Chancellor Rishi Sunak says he's proud of the UK’s world leading technology sector
On the 1 November, and after 18 months, techUK hosted its 2021 Annual Dinner where over 600 of our friends across the tech sector gathered for a night of networking and inspiring discussions about the future of tech. This evening was attended by senior officials from government departments, as well as various industry and government organisations, and, of course, our members, who are vital representatives of the tech sector.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, did not want to miss out on this occasion, and despite being unable to attend in person, he sent a special video to techUK guests at the dinner celebrating the incredible work the tech sector is doing: “I’m proud of the UK’s world leading technology sector, and the companies you represent are the future of the UK economy”, he said.
He also highlighted many initiatives that the Government is carrying out to support the tech sector such as the Future Fund and the Future Fund Breakthrough, Help to Grow: Digital, and the launch of new scale-up and high potential individual visas alongside a new Global Talent Network that will work with businesses and research institutions to bring highly skilled people in science and tech in the UK.
The Chancellor also used this opportunity to reaffirm his commitment to reform R&D tax reliefs to encourage modern research techniques by expanding qualifying expenditure to include data and cloud computing costs, as announced in the Autumn Budget 2021. techUK welcomed this announcement which we and our members have been advocating since 2017. Addressing the audience, the Chancellor Rishi Sunak said:
“We are committed to supporting ten of thousands of UK businesses conducting cutting edge innovation though one of the most generous R&D tax reliefs in the world, and we are modernising these reliefs to reflect modern R&D methods, which rely on vast quantities of data that is analysed and processed via the cloud."
The chancellor concluded his speech by thanking techUK members for their essential contributions to the UK economy and society, and expressing that the government will continue to support our world-leading tech sector:
“The government stands ready to support you and the rest of our world leading tech sector. I would like to close by thanking you all for the invaluable contributions your companies make to the UK economy and society. I hope you have a brilliant evening and look forward to seeing you in person soon.”
techUK is eager to host its Annual Dinner next year, and we are ready to gather with outstanding minds to debate how to confront future challenges, to discuss the future of the tech sector, and hopefully to meet new techUK friends.