November 28, 2016

Ukie says that this year’s Autumn Statement centred on the Chancellor’s commitment to deliver on the Government’s pledge to “support ordinary working class families” and the promise Theresa May made to the nation this summer to focus on those who are “just about managing”.

Ukie notes that much of the good news for games businesses was published in advance of Hammond’s announcement to Parliament, which marked the first time since the Referendum that the Government has had to make a formal assessment of the long-term impact of exiting the European Union.

At the annual CBI conference the week before, Prime Minister Theresa May announced a commitment of £2 billion a year investment into R&D by 2020, the setting up of an Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, overseen by UK Research and Innovation, to help the UK capitalise on its strengths in cutting-edge research like Artificial Intelligence, and a review into the tax regime to ensure that the UK is a home for innovators and tech investors.

Ukie says that it warmly welcomes the Prime Minister placing technology and innovation at the heart of the new Industrial Strategy and focusing on transformational technologies where the UK can excel and lead the world in. Ukie says that it will be “seeking clarity on precise ways that the games industry can access this funding”.

The Government also announced that it would be pledging over £1 billion of funding for fibre broadband and 5G mobile technology, providing the digital infrastructure to drive the vision of a high-tech innovative Britain.

In his Autumn Statement, the Chancellor emphasised his ambition for the UK to be a world leader in 5G and to ensure that millions of homes and businesses across the nation have access to full-fibre broadband. Ukie says that it has repeatedly urged the Government to ensure that high-speed broadband needs are met in games clusters across the UK. Ukie says that it is “pleased with the Chancellor’s announcement”.

Finally, the Chancellor announced that £400 million will be injected into capital funds through the British Business Bank, unlocking £1 billion of new finance for tech scale-ups in a bid to address the “longstanding problem of our fastest growing technology firms being snapped up by bigger companies’ start-ups being snapped up by larger competitors”. Ukie says that it has inquired into how games businesses can benefit from this fund. To read Ukie’s press release in full, click here.