Innovation on the rise as UK economy improves

The proportion of “innovation active” companies in the UK rose between 2011 and 2013 as the country’s economy began to recover from the recession, according to the government's latest UK Innovation Survey.

The 2013 survey, published by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on 10 April, found that 45 per cent of UK firms engaged in innovation between 2010 and 2012, compared with 37 per cent in the 2011 survey, which covered the years 2008 to 2010.

“It is inevitable that economic conditions have an impact on the way businesses behave,” the survey report says. “In the last survey, the economic conditions were much more unfavourable.”