Smart machines, from intelligent dishwashers to robotic surgeons, could open up £150bn of gross value added (GVA) to the UK economy, according to a government-commissioned report.
The Smart Machines 2035 strategy paper from the government-appointed Robotics Growth Partnership committee claimed that with industry support, the value of automated machinery to the British economy could increase a staggering twenty-fold by 2035, up from the current estimated figure of £6.4bn.
This would be seen in sectors such as construction, agriculture, food and drink manufacturing and health and social care and would build on the success of automation in the warehouse logistics industry, which accounts for around 70% of automation’s UK GVA.
The committee argued that the UK was wasting its leading position in robotics and automation research by being home to a comparatively modest industry.
According to data company Beauhurst, there are around 2,204 robotics and automation companies in the UK with an average turnover of £13m and a company size of 83 staff.
Among the biggest players in UK robotics and automation is CMR Surgical, a Cambridge-based firm medical assistant bots that received a £133m investment round led by SoftBank in 2023 and autonomous driving software company Wayve, worth $3bn.
While these figures suggest a reasonably robust robotics industry, the report claimed the use of this technology lagged behind the likes of South Korea, Japan, the US, China and even Slovakia, which has 73% more industrial robots per 10,000 workers than the UK.
To reach the £150bn figure over the next decade, the report outlined a strategy to boost both the supply and the demand for smart machine technology.
Its recommendations include the creation of an Office for Smart Machines, the expansion of regional smart machine hubs based around prominent centres of scientific research and a new £100m investment fund from British Patient Capital targeting smart machine innovators – an idea first recommended in a report by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.
Responding to the paper, Science Minister Lord Patrick Vallance said that he, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and the Treasury would “carefully consider the recommendations” put forward.
“Thank you again for the RGP’s efforts in driving forward this agenda, and I look forward to continuing to work together,” Vallance said.
The Robotics Growth Partnership was appointed in 2019 by the previous Conservative government. The committee is chaired by Ocado’s CTO Emeritus Paul Clarke and Edinburgh Centre for Robotics founder Prof David Lane.
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