UK's failure to retain and scale science and technology causing economy to bleed out, warns Lords Committee

12th November 2025

The Committee's report warns the Government that the UK's failure to retain and scale its science and technology companies has now reached crisis point and is causing the UK economy to bleed out.

Without urgent and radical reform, the Government risks acting too late to fix long-standing failures to scale, to retain the economic benefits of R&D in the UK, and to seize the enormous opportunities for technological and economic growth that are currently slipping through its fingers.

Key recommendations
Key recommendations in the report call for:

Clearer leadership from the Prime Minister and Chancellor through a new National Council for Science, Technology and Growth which would coordinate efforts across government and broker compromises between departments.
Reforms to counter-productive visa policies for global talent.
Unlocking institutional investment: the Mansion House Reforms should go further and faster. Amongst other key recommendations, it says that the government should provide incentives for and track pension funds investing in UK science and technology companies.
Reforms to public procurement, including a mandatory target for Departments to spend with innovative UK based SMEs, mirroring measures in the US.
Consolidation and scaling of public investment bodies including Innovate UK, the British Business Bank (BBB), and the National Wealth Fund (NWF).
Changes to career structure, pay and incentives to enable easier movement between academia, business and government.
Risk appetite: Incentivise and protect sensible risk-taking to support domestic innovation in government investment and procurement, adopting a risk-on mindset
Chair's quote
Lord Mair, the Chair of the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, said:

"The UK’s failure to scale its science and technology companies has reached crisis point.

"The UK has experienced sluggish productivity growth and near-flat real wages since the global financial crisis. Its inability to retain more of the economic benefits of its science and technology R&D endeavor is a fatal flaw in any growth strategy.

“We have witnessed a procession of promising science and technology companies choosing to scale overseas rather than in the UK. Even during our inquiry, several significant companies including Oxford Ionics, Deliveroo and Wise have relocated or expanded abroad, and even life sciences stalwarts like AstraZeneca are eyeing the exit.

“The UK economy is simply not working, and the consequences are clear for all to see. If the UK is to arrest its decline, leadership and coordinated action is needed to rescue and strengthen its science and technology sector.

“While the issues facing the UK economy are grave, with decisive and speedy action from the Prime Minister and the Chancellor, our Committee believes challenges can be overcome. There is enormous potential to seize this moment of technological and geopolitical opportunity and catalyse the growth that the UK badly needs.

“The Government will need to use every lever it has to support UK based science and technology companies and entrepreneurs, and to encourage private investors to do the same. By unlocking institutional investment, changing the culture around innovation, and organising its efforts in procurement, public investment bodies, and regulatory reform, the UK Government can still stop the bleeding and reap enormous rewards for the nation."

Read the full report at
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld5901/ldselect/ldsctech/192/192.pdf
109 Pages