UK tech race at risk from ‘far too cautious’ government, warns watchdog

Britain risks falling behind in the global tech race unless the government takes greater risks backing British startups, the chairman of Parliament’s spending watchdog has warned. In a report published on Wednesday, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) urged UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to take more equity stakes in companies it funds, arguing taxpayers are missing out on the returns from successful British inventions. Committee chairman Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown told City AM that the government must do more to help promising startups grow in Britain rather than lose them to overseas competitors. The taxpayer that after all put the seed corn funding into that organisation, to invent the idea and then hopefully scale it up, should, when it becomes successful, get a fair return on its money , he said. The report found that while British universities produce more spinouts and patents relative to research funding than their US counterparts, UK firms struggle to raise the