It’s said that the debate over our place in Europe has exposed a great demographic schism at the heart of the nation. The vote was split across age and socio-economic perspectives, the north/south divide and even across racial lines. But it might also have exposed a lack of national self-confidence, or at least among that half of the electorate in the grip of what might uncharitably be described as a collective Stockholm syndrome. But contrary to what the naysayers would have us believe, whatever the shape of our eventual trading arrangements with our erstwhile partners in the European Union (EU), the UK will continue innovating, financing, fabricating and exporting – with all the attendant opportunities for investors. We’ve decided to highlight some highly competitive markets in which the UK has established a significant presence through the employment of advanced technologies. And one key area in which we could restore a previously held technological advantage.
At the start of the 1960s, Harold Wilson made his famous “white heat of technology” speech; one of the most recognisable of Labour rallying cries, but less remembered for the thrust of its content, which warned of the disruptive challenge of automation and computerisation. The paper on which the speech was based – ‘Labour’s Plan for Science’ – foresaw that the period from 1960 to the mid-1970s would entail greater change than the previous 250 years of industrialisation: ergo the UK’s economic health would depend “to a unique extent on the speed with which we come to terms with the world of change”. You could make the case that it took the UK much longer to transition its economy than Wilson might have originally anticipated, but there’s no doubt that he would recognise that politicians, entrepreneurs, financiers and the general public have certainly bought into the “white heat” narrative by 2016. And the latest statistics back this up.