Professional and business services are one of eight ‘growth-driving sectors’ identified in the 10-year industrial strategy unveiled by the government today. The strategy, announced to coincide with the prime minister’s flagship international investment summit (pictured above), aims ‘to deliver the certainty and stability businesses need to invest’, the government said.
However a green paper published today is light on detail about how this will be achieved, promising only to publish ‘ambitious and targeted’ sector plans next spring. Meanwhile the government will legislate to create a statutory Industrial Strategy Council (ISC), responsible for informing and monitoring the strategy.
In the green paper, professional and business services is last on a list of promising sectors, headed by advanced manufacturing and clean energy industries.
The paper notes that the UK’s professional and business services enjoy a comparative advantage in a $1.9 trillion (£1.46tn) global market, with ‘a global reputation for quality and innovation, with its expertise, qualifications and standards used worldwide, underpinned by our world-renowned institutions and legal system’.
Growth opportunities include expanding beyond the current concentration in London and the South East. ‘The government, with industry, will also look to expand the global market for the UK’s professional and business services, for example, by capitalising on emerging strengths in accounting and law-tech, promoting the UK’s regional professional and business services strengths overseas, and unlocking barriers to trade in services,’ the paper states.
Apart from the sector-specific initiatives, the strategy will icnlude ‘robust and independent enforcement of competition law’. The government will also ‘identify where new regulatory frameworks can assist in the development of new technologies and allow for new products to be more effectively regulated and approved’. A new quango, the Regulatory Innovation Office ‘will help position the UK as the best place in the world to innovate, speeding up regulatory decisions for new technology’.
Law Society chief executive Ian Jeffery welcomed the announcement, hailing the ‘bold and ambitious strategy’ as ‘a breakthrough moment for the legal sector recognising its importance and acknowledging that it’s not just about the bigger firms but, very importantly, it is also about supporting the backbone of our economy, small business.’
He added: ‘The Law Society of England and Wales is looking forward to reviewing the plan and contributing to the consultation by helping to identify the opportunities and barriers to delivering growth for the legal profession and their clients.’
