Support urged for high-tech firms

Britain will only achieve healthy economic growth and job creation by boosting its high-tech capabilities and innovation across the economy, a report claims today.

The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts argues in its latest report, entitled Rebalancing Act, that "a full-blooded revival of the wider manufacturing sector is wishful thinking and would require growth rates not seen since the Second World War". Instead, it says, the Government should pay special attention to "the small minority of high-growth businesses that generate the bulk of job creation and which have been shown to be disproportionately innovative".

It suggests support should focus on "small-scale, often private-sector, programmes that encourage high-growth, innovative businesses" rather than programmes such as Business Links which offer general support.