In the Modern Industrial Strategy, the Government have presented an ambitious vision for the UK’s future but it remains an uphill battle to see results materialise.
While Westminster celebrates the strategy, industry leaders are asking a harder question: Will this ambitious vision translate into the business investment and economic transformation Britain desperately needs, or will it join the graveyard of well-intentioned strategies that failed to deliver?
Over the first months of this summer, Chamber UK and PoliticsUK have followed the rollout of the Government’s Modern Industrial Strategy. Our coverage has included an interview with the Secretary of State for Business and a series of expert webinars dissecting the potential – and the pitfalls – of sector-by-sector implementation.
A recent CURIA and UKAI webinar focused on the overall strategy, providing a constructive assessment of the plans and outlining how ambition can be translated from words to actions. More recently, following the publication of the Government’s Life Sciences Sector Plan, Curia convened a separate expert panel to review what is widely seen as one of the most advanced and ambitious parts of the strategy.
The Strategy Works – But Timelines Must Accelerate
Daniel Paterson, Director of Policy at Electrify Industry, rejected claims that the Industrial Strategy is just another political soundbite: “This is something that we’ve needed in the UK for a good long time now,” he said. But he also warned that unless timelines accelerate, the UK could fall behind in the global race for investment. He pointed in particular to the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BIC), which is not due to begin until 2027, as an area where urgency is being sacrificed to process.
This concern is echoed widely: the strategy may be sound, but implementation needs to keep pace with market realities. Delays risk ceding ground to more agile international competitors.
Infrastructure: The Foundation for Growth
Marc Harris, co-chair of Labour YIMBY, identified poor digital and energy infrastructure as one of the greatest threats to delivering on the strategy’s goals. He outlined proposals to fast-track infrastructure investment, including automatic planning permission for nationally significant energy projects, statutory timelines for grid upgrades, and new Infrastructure Acceleration Zones to cut red tape as potential solutions.
Investment: The Strategy’s Ultimate Test
In a recent interview with Politics UK, Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds made clear that success will be measured in business investment: “This is about driving up business investment in every part of the UK,” he said, “and removing the barriers to our competitiveness.”
He outlined key focus areas: energy prices, skills development, and finance reform – with a particular emphasis on scale-ups and regional inclusion. Reynolds also emphasised that the plan would not rely on new taxes: “This isn’t about raising additional expenditure,” he said. “We’re using the headroom created in the last budget.”
The Life Sciences Sector Plan: A Case Study in Potential
The Government’s Modern Industrial Strategy Life Sciences Sector Plan has been hailed as one of the strongest and most detailed components of the wider strategy. To assess its strengths and weaknesses, Curia’s Health, Care and Life Sciences Research Group hosted a webinar chaired by Rt Hon Andrew Stephenson CBE, with expert input from Rt Hon Dame Patricia Hewitt DBE (former Secretary of State for Health), Helen Dent (CEO of BIVDA), and Professor Michael Lewis (Scientific Director for Innovation at the NIHR).
Dame Patricia Hewitt welcomed the plan enthusiastically: “I spent a great deal of time with the sector during my time as Health Secretary,” she said. “It is absolutely critical to any government’s ambitions to grow the economy and grow really exciting, highly paid, highly scientific jobs.” Helen Dent also praised the ambition behind the plan, pointing to sustained investment in diagnostics as an exciting development.
Delivery Must Match the Rhetoric
But while the panel commended the scale of the plan’s ambition, they were unanimous in their concern over implementation. “The critical issue, as always, is about delivery and whether those ambitions can be realised,” said Hewitt. She warned that much would depend on leadership within the NHS amid wider system reform.
Professor Lewis highlighted three delivery obstacles: the speed of research, access to data, and the NHS’s ability to adopt innovations. “Adoption across the NHS will only follow if budgets, governance structures and incentives align to support real-world uptake,” he cautioned.
Dent, speaking from the diagnostics sector, warned that a lack of clarity in past implementation efforts had often undermined investment confidence. “It’s about understanding what can be done now, and pulling every lever the plan offers,” she said.
Examples Already Delivering Results
Despite concerns, Hewitt was quick to point to areas where transformation is already underway. She cited the British scale-up Feebris, whose diagnostic tools are currently being deployed in community settings in Norfolk and Kent. Early results show a 30 per cent reduction in emergency hospital admissions and shortened hospital stays – a real-world example of innovation driving system improvement.
Avoiding the “Golden Triangle” Trap
Professor Lewis used the panel discussion to highlight another systemic issue: the over-concentration of life sciences research in the “Golden Triangle” of London, Oxford and Cambridge. “We need to include more of the population in the research,” he said, warning that without geographic diversity, talent and potential in other parts of the UK will remain underutilised.
Hewitt agreed, offering examples from her time as Chair of NHS Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board, including leading population health tools and partnerships with the University of East Anglia. “Excellence exists outside the traditional centres,” she said. “It just too often goes unrecognised and underfunded.”
The Four Essentials for Implementation
Across all discussions, four recurring themes have emerged as essential for successful implementation. First, acceleration: changes must happen on a faster timeline to match the urgency of today’s markets. Second, coherence across departments: industrial policy must be coordinated, not siloed. Third, infrastructure: long-term underinvestment must be addressed across sectors. Fourth, political sustainability: plans must survive shifts in leadership and the challenges of long-term reform.
Turning Strategy Into Action
The Modern Industrial Strategy is now entering its most critical phase. Sector plans are in place, political momentum is behind them, and the private sector is engaged. But success will not be judged by ambition –it will be judged by action.
As Dame Patricia Hewitt put it, “The private investment is there. But we need greater public investment too, and a willingness to prioritise delivery even amidst financial constraint.”
The UK has the framework, the expertise, and the opportunity. The question now is whether it has the determination to see it through.
