Engineering for a Greater Britain

As I write, the UK has spent more than six months battling a virus which has led to the greatest upheaval and disruption to our daily lives in modern times. Its course and longevity remains unpredictable, and ominously the full impact on our societies and economy is unknown.

Managing extraordinary events does inevitably force new and innovative thinking, accelerates novel technologies and helps us realise our strengths. In this environment, decisions made now could set the path for the UK’s place in the world and our prosperity for decades to come. We need to think carefully about how best to future-proof and grow our economy for the long-term.

As we consider options for UK policy on security, defence and foreign affairs after Brexit, I believe the UK has a unique opportunity to capitalise on its historically strong and enviable tradition of engineering. We need to consider how government and businesses can work together to help ‘level up’ the UK’s regions and enable the spin-out and transfer of technologies.