Despite the current economic climate, IT industries are
continuing to invest in research and development and the level of
spending by UK businesses is third in the world, according to a
report published on Friday by Science and Innovation Minister Lord
Sainsbury.
The report, by the Department of Trade and Industry's Future and
Innovation Unit, shows that companies with sustained high
investment in R&D reap benefits in higher sales growth, higher
productivity and higher market value.
Lord Sainsbury said:
"The UK pharmaceutical, and aerospace &
defence sectors invest more in R&D than their overseas
competitors, and are examples of the success that can be achieved.
R&D investment levels are also rising in many UK companies in
other sectors, such as in the IT hardware and software, and IT
services sectors. But too many still fail to recognise that R&D
is a key driver of growth. I strongly urge companies to consider
the findings of this report, and the importance of investing in
R&D."
The full report can be obtained from the Future and Innovation
Unit's web-site, http://www.innovation.gov.uk, together with sector
by sector analysis of companies' performance.
