Transcript
Mark Prisk
Well, Martin, thank you very much for that and I think this is one of those scary moments with my private office when I’m due to respond and there was a prepared script. They’re now wondering what he’s going to say and whether he’ll say something he shouldn’t. There’s always a nervous moment in the Department for that.
Let me start by saying that I always inspired by those people who are at the cutting edge of the way in which we change not only the design and aesthetic sense but also the functionality. And in fact, very often, what you’re doing there, Chris, in terms of the way in which that market operates and changing, in fact, how consumers are going to respond to emerging energy costs, shows that actually, design is not simply about aesthetics, crucial and important as that is and Ian’s absolutely right to say that who amongst us don’t respond to the aesthetic of a product that we see that galvanises our imagination?
But it’s also about recognising the functionality role of design, the way in which a company’s performance can be radically changed, a market can be disrupted by new design. And obviously, we’ve heard the most obvious exponent of that earlier, in Jony Ive.
Now, in September – I’m aware David has just come back from Brazil so for those of you thinking we spend our entire time on a plane, let me just clarify, these are obviously very focused visits. But in September I was in Hong Kong – I’ll just pre-empt that before the twitting starts or the tweeting starts.
I was in Hong Kong talking to young entrepreneurs and looking at how we can attract the brightest and best to the UK. And one of the discussions we got into around not just what they do in their business but about how they see the UK as a marketplace was what are the strengths and weaknesses of the UK, what is it that attracts you to this country?
And every single one of them, in a different conversation, without me prompting it, used one word – creativity. They see this country as being a nation that has a genuine, natural creativity and, you know, I was encouraged by that because, Gerry rightly said, we tend to hide our light under a bushel every so often as a nation; very English, demure, a little cautious in wanting to promote what we do.
But, you know, there’s a huge number of the brightest and best around the world who do look to people in this country, to the markets in this country, to the different design businesses in this country and see some of the brightest and best and they want to be part of that. And so I don’t think we should overlook that. I think we should recognise where that helps us.
And we’ve seen both in Navetas and in JLR today two really good examples of how design, both aesthetically, functionally, in terms of innovation, are making a real difference to a market and, indeed, to a business.
Now, one of the things that I felt when I came in to do the job of covering manufacturing, as my role encompasses all business sectors and enterprise, was seeing how we can best help. And I’m a businessman so I’m always wary of the idea that government knows best. We do not. Our job is to create the right framework in which you are incentivised, encouraged, motivated to excel.
And sometimes that means doing less, sometimes that means doing more better. But it’s important that we in government recognise that and come from that culture otherwise we will try and tinker and meddle in every aspect of running your business. And we know where that leads.
So what can government realistically do, what is our role? Well, David Willetts is going to, I’m sure, want to talk to you later about the vital role of universities in technology transfer, which we’ve just been hearing about from Chris, and also, of course, the fundamental question about how do we ensure we continue to get and attract and involve the brightest and best into our design, engineering and manufacturing businesses.
But what else is government there to do? Well, let me offer some suggestions if I can. The first, I think, is to make sure that we reform and strengthen the intellectual property rights and regime so that you are encouraged and rewarded from your innovations. There are challenges in that field. There’s a debate going on live at the moment and I think it’s, but it’s nevertheless important that we do that.
And one aspect of this I think is important, that was touched on earlier, is the way in which innovation is increasingly a collaborative, not a secretive process. If you look at pharmaceuticals now, they’ve moved away from the idea that their own teams will generate the majority of their innovations and they’re actually recognising that what they want to see is an increase in innovation within their labs but not necessarily that it is their business.
And this is where you’re starting to see the small biotech and the large pharma actually engage in that process of research, development and innovation. And we need to think that through because that’s an important, changing model that won’t just affect pharma and biotech but is starting to reach across into some of the other sectors as well.
The second thing we need to be engaged in is intelligent investment. It’s always a… I put that first word in there carefully because government always doesn’t get this right. But I was recently in Bristol looking at what EADS are doing. We’ve, through the regional growth fund, put two million into 3D printing. And I have to confess, as a fairly bad O-level physicist, I struggled with the concept of 3D printing but it has immense implications.
You know, additive layer manufacturing isn’t just about what they’re doing as an outcome, it’s about changing the very way we make things. It has a fundamental impact, particularly in aerospace and automotive, where you can, as I saw, you can develop a component by building it up rather than taking a material and adapting that material, and actually establish some significant gains. The weight reductions in some of the components are a half, 60%, 70% reduction in weight for the same tensile-strength component.
Think what that means in aerospace, think what that means in automotive, especially as the automotive sector in this country is racing ahead, I’m proud to say, of our international competitors on the whole green issue. So that’s one of those areas where we can help the seed-corn funding. I’ll come to the banks in a moment, if I can, but that’s one of the areas where we can invest direct.
Procurement, you know; government is a buyer of goods and services. The way we do that helps shape markets and that’s why I’ve been working across government departments looking at the small business research initiative to try to make sure that we don’t just procure in the traditional, conventional way but we use that budget to encourage innovation. It’s a really good opportunity to actually not describe the outcome but to spell out to the market a problem and then actually invite the smaller players to be able to come forward with the innovative ideas.
And that’s something that the Design Council has been really good at doing. The Designing Demand programme has been a really encouraging way, I think, of actually helping, if you like, that mentoring process from the experienced manufacturing business through to the smaller player. And that’s why I’m pleased to be able to confirm that we are, as a department, going to extend the funding for design and demand to enable Design Council now to be able to reach out to the next phase of SMEs so we can continue that process. It’s a good scheme. I’m very encouraged by the way in which the Design Council does it and we’re happy to be able to support that in the next few years.
But what else? Chris rightly mentioned finance. I think we could be here for quite a long time if we got into the whys and wherefores on the banks. But the key in my book, as a former businessman, is choice, is making sure the long-def funding, we also intelligently think through expanding the range of entrants and players in that market but also on the equity side as well.
That’s why we’re putting a £50 million co-investment into a fund to support business angels, to expand that field. That’s why I am nudging the elbows of UK VCs because I think there is a degree of risk-aversion there that I don’t always see in Silicon Valley and we’re going to look at whether we can’t encourage a slightly more risk-enthusiastic, shall we say, culture there.
But also we’ve secured from the banks a £2.5 billion growth fund specifically aimed at the mid-caps because when I look at where the growth opportunities lie, it’s that group of ten to 100 million in turnover that actually are really struggling to make that step forward and that is growth capital which hopefully won’t have some of the conditions that Chris described earlier when he was trying to get a loan.
Also, of course, not relevant to all design areas; the green investment bank, a £3 billion investment from UK Government to lever in £15 billion over the next five years. That, I think is a crucial add-on that bolts into an area where we have a genuine advantage in this country, which we now need to press home. I think that will be helpful.
But if I can just wind up on a broader picture, each of the speakers that we’ve heard today in this session have touched on this question, which is the profile, the image of design, of engineering, of manufacture in the UK and something that Martin and I have been talking about for much of the last year.
How do we change the perception of what design, engineering and manufacturing is about in this country? How do we encourage the 43% of young people who take science, technology, engineering and maths degrees when only 5% then go on into industry, engineering and manufacture, how do we change that perception?
Now, one of the first things I did when I arrived at the business department was look at that enormous glass reception that we have there. We have the odd table and so on and I thought, well, you know, there’s a very simple starting point here. Let’s show people what we make. Let’s put it in the shop window, quite literally.
So every month we’ve had a different exhibition which has showcased what we make in this country. It started with the Union Jack-coloured JCB in the yard, which did cause one or two remarks about Vince Cable’s new ministerial car. But it moved on to a whole series of ideas, large and small. I think my favourite was probably the zero-carbon motorbike which Intelligent Energy are developing.
But there’s a whole raft of other ways in which we’ve been able to actually not only showcase to the rest of business who come to the department what it is we design and make in this country, but also the number of members of the public who actually come into the department to ask and look at what we do. Now, that’s a nice small start, it’s a small element.
We need to go further and that’s why next week we’re going to, in collaboration with our friends in the automotive industry, start a new programme of opening up our industrial centres, to see inside manufacturing because, again, if we’re going to get those young people to think about the variety of careers that are in design, engineering and manufacturing, we need to show them what they do.
And I do get very frustrated with some parts of our friends in the media who, whenever we talk about industry, stick up immediately that lovely picture from, I don’t know, 1974 or something with a smoking factory chimney and the Northern-lit, you know, old 1970s factories. So what we’re trying to do is to say to people who perhaps are thinking about a future job, those young people who are wondering about university or maybe the vocational route, you know what, actually, in your area there’s a really good range of well-paid, skilled, well-rewarded careers that maybe you haven’t thought about.
And one further theme I want to go on in this area about showcasing what we make and being proud of what we design; next year the world’s eyes in the summer are going to be on this country, on this city in particular for the Olympics. And actually, I’ve said to the construction industry, we should take immense pride in what they’ve achieved in designing, building a unique ensemble of world-class venues on a difficult and complex site, on time, on budget. And let’s face it, in the Olympics, that’s quite a major achievement.
So that’s an important part for that sector and I’m pushing and working with them to do that but I want to go further. We will shortly be setting out our plans during next summer to showcase what we design, what we engineer and what we make in this country, the very point when the rest of the world is looking. And I’m going to be doing this in collaboration with a world-class institution. I’m being coy now because we haven’t signed the final document and I’d better make sure my officials don’t get too twitchy that I’m getting ahead of myself.
But the purpose of this exercise is to use this moment to say to our own young people and the brightest and best, this country is a centre for design and engineering that we do have good careers. And to go back to my friends in Hong Kong, we still have that quality and creativity. So I’ve been very encouraged, as I always am when I go and listen and talk to our industrial, engineering and design colleagues. There’s a lot of challenges. I’m not under any doubt that there are other guys and girls coming up on the inside track and we always need to be looking to do better.
But I think we should take much greater pride in what we do and we should get out there and sell it more effectively and we as a Government are committed to that task.
So, Martin, thank you for letting me come and railroad your discussion point. I’m going to ask – as usual, in ministers’ diaries, I’m usually meant to be somewhere else at this moment. What I’d like to do is just to stay for five or ten minutes. I will probably scuttle out halfway through the discussion. Please don’t take that personally. But I’m going to ask my officials to make sure I’ve got a full set of the feedback from that so that I can understand your concerns and thoughts. Thank you very much.