Budget Boosts Tech Firms to Grow and Stay in UK

Science, innovation, and technology will spark fresh growth across the economy and deliver scores of new jobs to create a fairer, stronger, more prosperous Britain, as our brightest minds are given new support to start-up, scale-up, and stay in the UK.

With a fresh package of backing for entrepreneurs, new support for companies at the cutting-edge of innovation, and AI champions who will help boost adoption of the tech in key growth sectors, the Budget will help to deliver a new wave of growth powered by science and technology.

The government is backing British tech and science expertise to deliver national renewal - matching private enterprise with public ambition to back businesses and firms who choose to build in Britain. This is the first time UK-listed companies will have a three-year stamp duty holiday, saving firms up to £50 million per year, alongside increases to share prices and reforms to ISAs. These bold measures will get more people investing in our stock market and pave the way for the next generation of tech leaders and unicorns to grow and thrive on home soil.

Headline measures for the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology (DSIT) from yesterday's Budget include an Entrepreneurship Prospectus to outline the UK's offer to founders looking to start new ventures, and the expansion of the BridgeAI programme across more Industrial Strategy sectors to tackle the barriers in the way of businesses adopting AI. This comes on top of a £7 billion cash injection through UKRI to support the country's most innovative companies, and dedicated support to help firms access the cash they need to scale and grow here on UK shores.

Ensuring businesses can seamlessly navigate the world of private procurements, other new measures being introduced will help identify, nurture, and protect the UK's high-growth sectors, like AI and other emerging technologies. This will help build the new foundries and data centre floors that strengthen the economic resilience and security for our Industrial Strategy and give entrepreneurs the support they need to realise their potential.

To further strengthen these new foundations of growth, sweeping reforms to generous tax reliefs will be maintained also ensure that so hard working people get to keep more money in their pocket. In science and tech particularly, a targeted advance assurance service will launch in the spring to give small and medium-sized enterprises clarity on key aspects of their R&D tax relief claims before submitting to HMRC. This will slash red tape and allow them focus on doing what they do best.

AI in particular has become a major engine of growth for the UK, with more than £70 billion worth of investment committed to that sector alone since the government took office. Yesterday's Budget will help drive that appetite for investment further and faster by backing British ingenuity and expertise to be the key drivers of consistent growth across the economy.

Science and Technology Secretary, Liz Kendall said:

There is no better path to growth - and higher productivity - than backing British science and technology companies to start up, scale up and stay.

In the last week alone, we've harnessed AI to deliver more than 10,000 jobs, billions in investment, and new avenues for businesses to grow and flourish.

Matching private enterprise with public ambition, this is a Budget for entrepreneurs, enterprise and for prosperity - putting us at the heart of the government's mission to usher in a new era of growth, renewal, and opportunity for all.

DSIT's Autumn Budget announcements

Support for entrepreneurs

A newly published Entrepreneurship Prospectus, released alongside the Budget, will ensure that our brightest companies have the talent, finance and market opportunities they need to start-up, scale and thrive as they stay in the UK.

A £7 billion investment in innovative enterprises, like diagnostics firms working to detect antibiotic resistance much faster than traditional methods and clean energy titans finding ways to power electric cars, awarded through UKRI. This includes £4.5 billion earmarked for businesses working on innovations for priority Industrial Strategy sectors, from clean energy and advanced engineering to financial services and life sciences.

New Enterprise Fellowships will fund up to 100 world-class researchers to spinout their ideas into flourishing businesses, or to take-up secondments in the business world, backed by £4 million in funding. The fellowships will back companies to scale-up by giving them access to the finance they need to grow.

To support companies scaling up, the British Business Bank (BBB) has a package of announcements. 60% of BBB's venture and growth investment will be targeted on scale-ups and they will deliver on a new plan to unlock significant UK pension fund capital for UK assets as we increase the private investment available at this crucial stage. This includes:

• at least 5 new Series B funds from the British Business Bank. Early-stage businesses seek this funding to refine their brand or develop new products to capture wider markets. With more of these pots to dip into, these companies can continue to grow in the UK
• at least ten new to market growth-stage fundraisings over the next 5 years to provide more investment for the companies who have proven their ideas and are now looking to expand, hire more people and enter new markets.

We are providing crucial early revenue for growing companies, including through Advance Market Commitments (AMCs) so government acts as an early buyer for the best new technologies, starting with up to £100 million to back the next generation of cutting-edge AI chips.

We are setting up a new £130 million 'Growth Catalyst' Innovate UK scheme, offering grants and tailored support to companies at the frontier of science and tech. The previous programme turned £156 million of grants into £1.55 billion of follow-on investment.

And to create the market opportunities companies need to thrive in UK, we're reforming government procurement to provide crucial early revenue and contracts. We'll showcase their innovations to multiple potential public sector buyers at once, in an online open marketplace.

AI Champions

New AI sector champions, chosen for their deep knowledge and expertise of their industry, will spearhead the rollout of AI across industrial strategy sectors. Shaheen Sayed, Chief Commercial Officer for Reinvention Services, Accenture has been named as the champion for Professional Business Services and Chris Dungey, CTO High Value Manufacturing Catapult, for Advanced Manufacturing. They join Lucy Yu CEO and founder of the Centre for Net Zero, who was appointed AI champion for Clean Energy to work in sectors where AI can be at its most transformative, help harness AI to create the best jobs opportunities, unlock the most growth, and reinforce UK's global leadership as an AI power.

They join venture capitalist James Wise who will chair the Sovereign AI Unit, backed by almost £500 million in investment to help build and scale AI capabilities on British shores.

Bridge AI Programme

Innovate UK's BridgeAI programme will power more AI adoption and productivity in the UK. A one-stop-shop for UK businesses seeking access to high-quality advice and support on AI adoption, created in 2023, BridgeAI has supported over 3000 businesses from the agriculture, creative industries, transport and construction sectors to develop and deploy new AI solutions. The programme will now reach more sectors across the industrial strategy to shrink the national adoption gap and grow the next generation of AI giants. BridgeAI offers funding and support opportunities, such as connections with AI experts, to assess and implement AI solutions within high-growth businesses, to tackle the barriers facing entrepreneurs who want to make the most of AI.

Support for semiconductor sector

A £10 million investment for the semiconductor industry in South Wales to maximise the growth opportunities from the AI Growth Zone. Semiconductor technologies are critical to powering AI and data centres, allowing them to manage and process large amounts of information quickly. This funding will enhance the UK's lead in the semiconductor sector while strengthening supply chains and backing cutting-edge innovation in AI that will create high-skilled jobs in local communities. It builds on the Industrial Strategy and the Digital and Technologies Sector Plan , ensuring the UK remains at the forefront of innovation in frontier technologies.

R&D package

The Chancellor set our more measures to unlock the R&D breakthroughs our healthcare, agriculture and cybersecurity sectors need to thrive, with UK universities at the forefront. These include:

• £9 billion of UKRI's record £38.6 billion settlement will go towards backing the Industrial Strategy sectors, the fields of research in which the UK is among the strongest in the world, like AI and quantum, which could deliver breakthroughs in healthcare or pioneering cybersecurity tech to safeguard our country from threats and protect our growth

To support the economic contribution of the UK's universities, UKRI's investment in core quality-related block grant and Higher Education Innovation Funding will be protected in real terms over the Spending Review, a cumulative increase of over £425 million.

The latest round of Innovate UK's Women in Innovation Awards, with £4.5 million available for up to 60 inspirational women - building on findings showing that if men and women started and scaled businesses at the same rate, this could add up to £250 billion to the UK economy.

A significant boost to the UK's world-leading Metascience Unit, with government investment tripling to £49 million.

The first 4 world-leading researchers relocating to the UK through the £54 million Global Talent Fund. These lead researchers are expected to also bring up to 10 individuals to support their research projects from abroad to spearhead work which could transform our health and wealth. This includes new insights into Alzheimer's and better ways of tackling the pests and diseases that could cost the global agriculture industry over £400 billion in losses every year.

Yesterday's Budget positions science, innovation, and technology as key drivers of growth and national renewal. The UK is already one of the world's most valuable tech sectors, and will now harness its world-leading expertise to help deliver further transformations for hard working people - from new jobs and more money in people's pockets to delivering public services fit for the modern day.