The Labor government has unveiled a record £55 billion investment in research and development (R&D), marking the largest long-term commitment to science and innovation in British history.
The announcement underlines Prime Minister Keir Starmer's pledge to transform Britain into a “science and technology superpower” by the end of the decade.
The plan, confirmed by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), will invest billions of dollars in the UK's leading research agencies and innovation bodies by 2030. It is a central pillar of the government's modern industrial strategy, which aims to increase productivity, promote high-value jobs and strengthen public-private partnerships in emerging technologies.
Announcing the package at IBM's London headquarters, Science and Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said the funding was “absolutely vital to growing the economy and creating more good jobs”.
“Every pound of public investment in R&D generates twice as much from the private sector,” Kendall said. “This £55 billion commitment will drive innovation in AI, clean energy and advanced manufacturing – and help solve some of the biggest challenges we face.”
Investments include:
• £38 billion for UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the national funding agency for science.
• £1.4 billion for the Met Office, supporting climate and weather research.
• £900 million for the UK's national academies, including the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering.
• The annual budget of the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) will be almost doubled from £220 million to £400 million by 2030 – to fund key technologies with commercial potential.
The initiative highlights the government's focus on aligning public funding with private sector innovation. Kendall's visit to IBM highlighted collaboration between tech giants and British research institutions, including UKRI's £210 million Hartree Centre, which partners with IBM on artificial intelligence and supercomputing projects in medicine and clean energy.
Recent DSIT research found that every £1 of public R&D spending generates £8 in macroeconomic benefits, ranging from productivity gains to increased private investment.
“This is about good jobs, innovation and better value for taxpayers,” Kendall told Business Matters. “There is no way to achieve above-average growth without putting technology and innovation first.”
The government said total R&D spending from DSIT would reach £58.5 billion by 2030, a cornerstone of Labour's industrial and growth strategy. The announcement follows months of lobbying from business groups such as the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), which has urged ministers to set long-term R&D targets and increase national investment to 3.4 per cent of GDP by the end of the decade.
CBI chief economist Lewis Helm called the new R&D package “an important step towards crowding in private capital and ensuring the UK remains competitive in the global innovation race”.
As the government seeks to balance fiscal discipline with its ambition to boost growth, the record investment signals a decisive shift towards science-led economic renewal – putting research, technology and innovation at the heart of the UK's industrial future.
Amy Ingham
Amy is a newly qualified journalist specializing in business journalism with responsibility for news content at Business Matters, the UK's largest print and online source of current business news.
