A week ago, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the creation of a new Government department – Science, Innovation and Technology – to lead the implementation of his strategy to establish the UK as a global “science superpower” and build the future economy on the back of businesses leveraging breakthrough scientific and technological advances. In consultation with clients and contacts across the fast-growth tech and investment ecosystem, FieldHouse developed a set of five priorities for new Secretary of State Michelle Donelan to address in her role leading DSIT, and coordinated the open letter below, sent to Ms Donelan on 15 February 2023.
The Rt Hon Michelle Donelan MP
Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
Whitehall, SW1.
14th February 2023
Dear Secretary of State,
We represent a cross-section of the UK’s innovation ecosystem, with decades of experience in building, investing in, and supporting high-growth companies.
The creation of the new Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) – announced a week ago – is a positive step and provides a welcome focus on an area of the economy that will drive future growth. Britain’s scientists and technologists produce ideas that change the world, and they deserve to be supported by a dedicated Government department. We welcome this development.
However, for DSIT to deliver on this potential, five urgent issues must be addressed as a priority. Ignoring these issues will not only result in irrelevance for the department at a time when it should be playing a key role in our economic recovery, but also represent a failure of the innovators it is supposed to support. Our five priorities are:
- Universities: The department must examine the commercialisation of technology at our universities – with a focus on how more efficient use can be made of existing funding to support research with the potential to scale into great businesses. We recommend a multi-stakeholder consultation on the spinout process to examine issues around technology transfer, which lacks consistency and often requires entrepreneurs to give up large amounts of equity early in their company’s development.
- Pensions: DSIT must involve itself fully in discussions around pension reforms that would allow pension funds to invest in the venture capital industry. Success in this area would increase the funding available to our most promising technology businesses – many of which are forced to look overseas for investment.
- Innovation hubs: Discussions on spreading innovation around the UK historically have focused on the “golden triangle” of London, Oxford and Cambridge – world-leading centres of science and technology, but far from alone in a country boasting multiple high-quality research-intensive universities. Many of these institutions anchor fast-growing regional tech hubs that are no harder to access from London than tech cities across the Bay Area are from Silicon Valley’s San Francisco epicentre. We must see more detail on how science, innovation, and technology will be nurtured around the whole of the UK if we are to fulfil the Prime Minister’s promise of becoming the “next Silicon Valley”.
- Intellectual property: The department must work to build a robust IP strategy across all territories to protect companies from overseas competition, drive revenue through licensing, and ensure exits are achieved at maximal prices.
- Visas: We require clarity on the future of Britain’s global talent visa, often known as the tech visa, following the decision to end funding to Tech Nation. This provided a route to access talent from around the world for innovative companies and must be retained.
Signatories:
Professor Dylan Jones-Evans OBE, Founder, Fast Growth 50
Francesca James, Founder, Great British Entrepreneur Awards
Roderick Beer, Managing Director, UK Business Angels Association
Sarah Barber, CEO, Jenson Funding Partners
Kjartan Rist, Founding Partner, Concentric
Stephen Page, Founder and CEO, SFC Capital
Henry Whorwood, Head of Research & Consultancy, Beauhurst
Cordelia Meacher, Founder and Managing Director, FieldHouse Associates
Chris Lowe, Founder and CEO, NOTWICS
Michael Mangion, Founder and CEO, Trilvee
Bianca Cefalo, Co-Founder and CEO, Space Dots
Steve King, Co-Founder and CEO, Black Swan Data
Sabrina Del Prete, Founder and CEO, Kore Labs
Hugo Amos, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Black Swan Data
Volodymyr Levykin, Founder and CEO, Skyrora
Ian Merricks, Founder, VenturePath
Seb Wallace, Investment Director, Triple Point
Ben Clark, Director, Future Worlds
Jennifer McGuire, Strategic Partnerships Director, Globalization Partners
Jason Teng, Partner, Potter Clarkson
Sara Holland, Partner, Potter Clarkson
Andrew Richardson, Managing Director, Home Grown
Paul Landau, Founder and CEO, Careology
Paul Excell, Director, Scale-Up Group
Will Orde, Partner, Conviction VC
Charlie Coleman, Investment Associate, Conviction VC
