Results and analysis from the new BEIS UK Innovation Survey

To boost UK productivity and growth we know we need to get more businesses innovating. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s (BEIS) UK Innovation Survey published last month provides a snapshot of how we’re doing, with data on business innovation from 2018-20, cross-referenced with previous surveys since 2014. It also gives insight into businesses’ drivers and barriers for innovation, offering a steer on where government and businesses can do more to ensure innovation levels continue to increase.

Headline statistics

• 45% of UK businesses were innovation-active in 2018-20 (engaged in product, process or business model innovation), a 7% increase from the previous survey but still well below a peak of 53% in 2012-14.
• 58% large businesses were innovation-active in 2018-20 compared to 44% of SMEs.

Partnership

Partnerships are key facilitators of innovation, allowing businesses to share ideas and expertise, and access skills, facilities and resources not available internally.

• 58% of broader innovator businesses reported having co-operation agreements for innovation, compared to 49% in the last survey.
• Levels of partnership increased across all types of collaboration, with partners from supply chains to public research institutes.
• A notable increase was in collaboration with competitors or other businesses in the same sector; 45% of broader innovator businesses reported these pre-competitive collaborations compared to just over 30% in 2014-16.

Check out the CBI's new Big Fish Little Fish toolkit for advice on building successful innovation partnerships between larger businesses and innovative start-ups and scale-ups.

Drivers and barriers

COVID-19 had the largest impact on business innovation activities over the survey period, with 37% of innovating businesses, rating it an important barrier. However, it was also the second biggest driver for innovation over the period, named as important by 35% of broader innovators. This figure likely includes innovation drives to directly address the pandemic, as well as a significant increase in businesses investing innovation spend in computer