Title: Insights from the 2025 UK Innovation Survey (UKIS 2025): Findings from 2022–2024

This post presents the detailed findings of the 2025 UK innovation survey (UKIS 2025), which captures the innovation landscape across the United Kingdom for the period 2022 to 2024. The report synthesises a wide range of quantitative indicators and qualitative insights to provide a coherent picture of where the UK stands in terms of innovation, how organisations are adapting, and where policy and practice should focus in the years ahead.

Overview and context
UKIS 2025 builds on a long-running series designed to track the inputs, activities and outcomes associated with innovation across sectors, enterprises of all sizes, and regions. The 2022–2024 window reflects a period of sustained disruption and transformation: global supply chain realignments, digitalisation acceleration, and evolving public policy mandates around research and development (R&D), climate resilience, and productivity. The survey offers granular data on R&D intensity, collaboration patterns, adoption of advanced technologies, and the organisational factors that enable innovative activity.

Key dimensions of the findings
1. Innovation activity and intensity
– Across multiple indicators, UK organisations report varying levels of innovation engagement, with service-sector firms increasingly integrating process and business model innovations alongside product development.
– R&D activity remains a central driver of long-term competitiveness, though the translation of research into commercial outcomes continues to hinge on effective scale-up, funding, and access to talent.
– The share of businesses reporting significant innovation in the last three years demonstrates pockets of strength, particularly among high-growth firms, but also highlights persistent gaps in sectors with legacy capital constraints and in regions with lower innovation ecosystems.

2. Collaboration and open innovation
– Collaborative activity, both with customers and with science and research partners, is strongly correlated with successful innovation outcomes.
– Public–private partnerships and regional innovation collaborations are increasingly leveraged to share risk and access specialised capabilities.
– Intellectual property considerations, data sharing practices, and the governance of collaborative projects are highlighted as critical enablers to successful outcomes.

3. Technology adoption and digital enablement
– Adoption of digital technologies—ranging from cloud computing to advanced analytics and AI—continues to rise, with notable gains in efficiency, decision-making, and customer engagement.
– The integration of new technologies is often tied to strategy, organisational readiness, and the availability of skills, rather than to technology cost alone.
– Cybersecurity and data governance remain themselves central to sustaining innovation activity in a more interconnected economy.

4. Skills, talent and leadership
– Talent availability and skills development are identified as primary bottlenecks for innovative activity, especially in advanced manufacturing, life sciences, and digital sectors.
– Organisations that invest in training, apprenticeships, and continuing professional development tend to report higher innovation outputs.
– Leadership and a culture that supports experimentation, risk management, and agile working are repeatedly cited as determinants of successful innovation journeys.

5. Funding, finance and policy environment
– Access to finance for R&D and scale-up remains a differentiator between high-performing firms and those facing constraints.
– Public funding, tax incentives, and early-stage investment ecosystems play a significant role in enabling risk-taking and long-range planning.
– Policy signals around net-zero transition, resource efficiency, and digital infrastructure influence where and how firms prioritise their innovation agendas.

6. regional and sectoral patterns
– Regional disparities in innovation activity persist, with certain regions exhibiting stronger ecosystems, higher collaboration density, and better access to specialised talent.
– Sectoral patterns reflect the heterogeneous nature of innovation—technology-intensive sectors often lead in R&D intensity, while services and consumer-facing industries prioritise customer-centric innovations and process improvements.
– Cross-regional and cross-sector knowledge spillovers remain important for boosting overall national competitiveness.

Implications for business strategy
– Prioritise end-to-end innovation value chains: From ideation and prototyping to scaled deployment, organisations should align innovation activities with clear commercial outcomes and capability building.
– Strengthen collaboration frameworks: Proactively seek partnerships with research institutions, suppliers, customers, and peers to share risk, access new capabilities, and accelerate learning.
– Invest in people and culture: Build skill pipelines, provide continuous learning opportunities, and cultivate an organisational climate that embraces experimentation, rapid ciclos, and resilient governance.
– Align technology adoption with strategy: Select technologies that unlock strategic advantages, ensure robust data governance, and balance innovation with cybersecurity considerations.
– Seek diverse funding streams: Combine public funding, private investment, and internal reinvestment to sustain long-cycle R&D and scaling efforts.
– Address regional gaps: Leverage regional ecosystems, talent pools, and place-based policy instruments to bolster weaker regions and reduce disparities in innovative capacity.

What this means for policymakers and stakeholders
– The findings underscore the importance of coherent, patient mechanisms to support R&D, skills development, and industry–academia collaboration.
– Targeted policy instruments that lower barriers to scale-up, enhance access to finance, and reduce fragmentation in regional innovation ecosystems can yield meaningful productivity dividends.
– A focus on data-driven governance and transparent evaluation of innovation programmes will improve accountability and inform future investments.

Methodology notes
– UKIS 2025 draws on a representative sample of UK organisations across sectors, sizes, and geographies, with data collected for 2022–2024.
– The report triangulates quantitative indicators with qualitative insights to provide a holistic view of the UK’s innovation landscape.
– Limitations and caveats are explained in the accompanying methodology chapter, including response rates, regional coverage, and sectoral classification nuances.

Concluding remarks
The 2025 UK Innovation Survey offers a robust snapshot of the UK’s innovation system at a time of rapid change. While the overall picture shows positive momentum in many areas, it also highlights the need for targeted interventions to level up regional capabilities, accelerate the translation of research into commercial impact, and ensure that all organisations can participate effectively in the innovation economy. By combining strategic investment, collaborative approach, and investments in skills and leadership, the UK can strengthen its innovation foundations and deliver sustained productivity growth in the years ahead.

June 4, 2026 at 09:30AM
官方统计：英国创新调查2025：报告
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-innovation-survey-2025-report
本报告呈现英国创新调查2025（UKIS 2025）在2022年至2024年期间的详细调查结果。仅返回已翻译的文本。

阅读更多中文内容： 2025 UK 创新调查（UKIS 2025）：2022–2024 时段的详细发现与趋势解读