Category: Gov Press Releases

Business Secretary Greg Clark has today published the UK government’s modern Industrial Strategy, with a plan to boost productivity and the earning power of people and businesses throughout Northern Ireland and the whole of the UK.

The White Paper outlines a plan to drive growth across the whole of the UK, build on the strengths of places, boost skills, improve productivity, boost people’s earning power and upgrade infrastructure.

The Strategy includes flagship Sector Deal agreements with a number of Northern Ireland’s most important sectors – automotive, construction, Life Sciences and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Northern Ireland has a world-leading reputation in a number of key sectors including construction and automotive, as well as future industries such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and life sciences and the government has confirmed these sectors will be the first to benefit from these new strategic and long-term partnerships with government, backed by private sector co-investment. Work will continue with other sectors on transformative sector deals.

With a clear ambition of boosting productivity and economic growth, the Industrial Strategy contains a number of policy measures to benefit Northern Ireland:

• A new Strength in Places Fund to support innovation excellence that can demonstrate a strong impact on local growth, with Northern Ireland’s innovators and communities perfectly-placed to benefit
• Increasing national research and development spending to 2.4 per cent of GDP by 2027, boosting Northern Ireland’s research and innovation base, and offering new opportunities for innovative companies to bid for funding through the Government’s flagship science and research fund, the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund
• A commitment to work with partners in the devolved nations to consider how Local Industrial Strategies could deliver for places in Northern Ireland in future.
• Continuing to support advanced data and digital infrastructure across the United Kingdom, including the testing and deployment of 5G technologies
• Government will open negotiations for a Belfast City Deal as part of its commitment to a comprehensive and ambitious set of city deals across Northern Ireland

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland James Brokenshire said:

“Championing the unique strengths of Northern Ireland, the new Industrial Strategy launched today clearly demonstrates the UK Government’s commitment to boost earning power, drive growth and offer opportunities across the country. It is a further example of the UK Government building an economy that is fit for the future.

“Building on the extra £660 million set out for Northern Ireland in the Chancellor’s budget, businesses, innovators, people and places throughout Northern Ireland will benefit from the Industrial Strategy’s removal of barriers to innovation and growth, as well as from its preparation for the opportunities and grand challenges of the coming decades.

“Thanks to New Sector Deals and investment in R&D, we will support the industries of the future – such as life sciences, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and cyber security – where Northern Ireland is at the cutting-edge and has the potential to lead the world.

“Over the coming weeks, as we look to restore the Executive, I will continue to explore how to maximise the positive impact this Strategy will have in Northern Ireland, to build a better, more productive and more prosperous UK economy.”

Business Secretary Greg Clark said:

“Our new, ambitious Industrial Strategy will build on the UK’s strengths, boost productivity and earning power and will ensure we are one of the most competitive places in the world to start and grow a business.

“We recognise no two economies within the UK are the same – for Northern Ireland, strengths include construction, life sciences and emerging sectors like AI. But we also recognise that our Industrial Strategy is not something that is done to business, it is done with, and indeed, by business.

“This strategy is about firms from across the UK coming together and working with Government to build a better, more productive and more prosperous UK economy – fit for the future.”

The Strategy outlines how the Government is allocating the second wave of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, matching innovation excellence held by businesses and universities across the UK.

A number of the Challenge areas set to receive significant Government funding will offer significant opportunities for Northern Ireland’s businesses and universities including:

• transforming construction – Part of the proposed fund is for a UK Active Building Centre, this will build significantly on this area of expertise Northern Ireland’s companies in this sector
• healthcare – with an emerging cluster of connected health, assisted living and data analytic hubs, including The Connected Health Innovation Centre (CHIC) and companies such as Intelesens, Leckey Design, Data Analytics Labs, Brainwave Bank and Analytics Engine, Northern Ireland is well poised to become a leading location in the UK in this area
• services 4.0 – Belfast is ranked as the UK’s number one destination for fintech and cybersecurity, and is home to first rate examples of industry and academia collaboration in the Capital Markets Collaborative Network (CMCN). Investment through the Services 4.0 challenge will help build on NI’s position as a global centre of R&D excellence in Capital Markets technology
• energy revolution – Northern Ireland currently has significant research capability and expertise within its universities and colleges. Ulster University’s Centre for Sustainable Technologies (CST) and The Centre for Advanced Sustainable Energy (CASE) at Queen’s University are prime examples of industry-led sustainable energy research centres that could benefit.

Metro Options Limited (Metro Options) was wound up by the Manchester District Registry on 13 November 2017.

The compant traded from the website www.metrooptions.com between July 2015 to December 2016, after which time the company was abandoned, with the website not being accessible thereafter.

The website and company sales representatives offered members of the public the opportunity to conduct binary options trading, which is a form of fixed-odds betting on movements in financial markets. The website made various investment return claims, none of which were founded, including:

• profits of £400 per £500 trade were achievable
• the company would match customer deposits and that a bonus scheme existed
• trading insurances of between 50% and 100% would be provided
• the company had more than 600 retail clients
• the company was awaiting a licence renewal from the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission
• the company operated a one-off refund policy for losses incurred in a 90 day period

Those customers who contacted the police, via Action Fraud, complained that they were unable to obtain any refunds of deposits or supposed investment returns, and that the company effectively ceased to communicate with them after requests for refunds or investment returns were made. Those parties reported losses of £350,000. Customers had been requested to pay their monies into at least eight known bank accounts, none of those which were company bank accounts.

Metro Options also falsely claimed to have had an established trading presence at its Canary Wharf registered office, at 5 Harbour Exchange Square, London, E14 9GE. In fact the company had never had any registered office presence at that location, a matter that HH Judge Bird found to be a serious deficiency in its own right during the winding up hearing.

The initial director of the company, Kyle Snoxell, who resigned as a director on the same day as his appointment (on 29 June 2015) informed investigators that although he was involved in the setting up of the company, he decided at that time that upfront costs and problems encountered with an unnamed Bulgarian based company who were to provide technology and support services, were a barrier to continue with the company. A Miklos Attila was appointed company director on the day Mr Snoxell resigned. Mr Attila could not be traced by the investigators.

Cheryl Lambert, a Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:

The Insolvency Service will take action against companies that make unfounded and misleading statements in order to induce members of the public to invest money.

Notes to Editors

Metro Options Limited (Company number 09661759) was incorporated on 29 June 2015. Its registered office is at 5 Harbour Exchange Square, London, E14 9GE, a multi occupancy building. The building services operator for 5 Harbour Exchange have no record of that company or any of its officers having had any presence at that location.

The petition to wind up the company was presented in the Manchester District Registry on 15 September 2017, under the provisions of section 124A of the Insolvency Act 1986 following confidential enquiries by Company Investigations under section 447 of the Companies Act 1985, as amended.

All enquiries concerning the affairs of the company should be made to: The Official Receiver, Public Interest Unit, 4 Abbey Orchard Street, London, SW1P 2HT. Telephone: 0207 637 1110, Email: piu.or@insolvency.gsi.gov.uk.

Company Investigations, part of the Insolvency Service, uses powers under the Companies Act 1985 to conduct confidential fact-finding investigations into the activities of live limited companies in the UK on behalf of the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

Further information about live company investigations is available.

The Insolvency Service administers the insolvency regime, investigating all compulsory liquidations and individual insolvencies (bankruptcies) through the Official Receiver to establish why they became insolvent. It may also use powers under the Companies Act 1985 to conduct confidential fact-finding investigations into the activities of live limited companies in the UK. In addition, the agency authorises and regulates the insolvency profession, deals with disqualification of directors in corporate failures, assesses and pays statutory entitlement to redundancy payments when an employer cannot or will not pay employees, provides banking and investment services for bankruptcy and liquidation estate funds and advises ministers and other government departments on insolvency law and practice.

Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available.

Contact Press Office

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• Business Secretary launches flagship Industrial Strategy for the UK today with a plan to boost the economy, build on the country’s strengths and embrace the opportunities of technological change
• Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund will invest £725 million in new Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund programmes to capture the value of innovation
• launch of the Industrial Strategy comes as government announces it has secured a major strategic investment into UK by world leading life sciences company MSD
• first ‘Sector Deals’ – construction, artificial intelligence (AI), automotive and life sciences – to help sectors grow and equip businesses for future opportunities
• 4 ‘Grand Challenges’ which will take advantage of global trends to put the UK at the forefront of the industries of the future

Business Secretary Greg Clark has today (27 November 2017) launched the government’s ambitious Industrial Strategy, setting out a long-term vision for how Britain can build on its economic strengths, address its productivity performance, embrace technological change and boost the earning power of people across the UK.

With the aim of making the UK the world’s most innovative nation by 2030, the government has committed to investing a further £725 million over the next 3 years in the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF) to respond to some of the greatest global challenges and the opportunities faced by the UK. This will include £170 million to transform our construction sector and help create affordable places to live and work that are safer, healthier and use less energy, and up to £210 million to improve early diagnosis of illnesses and develop precision medicine for patients across the UK.

The government has previously committed £1 billion to the first wave of Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund projects, including investing £246 million in next generation battery technology and £86 million in robotics hubs across the UK.

Last week the Prime Minister announced an ambition to increase the level of investment in research and development (R&D), rising from 1.7% to 2.4% of GDP by 2027. This could mean around £80 billion of additional investment in advanced technology in the next decade, helping to transform whole sectors, create new industries, and support innovation across the country.

The white paper also confirms government will be pressing ahead with a series of Sector Deals, with construction, life sciences, automotive and AI the first to benefit from these new strategic and long-term partnerships with government, backed by private sector co-investment. Work will continue with other sectors on transformative sector deals.

Ahead of the signing of the Life Sciences Sector Deal, due in the next few weeks, the government has confirmed today that world-leading life sciences company MSD is set to make a major investment into the UK economy with the opening of a new state-of-the-art UK hub, helping ensure innovative research into future treatments for patients and pioneering medicines are completed in Britain.

The investment announced by MSD today will support a new world-leading life sciences discovery research facility in the UK, supporting 950 jobs.

Prime Minister Theresa May said:

Our modern Industrial Strategy will shape a stronger and fairer economy for decades to come. It will help create the conditions where successful businesses can emerge and grow, and support these businesses in seizing the big opportunities of our time, such as artificial intelligence and big data, whilst also making sure our young people have the skills to take on the high-paid, high-skilled jobs this creates.

As we leave the European Union and forge a new path for ourselves, we need to focus on building a better future for our country and all the people who live in it. With the Budget last week, and our Industrial Strategy in the years ahead, we will build a Britain fit for the future.

In the strategy, the government has identified 4 Grand Challenges; global trends that will shape our rapidly changing future and which the UK must embrace to ensure we harness all the opportunities they bring. The 4 are:

• artificial intelligence – we will put the UK at the forefront of the artificial intelligence and data revolution
• clean growth – we will maximise the advantages for UK industry from the global shift to clean growth
• ageing society – we will harness the power of innovation to help meet the needs of an ageing society
• future of mobility – we will become a world leader in the way people, goods and services move

Each Grand Challenge represents an open invitation to business, academia and civil society to work and engage with the government to innovate, develop new technologies and ensure the UK seizes these global opportunities.

Business Secretary Greg Clark said:

The way we earn and live our lives as workers, citizens and consumers is being transformed by new technologies. The UK is well-placed to benefit from this new industrial revolution and we start from a position of significant strength. We have a thriving research and science base and are home to a wide range of innovative sectors, from advanced manufacturing and life sciences, to fintech and creative industries.

The Industrial Strategy is an unashamedly ambitious vision for the future of our country, laying out how we tackle our productivity challenge, earn our way in the future, and improve living standards across the country.

The white paper follows extensive engagement by government with industry, academia and business bodies who submitted almost 2,000 responses to the green paper consultation earlier in 2017.

The strategy unveiled today reflects this engagement, with a new and unique partnership between government, academia and industry, supported by policies that are committed to making the UK economy more productive and giving it a competitive edge in the future and abroad.

Five foundations

The white paper focuses on the 5 foundations of productivity – ideas, people, infrastructure, business environment and places – with a clear and complementary vision for each.

Each foundation is supported by a range of policies designed to provide businesses with certainty and reassurance that the UK will continue to have a competitive edge, including:

• raise total R&D investment to 2.4% of GDP by 2027
• increase the rate of R&D tax credit to 12%
• invest £725 million in new Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund programmes to capture the value of innovation

People

• establish a technical education system that rivals the best in the world to stand alongside our world-class higher education system
• invest an additional £406 million in maths, digital and technical education, helping to address the shortage of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) skills
• create a new National Retraining Scheme that supports people to re-skill, beginning with a £64 million investment for digital and construction training

Infrastructure

• increase the National Productivity Investment Fund to £31 billion, supporting investments in transport, housing and digital infrastructure
• support electric vehicles through £400 million charging infrastructure investment and an extra £100 million to extend the plug-in car grant

• boost our digital infrastructure with over £1 billion of public investment, including £176 million for 5G and £200 million for local areas to encourage roll out of full-fibre networks
  .
  ###Business environment

• launch and roll-out Sector Deals – partnerships between government and industry aiming to increase sector productivity; the first Sector Deals are in life sciences, construction, artificial intelligence and the automotive sector
• drive over £20 billion of investment in innovative and high potential businesses, including through establishing a new £2.5 billion Investment Fund, incubated in the British Business Bank
• launch a review of the actions that could be most effective in improving productivity and growth of small and medium-sized businesses, including how to address what has been called the ‘long tail’ of lower productivity firms

Places

• agree local industrial strategies that build on local strengths and deliver on economic opportunities
• create a new transforming cities fund that will provide £1.7 billion for intra-city transport; this will fund projects that drive productivity by improving connections within city regions
• provide £42 million to pilot a Teacher Development Premium; this will test the impact of a £1,000 budget for high-quality professional development for teachers working in areas that have fallen behind

To ensure that the government is held to account on its progress in meeting the ambitions set out in the strategy, an Independent Industrial Strategy Council will be launched in 2018 to make recommendations to government on how it measures success.

Juergen Maier, CEO Siemens UK, said:

By working in strong partnership with national and local government, we have created a very positive example of Industrial Strategy in action for the off-shore wind industry in the Humber which is creating a new and vibrant local economy.

Through today’s Industrial Strategy announcement we are optimistic that through greater investment in R&D, and especially through the application of advanced industrial digital technologies like AI and robotics, we can support many more new and existing manufacturing industries – raising productivity and creating thousands of new highly skilled and well paid jobs.

Mike Cherry OBE, National Chairman of Federation of Small Businesses, said:

FSB has been delighted to work with the Business Secretary Greg Clark as he delivers this government’s first Industrial Strategy. The UK’s 5.5 million small businesses have a huge role to play, if we are to increase productivity across the economy, and in every sector. This is the only way to achieve sustained wage growth and higher living standards.

We particularly welcome the focus on improving technical skills, new physical and digital infrastructure and increased research and development. Local industrial strategies and local investment such as the new Strength in Places Fund are also very welcome steps.

Stephen Martin, Director General of the Institute of Directors, said:

The Industrial Strategy identifies the key challenges that the UK economy will need to overcome if businesses are to remain competitive in an increasingly global race. It also takes some important steps in starting the flow of public investment to overcome these hurdles. We hope it will become the cornerstone of a long-term vision of post-Brexit Britain, one that promotes innovation and the free flow of ideas.

It is particularly welcome to see how the government has acknowledged the calls from industry to take a more broad-based approach to addressing questions around skills, infrastructure and research to support our future economy. We hope this will continue as these plans are taken forward.

Terry Scuoler, EEF Chief Executive, said:

The introduction of a new Industrial Strategy is key to supporting efforts to improve productivity and invest in not just current industries, but those of the future which are set to radically change the ways in which people live and work.

The white paper acts as a good foundation for a new partnership with industry where government and business can ensure consistency in policy thinking and implementation to ensure the UK is world leader in these new technologies.

And by introducing independent scrutiny of the progress of these plans, the government is signalling that there will be a strong focus on measuring delivery which boardrooms will recognise and welcome.

Adam Marshall, BCC Director General, said:

Chambers of Commerce have been working actively with government to develop the Industrial Strategy, and we are pleased that the concerns and ideas of business communities across the country have been listened to.

Businesses will welcome the sense of mission that infuses the Industrial Strategy, as well as its assessment of the challenges and opportunities that the UK faces, particularly as both businesses and government look to forge a new path beyond the European Union.

We have been clear that harnessing the potential of our cities, towns and counties is crucial to make our country more competitive and prosperous, and so chamber business communities will cheer the focus on places to boost productivity in local economies.

Over the coming months, it is crucial that the government listens to the full range of business voices when developing local and sector-based deals, so that firms of all sizes and sectors can buy into the Strategy for years to come.

Lord Adonis, Chairman of the National Infrastructure Commission, said:

A key part of securing long-term economic growth and increased productivity will be to invest in our infrastructure network – so I welcome that today’s Industrial Strategy has this at its heart.

It is significant that the strategy has a clear focus on developing new low-carbon technologies, but also that the first sector deals are in construction as we deliver major projects like HS2, and artificial intelligence technology which could transform how we operate and maintain our infrastructure.

These will be key considerations as we work to deliver the country’s first-ever National Infrastructure Assessment to tackle the 3 Cs of congestion, capacity and carbon for the country’s long-term economic benefit.

Mike Thompson, Chief Executive of the ABPI, said:

The government’s Industrial Strategy is significantly important in providing a long-term strategic roadmap for UK business. As we navigate the challenges of leaving the European Union, it is important we continue to make the domestic landscape as attractive as possible.

We now look forward to further detail on the sector deals between the pharmaceutical industry and government on the back of Sir John Bell’s impressive Life Sciences Industrial Strategy. These deals are just the first steps but will be instrumental in securing the future strength of the UK life sciences industry, helping the UK economy prosper and allowing NHS patients to get better and faster access to world-class medicines discovered and developed here in Britain.

This follows an investigation by the Insolvency Service.

Mr Lalli failed to ensure that Pioneer Traders (UK) Limited (Pioneer) maintained and/or preserved adequate trading records or, in the alternative he failed to deliver up such records as were maintained or preserved during the period of his directorship from 1 October 2009 to liquidation on 20 April 2015. As a result the Official Receiver has been unable to:

• establish the full nature of Pioneer’s trading activities during the period of Mr Lalli’s appointment and whether these were connected with genuine trading purposes
• establish the stock that it held and traded in was legitimate
• establish extent of cash transactions and whether Pioneer should have registered as a High Value Dealer with HMRC’s Anti-Money Laundering Unit
• determine the full extent of purchases, sales, income, expenditure, and thereby determine Pioneer’s excise and VAT liabilities
• verify Pioneer’s VAT repayment claims for August and November 2011, and its subsequent understated returns
• verify the true amount owed to HMRC for excise and VAT
• account for acquisition and disposal of assets
• establish the level of remuneration and other benefits taken by Mr Lalli as the sole director of Pioneer

Mr Lalli caused Pioneer to make wrongful declarations for VAT including repayment claims for the August and November 2011 VAT periods totalling £285,848, and to fail to declare goods and trading on which excise and VAT was due.

Tony Hannon, the Official Receiver in the Public Interest Unit South, part of the Insolvency Service, said

Directors have a duty to ensure that their companies maintain proper accounting records, and, following insolvency, deliver them to the office-holder in the interests of fairness and transparency.

Without such records, it is impossible to determine whether a director has discharged his duties properly, or is using a lack of documentation as a cloak for impropriety..

Notes to editors

Amandeep Singh Lalli is of Ilford, Essex and his date of birth is August 1978.

Pioneer Traders (UK) Ltd (Company Reg no. 05426877), was Incorporated on 18 April 2005.

The Order was pronounced by Chief Registrar Briggs, with the Deputy Official Receiver appearing for the Claimant, the Official Receiver and the defendant appearing in person.

A disqualification order has the effect that without specific permission of a court, a person with a disqualification cannot:

• act as a director of a company
• take part, directly or indirectly, in the promotion, formation or management of a company or limited liability partnership
• be a receiver of a company’s property

Persons subject to a disqualification order are bound by a range of other restrictions.

The Insolvency Service, an executive agency sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), administers the insolvency regime, and aims to deliver and promote a range of investigation and enforcement activities both civil and criminal in nature, to support fair and open markets. We do this by effectively enforcing the statutory company and insolvency regimes, maintaining public confidence in those regimes and reducing the harm caused to victims of fraudulent activity and to the business community, including dealing with the disqualification of directors in corporate failures.

BEIS’ mission is to build a dynamic and competitive UK economy that works for all, in particular by creating the conditions for business success and promoting an open global economy. The Criminal Investigations and Prosecutions team contributes to this aim by taking action to deter fraud and to regulate the market. They investigate and prosecute a range of offences, primarily relating to personal or company insolvencies.
The agency also authorises and regulates the insolvency profession, assesses and pays statutory entitlement to redundancy payments when an employer cannot or will not pay employees, provides banking and investment services for bankruptcy and liquidation estate funds and advises ministers and other government departments on insolvency law and practice.

Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available.

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Ministers for the UK Government in Wales will today mark the publication of the Industrial Strategy White Paper on visits to businesses in South, North and Mid Wales (27 November).

• Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns will visit the Airbus Campus in Newport – home to highly skilled engineering and research personnel, which provides Highly Secure Communications Solutions to a world leading Cyber Security portfolio.

• Guto Bebb will visit Brenig Construction in Colwyn Bay which delivers project management and construction services for civil engineering and building contracts throughout the whole of North Wales and beyond

• Lord Bourne will visit the Centre for Alternative Technology in Machynlleth – an education centre demonstrating practical solutions for sustainability and all aspects of green living.

The Industrial Strategy sets out how the UK Government is building a Britain fit for the future – how it will help businesses create better, higher-paying jobs across the country with investment in the skills, industries and infrastructure of the future.

Ministers will visit businesses across Wales to outline how business and academic sectors and civic society can reap the rewards of a strategy that will play to the nation’s strengths.

Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns will launch the Industrial Strategy White Paper in Wales at Airbus’ Newport Campus.

Here he will see first-hand the critical work the company does in the field of cyber security and how the company can benefit from one of the Grand Challenges laid down by the strategy today.

Alun Cairns said:

The Industrial Strategy sets out a compelling vision for the future of the UK economy and a new approach to preparing for the opportunities and challenges of the coming decades.

One of the Grand Challenges put forward in this strategy is to put the UK at the forefront of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data revolution.

To support rapid adoption of AI technologies at scale, the UK Government wants to work with priority business sectors, including cyber security – an area where the Airbus Campus in Newport excels in. I am grateful to them for the opportunity to see this in action today and to see how they can rise to the challenge of the Industrial Strategy.

Guto Bebb will meet with senior executives at construction company, Brenig in Colwyn Bay where he will underline the UK Government’s commitments to supporting the growth of the North Wales economy through the strategy.

UK Government Minister Guto Bebb said:

The Industrial Strategy recognises that no two places in the UK are the same with each place having its own unique identity and strengths.

Between Deeside, Wrexham, Manchester and Merseyside we have one of the strongest manufacturing channels in the UK. North Wales also has an energy sector making a huge contribution to a low carbon future, and an aerospace sector which is admired the world over.

Our backing for growth deals and cross border working in this strategy will provide further opportunity to make the most of the region’s connections to the Northern Powerhouse.

Lord Bourne will be visiting the Centre for Alternative Technology in Machynlleth to highlight how Wales can make a real contribution to the UK Government’s clean growth plan of the strategy.

UK Government Minister Lord Bourne said;

The move to cleaner economic growth– through low carbon technologies and the efficient use of resources – is one of the greatest industrial opportunities of our time.

The Centre for Alternative Technology’s work in highlighting environmental issues and solutions over the past 43 years has inspired thousands of people to care more about and to do more to help the natural world, I look forward to seeing how the work they do can play key role in researching the technologies and innovations we need to create a clean growth future.

The Business Secretary has confirmed today (27 November) that world-leading life sciences company MSD is set to make a major investment into the UK economy with the opening of a new state-of-the-art UK hub, helping ensure innovative research into future treatments for patients and pioneering medicines are completed in Britain.

The news comes as the government is set to unveil its flagship Industrial Strategy later this morning, with a long-term plan for how Britain can build on its economic strengths, address its productivity challenge, positively embrace technological change, and support businesses and its workers.

The Sector Deal agreement comes as a major endorsement of the government’s Industrial Strategy vision and has been secured through the upcoming Life Sciences Sector Deal, one of 4 such deals that government is set to confirm later today and announce in the weeks ahead.

Alongside the Life Sciences Sector Deal, government will confirm it has agreed deals with construction, artificial intelligence and automotive. Each deal represents a new strategic and long-term partnership with government, backed by private sector co-investment.

Business Secretary Greg Clark said:

We are at one of the most important, exciting and challenging times there has ever been in the history of the world’s commerce and industry.

Powered by new technology, new industries are being created, existing ones changing and the way we live our lives – as workers, citizens and consumers – transformed.

We are an open, flexible economy, built on trade and engagement with the world. We have a competitive business environment with a deserved reputation for being a dependable and confident place to do business, thanks to our high standards, respected institutions and a reliable rule of law.

We are renowned for innovation and discovery, with some of the best universities and research institutions in the world producing some of the most inventive people on earth.

We have commercial and industrial sectors – from advanced manufacturing to financial services; from life sciences to the creative industries – which are competitive with the best in the world.

In this Industrial Strategy we set out how we will maintain and enhance these and other strengths and deploy them to our advantage.

But any serious strategy should address the weaknesses that stop us achieving our potential, as well as our strengths, and this Industrial Strategy does that.

Britain’s productivity performance has not been good enough, and is holding back our earning power as a country.

So this Industrial Strategy deliberately strengthens the 5 foundations of productivity: ideas, people, infrastructure, business environment and places.

By acting together as a nation, and in a sustained way, to improve the underperforming conditions for productivity we can drive up our earning power.

MSD UK hub

The investment announced by MSD, known as Merck and co. in North America, will support a new world-leading life sciences discovery research facility in the UK, supporting a total of 950 jobs in high-skilled and high-value research roles.

Investments by a number of pharmaceutical companies into the UK will form a key part of the Sector Deal, a central Industrial Strategy measure, set to be signed in the coming weeks by the life sciences sector and government.

Announcing the investment, Business Secretary Greg Clark said:

Our life sciences sector is one of the UK’s fastest developing industries, with a turnover in excess of £64 billion, employing 233,000 across the UK.

MSD’s commitment today, and the wider Sector Deal investment we have secured, proves the process outlined in the Industrial Strategy can give companies the confidence and direction they need to invest in the UK. It will ensure Britain continues to be at the forefront of innovation and represents a huge vote of confidence in our Industrial Strategy.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said:

I want patients to continue to be at the front of the queue for the best treatments available. The NHS has a proud history of spearheading medical innovation and today’s investment in our strong and growing life sciences sector will see patients in the UK continue to benefit from world-leading research and pioneering medicines.

MSD’s Research Laboratories president Dr. Roger M. Perlmutter said of the investment:

Strong discovery capabilities and the pursuit of scientific excellence are foundational to MSD’s mission to save and improve lives around the world.

A new UK location will enable us to build on our proud legacy of invention and be an important contributor to the vibrant and rapidly growing UK life sciences community, while providing access for more collaborations within the European life science ecosystem.

MSD Managing Director in the UK and Ireland, Louise Houson said:

We believe the UK to be a unique bioscience centre of excellence and this investment presents a major opportunity for us to work in collaboration with the UK government to build on the forward thinking and ambitious Industrial Strategy white paper being published by the government today.

Chair of the Life Science Industrial Strategy Advisory Board, Sir John Bell said:

Today’s investment provides strong evidence that a coherent industrial strategy can have a real, tangible impact on economic activity in sectors that we need to strengthen and grow. It will drive this sector forward and simultaneously attract other investments into the UK.

Investments by world-renowned companies like MSD and QIAGEN demonstrate that the UK’s science base is truly world-leading and an exceptional national strength.

It is clear that the UK can, through a collaborative partnership between government, industry, academia, charities and the NHS, deliver the next wave of innovation that will benefit patients, transform the health care system, and generate economic growth and improved productivity.

The Sector Deal, confirmed in the white paper later today, will drive investment in the UK’s world-leading research infrastructure and boost productivity in the sector. It will be formally announced in the coming weeks, including a brand new partnership between leading diagnostics company, QIAGEN, and Health Innovation Manchester, that has the intention to develop a genomics and diagnostics campus in the city.

This new campus will generate new skilled jobs and attract companies from across the world to the north west, while the company has confirmed it is going to expand its current operations in Manchester, with the potential to create 800 skilled jobs.

CEO of QIAGEN, Peer M. Schatz said:

We are very excited about this partnership with Health Innovation Manchester, and the essential engagement of the University of Manchester, the NHS Trust and the UK government. Our success together can advance science and improve the lives of patients in the local region as well as worldwide.

Innovation at the heart of Industrial Strategy

Today’s investment builds on the announcement made by the Prime Minister last week that the government ambition is to deliver a step change in the level of investment in research and development (R&D), rising from 1.7% to 2.4% of GDP by 2027. This could mean around £80 billion of additional investment in advanced technology in the next decade, helping to transform whole sectors, create new industries, and support innovation across the country.

The uplift will help transform the UK economy and drive a long-term change in the use of R&D by industry, ensuring that the next generation of innovative technologies that create high-skilled jobs, revolutionise productivity and improve living standards, are produced in Britain. Government will be working with industry and academia to deliver this goal.

Grand Challenges

The white paper follows extensive engagement by government with industry, academia and business bodies who submitted almost 2,000 responses to the green paper consultation earlier in 2017.

In the strategy, the government identifies 4 Grand Challenges; global trends that will shape our rapidly changing future and which the UK must embrace and lead to ensure we harness all the economic and social opportunities they bring. The first 4 are:

• artificial intelligence (AI): the rise of AI is changing the world we live in, the UK has to be at the forefront of this data-driven revolution and grasp the opportunities it presents through the AI Sector Deal
• clean growth: the global shift to clean growth presents huge opportunities for innovation that government and industry must take advantage of by backing the development, manufacture and use of low carbon technologies
• ageing society: to effectively meet the needs of an ageing population, the UK must harness innovations in medical care, technology and services
• future mobility: from driverless cars to drone-delivered goods, the way we move people, goods and services is evolving rapidly and the UK needs to be a world leader in shaping what the future of mobility looks like

Each Grand Challenge represents an open invitation to business, academia and civil society to work and engage with the government to innovate, develop new technologies and develop strategies to seize these global opportunities.

On a visit to Cox’s Bazar, International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt has announced further UK aid for the Rohingya crisis, as she warns that global funding will start to dry up in 100 days.

Ms Mordaunt pledged that the UK will continue to stand by the Rohingya people and Bangladesh, now and in the future. She met some of the 620,000 innocent men, women and children who have been tragically driven from their homes in Burma and forced to make the treacherous journey to Bangladesh, relying on aid to survive.

Today’s announcement of £12 million for the Rohingya crisis is providing urgently needed food now and ensuring more lives are not put at risk when international funding starts to run out in February 2018. This brings the UK’s total support to £59 million since 25 August 2017.

She praised the Government of Bangladesh and the local communities for their continued generosity in helping the Rohingya people and also urged other countries to follow the UK’s lead by promising longer-term support to avert disaster.

International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt said:

The persistent persecution of the Rohingya people must stop. It is horrifying that hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women and children have had their homes burnt to the ground, and parents have been forced to helplessly watch as their children die from hunger.

This looks like ethnic cleansing. The Burmese military must end this inhumane violence and guarantee unrestricted humanitarian access so aid can reach those in need in Burma. Any return of families to their homes must be safe, voluntary and dignified.

Global funding to support the Rohingya people will only meet urgent needs for the next 100 days – we cannot turn our backs on those trapped in crisis.

Other countries must follow our lead and do even more to help children overcome the trauma of war, reunite them with their families and give a future to the next generation.

To mark the International Day to Eliminate Violence Against Women and the 16 days of activism, the International Development Secretary is shining a spotlight on the horrifying prevalence of sexual and gender based violence that Rohingya women and girls have suffered.

During her visit to Bangladesh, Ms Mordaunt heard harrowing stories of brutal abuse and met UK experts delivering life-saving treatment including medical, counselling and psychosocial support to female survivors.

She pledged to help increase protection for Rohingya women and girls against sexual violence and exploitation and announced a separate package of UK aid support (£12 million for multiple countries) that is expected to help around 750,000 women and girls globally over the next three years. Bangladesh could stand to benefit from this.

This will increase access to services such as legal assistance, healthcare for survivors of sexual and gender based violence and help protect women and girls by tackling the root causes of these crimes.

Ms Mordaunt said:

The countless stories of sexual violence I have heard from Rohingya women and girls are truly shocking and the high rates of this crime across the world are a global scandal.

The UK is absolutely determined to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls and we are increasing protection for Rohingya women and girls against sexual violence and exploitation.

We are stepping up our leadership – working closely with women leaders and grassroots charities – to help more survivors in some of the world’s poorest countries overcome the traumas of violence.

UK aid is helping to provide:

• Emergency food to 174,000 people
• Lifesaving nutritional support to more than 60,000 children under-five and over 21,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women
• Safe drinking water, emergency latrines and hygiene kits for more than 138,000 people
• Essential items including soap, cooking utensils and water cans for over 131,000 people
• Emergency shelter for over 130,000 people and support to make shelters more resilient to rain and heavy winds for 450,000 people as the cyclone season approaches
• Access to female bathing cubicles and sanitary items for more than 35,000 girls and women
• Counselling and psychological support for over 10,000 women suffering from the trauma of war and over 2,000 survivors of sexual violence
• Medical help for over 50,000 pregnant women to give birth safely.

UK leadership also helped to secure another $300 million of international support at the landmark Geneva pledging conference on 23 October 2017. This reaches over half of the total funding required to meet urgent humanitarian needs as set out in the UN appeal. However, the UN appeal only covers the months up to February 2018, and more international pledges are required to meet ongoing desperate need.

Notes to Editors:

1. Today’s announcement of UK aid support for the Rohingya crisis includes £8 million of new funding for the Rohingya crisis from DFID’s crisis reserve which will help ensure assistance – including helping improve security for women and girls – is sustained after the months covered by the UN appeal, and £4 million for the World Food Programme that has been allocated from DFID Bangladesh’s existing budget and is already being used to provide food.
2. DFID will also provide up to £12 million over three years (December 2017 – December 2020) to the United Nations Trust Fund in Support of Actions to Eliminate Violence against Women (UNTF), as announced on Saturday 25 November 2017. This will support local, national, regional and cross-border efforts to prevent and respond to all forms of violence against women and girls in all contexts, including sexual violence in conflict areas. In 2016 around 250,000 women and girls benefitted directly from the Trust Fund’s work.
3. The UK is also leading the charge to reform the humanitarian system, to ensure the international community responds efficiently and effectively to crises, pooling resources together rather than competing and working in isolation.
4. The events in Rakhine look like ethnic cleansing. The Burmese authorities need to stop the violence and ensure immediate access into northern Rakhine so that UK aid can provide a lifeline to those still suffering in Rakhine State. Unacceptable intimidation and restrictions on the movement of humanitarian workers must be ended. Burma must work with international partners to put in place the conditions that will allow people to return to their homes safely, with dignity and hope for the future.
5. Recognising the unprecedented scale of the crisis in Bangladesh and Burma, the UK has been a leader in responding – in speed and size – providing an additional £59 million since August 2017 to help meet the urgent humanitarian needs of innocent men, women and children who have been forced to flee the relentless violence and atrocities in Burma, and make the treacherous journey to Bangladesh to seek refuge.
6. This includes the UK Government matching pound for pound £5 million raised by the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Appeal for people fleeing the violence and destruction in Burma, doubling the impact of the public’s own donations and ensuring that charities working on the ground can reach even more people in need.

A Downing Street spokesperson said

The Prime Minister spoke to President Sisi of Egypt earlier this evening.

The Prime Minister offered her personal condolences and the condolences of the British people for the barbaric attack that took place at al-Rawdah mosque in north Sinai yesterday.

They spoke about the attack being a terrible example of the threat Egypt faces and the Prime Minister reassured President Sisi that the UK stands ready to help in any way possible.

They agreed that terrorism was an international problem and that it was important for countries to work closely together and share expertise to counter the growing threat of terrorism around the world. They welcomed continued bilateral cooperation in this area.