Industrial Strategy attracts £380bn and supports 155,000 jobs in year 1
14 July 2026 
One year after the launch of its Modern Industrial Strategy, the UK Government says that the initiative has already attracted more than £380bn of private sector commitments to high-growth sectors, supporting more than £35bn in exports, and 155,000 jobsacross the country. The Strategy is a 10-year plan aimed at increasing business investment and driving economic growth, targeting, in particular, eight key sectors – including advanced manufacturing, clean energy and “digital and technologies” – that the Government believes will define the UK’s 21st century economy.
In a report marking the first anniversary of the initiative, the Government says it is “helping to ensure the UK remains one of the world’s leading places to innovate, invest and grow businesses in the industries that will shape the future economy”. It adds that the Strategy is “starting to give businesses certainty and confidence, with joined-up decisions and faster action on infrastructure, planning decisions, energy support, skills gaps, regulatory burdens, the capital for innovative companies, and how government backs UK firms to compete and export globally”.
The 66-page report, called Delivering the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy: Year One, declares that perceptions of the UK’s attractiveness to foreign investors have “rebounded”, returning the nation to joint second in Europe with Germany in 2026.
It adds that the eight earmarked sectors (known as the IS-8) are more productive, and companies in those sectors pay their workers £7,900 more, than the national average.
Among other things that the government says it has done in the first year of the Industrial Strategy are:
- Supported small businesses, innovators and entrepreneurs with increasing access to growth capital, with the expansion of multi-billion-pound public finance initiatives and pension fund reforms.
- Ensured the UK leads Europe in attracting venture capital, capturing a record 48% of new European VC funding so far in 2026 – the highest rate in 16 years.
- Introduced new laws to overhaul planning regulations, and introduced measures to ensure smaller companies in supply chains get paid on time. More than 130 trade barriers have been removed, creating an estimated £13bn in potential additional exports over five years.
- Committed more than £1bn to train people with the skills to work in key industries – including 29 Technical Excellence Colleges serving more than 100,000 students – and launched a nationwide push to upskill 10m workers in AI by 2030.
- Allocated £9bn for cutting-edge research and commercialisation of new technologies to create new companies, such as British firms developing AI hardware, and introduced a £500m Sovereign AI Fund.
- Cut electricity bills by reducing network charges by 90% for the most energy-intensive industrial users, with 10,000 more firms set to benefit from an average 25% discount from next year.
A new business support Web site launched by the Government as part of its Business Growth Service, has already attracted more than 750,000 visitors.
While delivery of the Strategy is “moving at pace”, the Government admits that there is more to do. “The current geopolitical challenges make the Industrial Strategy even more urgent, and the impact of interventions needs to be felt by businesses and their workers, from reducing energy bills and red tape wrangles, to improving skills,” the report says. Over the next year, the government will cut industrial energy costs further, roll out jobs plans for each growth sector, bring forward new investment-ready strategic sites across the country, and strip back unnecessary administrative costs to business.
“In the face of heightened geopolitical uncertainties, with increasing pressures on energy and global networks, businesses need resilient supply chains and access to critical inputs,” it adds. “We must anticipate risk, protect core capabilities, and invest in industries that support national security and technological leadership, such as recent equity stakes in ventures like Oxford Quantum Circuits and Rowden.”
The Government says that the Industrial Strategy’s delivery will accelerate in its second year, opening up new opportunities. It has produced a roadmap predicting, among other things, that procurement and payment reforms will deliver benefits worth £7.4bn a year to SMEs from 2028. By 2035, its expects the Strategy will deliver 1.5 million more jobs in key roles, as well as strengthening supply chains and offering sustained market opportunities to UK businesses.
