makes the case for unbundling universities.
Three Big Ideas #19
Three Big Ideas is our weekly roundup of ideas (and our takes on them) in entrepreneurship, innovation, science and technology, handpicked by the team.
In this week, Eamonn Ives takes stock of President Trump’s latest barrage of tariffs, Anastasia Bektimirova discusses bridging the science-policy gap, and Jessie May Green examines what DeepSeek’s ultra-efficient AI model could mean for future energy demand.
Three Big Ideas #18
Three Big Ideas is our weekly roundup of ideas (and our takes on them) in entrepreneurship, innovation, science and technology, handpicked by the team.
In this week, Eamonn Ives looks at the results of a new paper on the benefits of the sharing economy, Anastasia Bektimirova gives her take on the new Science and Technology Venture Capital Fellowship, and Philip Salter argues that fully unleashing academics’ innovative potential will take more than just building.
Three Big Ideas #17
Three Big Ideas is our weekly roundup of ideas (and our takes on them) in entrepreneurship, innovation, science and technology, handpicked by the team.
In this week, Philip Salter urges the public sector to think big on embracing digital technology, Anastasia Bektimirova wonders about how we label innovators, and Eamonn Ives puts forward ideas for spurring agglomeration in London.
Three Big Ideas #16
Three Big Ideas is our weekly roundup of ideas (and our takes on them) in entrepreneurship, innovation, science and technology, handpicked by the team.
In this week, Eamonn Ives asks whether Elon Musk is a genius, Philip Salter writes about the disruption AI could spell for the labour force, and Anastasia Bektimirova discusses the myth of objectives.
Three Big Ideas #15
Three Big Ideas is our weekly roundup of ideas (and our takes on them) in entrepreneurship, innovation, science and technology, handpicked by the team.
In this week, Eamonn Ives highlights an innovation arms race going on in the food industry, Anastasia Bektimirova discusses revolving doors in the world of AI, and Philip Salter espouses the potential of pilots.
Three Big Ideas #14
Three Big Ideas is our weekly roundup of ideas (and our takes on them) in entrepreneurship, innovation, science and technology, handpicked by the team.
In this week, Philip Salter reflects on mirrored life, Anastasia Bektimirova discusses launching startups inside of government, and Eamonn Ives argues the case for paying CEOs like footballers.
Growing Concerns
For a government that came into office with the laudable if stretching ambition of making Britain the fastest growing economy in the G7, today’s growth figures do not make for pretty reading. I say growth figures, but they’d perhaps more accurately be described as contraction figures – with the economy as a whole shrinking by 0.1% in the month of October, mirroring September’s languid performance.
Of course, far from all of the blame lies with the new Government. They inherited a sluggish economy plagued by decades of cumulative underinvestment in the fundamental building blocks of prosperity. Turning the ship around will take time, and credit should be given to the commitment to shake up areas like planning policy, which we know have an outsized influence on growth.
But nor are the occupants of Numbers 10 and 11 Downing Street entirely without fault. Just this week, a number of stories splashed the concerns bosses continue to have following the most recent Budget. OakNorth founder Rishi Khosla warned that tax changes are already causing wealth creators to leave the country, while at a roundtable between the Chancellor and senior business leaders, reports say almost all were pessimistic about the year to come. If Labour are to hit their growth goal, something needs to give.
Never ones to sit on the sidelines in this debate, on Monday we launched our latest report. In Towards A More Special Relationship, supported by our Patron Steve Rigby, we examine how to strengthen the entrepreneurial ties between Britain and its old ally America (the economy of which, if you needed reminding, is up a healthy 2.8% on the year prior). The report saw us talk directly to entrepreneurs who’ve made the hop across the Atlantic, investors who’ve ploughed money into startups stateside, and other key players involved in the growth journeys of similar companies. As well as mapping out the benefits the US market presents, we were also interested in understanding the barriers that prevent those benefits from being seized – and how to subsequently dismantle them.
One of the common themes we heard from those we interviewed was that for all the preconceptions of America being the land of the free, finding a foothold in the US market can be a bureaucratic nightmare. Whether it’s getting insurance or navigating immigration frameworks, founders told us that the administrative aspect of expansion can be a more costly experience than you might imagine – both financially and time-wise. Efforts to simplify this could prove especially helpful for the growth of companies who spot an opportunity.
In terms of our recommendations to foster greater Anglo-American economic integration, we set our sights high. At the top of our list is an appeal for the Government to prioritise a free trade agreement (FTA) with the new US administration once President-elect Trump is sworn in next January. Though certainly ambitious, it would not be unthinkable – when he was last in the White House, Trump appeared keen to strike a deal, and five rounds of negotiations were undertaken in his final year in office. Rachel Reeves, meanwhile, has made a number of positive noises about one in recent weeks and months.
Rarely does a lever for growth quite like an FTA with the world’s biggest economy present itself, but if the Government can yank it, their objectives will be made all the easier. Here’s to hoping they manage to.
Action Stations
On Tuesday, my colleague Anastasia published her fascinating interview with Station F director Roxanne Varza. Among other things, the two discuss how Station F has become a focal point for the French startup scene, what trends European artificial intelligence legislation is setting in motion, and whether there are any policy lessons Britain can learn from across the Channel to boost its own entrepreneurial ecosystem. Highly recommended – all this and more can be found on our Substack.
Three Big Ideas #13
Three Big Ideas is our weekly roundup of ideas (and our takes on them) in entrepreneurship, innovation, science and technology, handpicked by the team.
In this week, Philip Salter explores the gruesome if useful history of medical self-experimentation, Anastasia Bektimirova argues the case for enabling widespread adoption of AI, and Eamonn Ives discusses what lessons the cruise liner industry can teach us on dry land.
Three Big Ideas #12
Three Big Ideas is our weekly roundup of ideas (and our takes on them) in entrepreneurship, innovation, science and technology, handpicked by the team.
In this week, Eamonn Ives discusses likening poor scientific research to dangerous lab equipment, Philip Salter writes about when governments act swiftly, and in a guest post, Patrick King of Reform think tank explains how the Civil Service Fast Stream can up its game.
Three Big Ideas #11
Three Big Ideas is our weekly roundup of ideas (and our takes on them) in entrepreneurship, innovation, science and technology, handpicked by the team.
In this week, Anastasia Bektimirova ponders the possibility of an AI-powered social science revolution, Philip Salter contemplates competition policy, and in a guest post, Jeremy Driver, of Britain Remade, explains why Britain needs to extend the lifespan of its nuclear power plants.