Industrial strategy: how to make the UK the best place to invest in the world.

It’s unclear whether that mission statement is going on caps to be worn in public anytime soon.  But the target is to do this in ten years with a focus on the high growth sectors, which in Whitehall terms is the ‘IS-8’: advanced manufacturing; creative industries; clean energy; digital technologies; professional and business services; life sciences; financial services; and defence. 

While like me you may think that IS-8 sounds like the personal brand of an international footballer in their twilight years, or in positioning terms is up there with the very forgettable but still used ‘securonomics’, the detail in the strategy and accompanying sector plans is significant and well considered.

Government is backing these sectors and the frontier industries in them.  It is working on the basis that if it provides business and wealth creators with ‘strategic certainty’ on where it sees high value opportunity (but not really the money), it can attract high investment from the private sector.  Time will tell if that is achievable, but it is sensible. 

Britain has lagged behind the rest of the G7 countries in investment for many years.  In his excellent book, ‘Great Britain? How we get our future back’, Torsten Bell, the now pensions minister and one of the key strategic thinkers within Government, focuses on the need for a new high-investment era and the policies that underpin this to raise living standards and close the gap with other European countries. 

This is at the very heart of the objectives for this new industrial strategy.  The challenge to that, of course, is what if people don’t work within those eight sectors?  And do these sectors all feature in their region?  This will be particularly interesting in areas like the West Midlands where I’m based and deindustrialisation continues at pace. 

The role of cities and clusters is also given significant focus.  We now await Local Growth Plans from mayoralties to follow the industrial strategy and those will bring a local lens and understanding of economic geographies and regional DNA to layer on top of the national strategy.

There are some eye-catching new initiatives too – things designed to support local delivery which could make a difference. 

A new £500 million Mayoral Recyclable Growth Fund will ensure mayors will be able to use this funding to break down barriers to accessing finance.  It will also create new opportunities for businesses to grow by providing patient capital for projects such as major city-centre developments and strategic industrial sites.

A Cluster Champions Programme will coordinate investment ready programmes.  There is the rebranding of freeports and investment zones to create Industrial Strategy Zones. 

I have a bit of scepticism about this, because not every business in a frontier industry looking for space will fit neatly into an Industrial Strategy Zone.  And a high-performing creative export like a film studio is unlikely to be located in the same place as a high-performing professional services business. 

But there is lots to commend in the strategy, particularly the clarity on the markets in the sector plans.  

It is sensible that it has looked to set a strategic course for ten years and well beyond into the next Parliament.  Putting industries and places centre stage ahead of politics will be important for future governments. 

But like many industrial strategies that have come before it (and there have been many), it remains to be seen whether it will survive for ten years.  And will we get to properly assess whether backing those sectors and frontier industries was the right thing to do? 

In a world of political, economic and cultural short termism it would be a record if it can stay the course.