Welcoming the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement today, chief executive of Innovate UK, Dr Ruth McKernan said:
The support for productivity and business-led innovation announced by the Chancellor today is potentially game-changing. The Industrial Strategy challenge fund, funding for the Biomedical Catalyst and ultra-low emission and connected and autonomous vehicles all show that innovation is at the centre of the industrial strategy.
The Industrial Strategy challenge fund in particular is a substantial increase to the amount of grant funding available to businesses through Innovate UK. It complements our plans to evolve our funding models and broaden the range of support available for innovations at all stages of development.
As the business-facing part of UK Research and Innovation, we will work very closely with the research councils to make sure this support unlocks the full economic potential of our world-leading science base to create more skilled jobs right across the UK.