Innovation stagnation

UK business R&D investment is stalling—what next for the science superpower?

Remember when we used to talk, endlessly, about the national target of spending 2.4 per cent of GDP on R&D by 2027? We are less obsessed by it now—like Tiger King and sourdough starters, that’s so 2020.

At the time, Playbook had two hot takes on the matter. The first was that when 2027 eventually rolls around, no one should be surprised if the government pulls together a big spreadsheet that classifies all sorts of stuff as R&D spending and with great fanfare announces that the target has been met.