Yeah, I am involved in that, and we're trying to find more ways to do it but fuck me it's hard to get traction. The last Labour government started trying to put some of this in motion, studying the Fraunhofers and trying to start something similar in the UK. There's now a Fraunhofer UK, but it only has one centre, in Glasgow for photonics, which has been really successful, but then the Tories came in and basically it was 'we can't be doing anything too German' so they changed to the Catapult model instead. Some of the catapults are good and some are fucking useless. But all round we need more of these RTOs (Research and Technology Organisations - independent not-for-profit research centres that bridge the gap between academia and industry) across many sectors and regions of the UK. There are sectors we can make a real difference in; Space, Quantum Tech, Energy, High value manufacturing, Photonics, Biotech, Pharma and there are multiple others including Food and Drink. All of these RTOs should work on a broadly 1/3-1/3-1/3 funding model, equal parts of income from Government support, competitive grants and industry (and here's the key, they need to be rigid about that model, in the UK we flex that way too much), and additionally supported to take on double the number of graduates, apprentices etc they need to develop the skills base required across industry. The Return on Investment on government spending from this model is massively higher than most other government investments.inactionman wrote: ↑Tue Apr 04, 2023 11:10 amDefinitely. The Landesbank approach gives local industry greater access to funding, with more localised investment imperatives. We just don't have equivalent.Biffer wrote: ↑Tue Apr 04, 2023 10:57 amYeah, right enough.inactionman wrote: ↑Tue Apr 04, 2023 10:44 am
It's not really infrastructure - it's more the entire level of support offered to industry, much of which is dependent upon central government incentive and direction. For example, the ability of e.g. SME companies in engineering to raise finance and investment - there is little incentive for banks to lend, given the focus upon the broader fund management typically seen in the City which influences the expected speed and volume of return on investment (engineering will typically return lower and over longer term, so there's typically lesser appetite). I worked for Jaguar Land Rover after it was bought by Tata and they were experiencing a good degree of growth and job creation* - it's important to note that the engineers didn't change, what changed was the degrees and levels of investment in the business itself and in new car programmes.
Infrastructure is an enabler, but a slightly different question.
* eta - I'm referring to a period about 7 ir 8 years ago - I appreciate JLR isn't finding things easy at the moment but all auto industry is suffering, and JLR in particular is quite exposed to Chinese luxury consumers' spending.
The Germans have an advantage through things like the Landesbanks (SP?), regional banks with limits on their growth so they have to lend within their region. There have been some attempts to do things like Scottish Investment Bank and Green Investment Bank but as soon as they reach a certain size in the UK, there'll be a clamour to sell them off and then they'll just revert to more traditional models.
There are other things, too numerous to mention, that we don't seem to have much interest in. Just an example, which I raise as I recall you're engaged in research - UK University research is world class, but we just aren't effective in spinning out, in particular outside of the redbricks. My feeling, which is dated as I left the University sector more than 10 years ago, is that we bodge fundamental research (the sort e.g. EPSRC would fund) and applied research which should take these early findings and exploit, particularly in conjunction with (and often directed by) industry. You end up with a good researcher trying to start up a spin-off, against all odds, or a more industrial researcher not having any fundamental insight to exploit. Germany, by way of contrast, has things like Max Planck institutes for fundamental research, and Fraunhofer Institutes which are specifically industry-funded for direct, industry-facing applied research and development. The remits are clear, the funding routes clear, the industry expectation clear.
However governments in the UK are not into long term investments, they want something shiny to be photographed next to.
