Britain launches industrial plan ahead of investor summit

Britain on Sunday launched a first formal strategy for industry in seven years, as the new Labour government pledged greater stability and certainty for businesses on the eve of a major investment summit in London.

Britain’s manufacturers have been calling for a new industrial strategy from government, which they say would give them certainty over long-term policy direction in a post-Brexit, post-pandemic world which has undergone energy shocks and high inflation.

Make UK, the sector’s trade body, has said the UK is the only major economy not to have a comprehensive industrial plan in place. Britain last published an industrial strategy under former Prime Minister Theresa May’s government in 2017.

Details of the new industrial strategy would be laid out in a consultation document, known as a green paper, to be published at 0830 GMT on Monday.

The government said it would focus on eight growth sectors: advanced manufacturing; clean energy; creative industries; defence; digital and technologies; financial services; life sciences; and professional and business services.

“Our modern Industrial Strategy will hardwire stability for investors and give them the confidence to plan not just for the next year, but for the next 10 years and beyond,” business and trade minister Jonathan Reynolds said in a statement.

The government also named Microsoft UK Chief Executive Clare Barclay as chair of its new Industrial Strategy Advisory Council.

The launch of the strategy coincides with Britain’s investment summit on Monday.

It also comes after Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour marked 100 days in power on Saturday, a rocky period marked by row over politicians accepting freebies and the resignation of Starmer’s chief of staff.