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By Dr Nasira Bradley FT’s Richard Milne’s verdict seems to be that NorthVolt got the funding right, but the execution wrong – is that right? While there is a lot to be said for Richards’ insight, I believe the root of failure lies deeper – at a flawed strategy, which in turn messes up the execution.  In the initial stages of a new business when the winning strategy is unclear, the focus has to be on ‘profit first, growth later’ – this focus brings clarity on execution and allows one to discard failed strategies quickly with lower losses, pivoting nimbly […]

By Dr Nasira Bradley Well, what can be said about the budget… It certainly was not a growth budget. Certainly not about helping grow our firms! At least not from what can be discerned so far. Instead, it has focussed on supply-side of the human resource: creating a healthy and educated workforce. Although that focus deserves merit, how these sectors are reformed in parallel, will very much influence the outcome.  However, more of concern is that this has been funded through a tax burden on Business (an outcome that has less merit!) through changes to employer-NI, Agricultural property relief (APR) […]

Invest, Invest, Invest – slow growth and productivity conundrum: why that means growing our firms ! By Eoin Vaughan & Dr Nasira Bradley Slower growth and the productivity conundrum has plagued both sides of the political spectrum in the UK over the last decade. Earlier this year, whilst still in opposition, Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered her Mais Lecture – a seminal moment for any economist wanting to influence policy in the UK. Throughout, she recognised productivity as one of our “key weaknesses”, and discussed the “diminishing returns for growth and productivity” in our country1. This need to boost productivity has […]

By Dr Nasira Bradley If Rishi Sunak is to be believed, Britain will be a “science and technology superpower” by 2030! Rishi Sunak thinks that Britain will harness AI — just like that! – and spur productivity and economic growth.  Labour likewise professes that “UK is well positioned to benefit from transformative AI and to lead the world to ensure AI is aligned with public interests”.  These statements beg the question ‘how’ is the UK going to become a science and technology super-power all of a sudden? One need only look at the leading technology global firms over the last few decades […]