Growth is the new Government’s central mission. And rightly so: it is the mission on which everything else depends. Without a growing economy, Britain will not see the higher living standards, the good jobs, the prosperous communities and the improving public services that everyone wants. As the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has said: “Growth is the challenge. Investment is the solution”.

Much of that investment will come from private capital. UK-based private capital specialists have £178 billion of funds to invest, which they expect to deploy in the next three to five years. But the level of investment in the UK economy will depend on the attractiveness of the UK as a place to invest.

Public First worked with BVCA to convene the Investment Commission, bringing together a range of experts – people who represent investors, portfolio companies, academics, think tanks and business groups – to help us to understand the most important barriers that face both those seeking to invest in the UK, and those seeking to attract investment.

• What do private equity and venture capital investors do to support and grow UK businesses, improve their productivity and get a return on their investment? 
• What are the most important barriers – in terms of regulation, state capacity, skills, policy stability, potential return on investment and more – that face those seeking to invest in the UK, and what are the measures that would most significantly boost investment? 
• How can government and the private sector work together to achieve aims everyone agrees on: boosting economic growth, reducing inequalities between the UK’s nations and regions, delivering Net Zero? 
• How do we secure the private capital investment we need in the businesses that will create the jobs of the future? 

We conducted two surveys of BVCA members, held one-to-one interviews with senior investment professionals, and convened expert roundtable discussions on three specific themes: green transition and clean energy, the UK tech sector, and investment in the nations and regions of the UK. We found that many of our most important conclusions cut across all three of these themes. 

Our research has led us to make policy recommendations which could help to overcome these barriers, which are implementable – representing a broad consensus between investors and policymakers – and which reflect the key public policy challenges that stand in the way of boosting investment, not just the specific demands of a particular industry. 

Read the report here.