Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown has declared that innovation could boost the British economy by £100bn in a decade, as he joined Prime Minister Andy Burnham in Manchester for the Innovation Nation Summit. The event, held at Circle Square, brought together dozens of innovators, investors and policymakers.
Mr Brown, now 75, described himself as a "mere volunteer" in the push to make Britain an "innovation nation", a goal also championed by Mr Burnham in his speech. The Prime Minister used the occasion to announce a £48m industry partnership aimed at finding a cure for dementia, and vowed to tackle non-compete clauses that he says can prevent start-ups from hiring and growing.
Summit organised by Growth and Reform Network
The summit was pulled together by the Growth and Reform Network think tank, which wants to "support innovation-led reindustrialisation of UK regions". In its report ahead of the event, the organisation identified 127 clusters of innovation across the UK, many of them in Wales, Scotland and the North.
Asked why he had chosen to get involved, Mr Brown said: "Because I want Britain to move forward and be the success story of the next 10 years. And I think that we've got a period of political stability coming ahead. We've got great universities, we've got a great history of innovation, and we've got to make more of it. And if we're going to increase living standards and if growth is going to get to every part of the country, then the driver is innovation."
Brown backs clusters and devolved funding
Mr Brown said the strategy is to back clusters with infrastructure, skills training and R&D support, building "industrial strength from the ground up". He also pointed to UK Research and Innovation's announcement that it will devolve some small business funding to mayors and combined authorities.
On the upcoming Budget, Mr Brown declined to speculate, saying: "Well, I don't want to speculate about the Budget because I've done too many myself! And it's not a great thing to have a lot of speculation about a future Budget." He added that Mr Burnham was indicating the Budget would focus on innovation, and he hoped the Government's long-term economic plans would centre on an innovation economy.
Scale-ups and capital markets
Mr Brown said Britain could be "better at start-ups and spin-offs than we are at scale-ups", and suggested a public-private partnership involving pensions and insurance companies, backed by the British Business Bank and Great British Energy, to improve funding options. He said national and local pension funds could do more to back British businesses, adding: "Of course, it's got to be attractive for the pension and insurance companies to invest."
Ben Lucas, executive chair of the Growth and Reform Network, said the purpose of the event was "to put innovation at the heart of the government's growth strategy". Adam Terry, executive director of the Future Governance Forum, said the timing was "really kind of perfect at the moment, because we're three weeks out from a Budget... and we've got a brand-new Prime Minister bringing in that kind of energy and purpose and mission."
