The UK risks squandering its most valuable industrial assets unless the government acts swiftly to increase support for homegrown HardTech and DeepTech businesses, senior industry figures have warned.
Speaking at the inaugural Bessemer Society Summit in London, Sir Warren East, (pictured) former CEO of both Rolls-Royce and Arm, and Dame Anne Glover, CEO of Amadeus Capital Partners, urged ministers to boost investment and overhaul tax rules to help British companies scale and stay onshore.
The event brought together more than 150 leading industrialists, founders, investors and policymakers for the first time, with a focus on what the UK must do to remain competitive in sectors critical to energy security, defence, and economic growth.
Named after Sir Henry Bessemer, the inventor who revolutionised steel manufacturing, the Society’s members have raised more than $2 billion since the pandemic. But speakers at the event warned that without urgent reforms, more of Britain’s most promising technology companies could be lost to overseas buyers.
Among the strongest calls for reform came from Steve Lindsey, founder of engineering firm SFL.Technology, who criticised the current tax environment for favouring foreign investment.
“At the turn of the millennium, UK pension funds invested around 50% of their assets in British companies. Today that figure is just 4%,” he said. “We’re using our savings to build other countries’ economies instead of our own.”
Lindsey called for urgent changes to tax and investment rules to prevent further erosion of Britain’s industrial base. The message was echoed by other business leaders and investors who warned that the UK’s stagnant equity markets and patchy capital access are threatening long-term growth.
CBI chairman and Smith & Nephew chair Rupert Soames described the moment as an “existential challenge” for UK public markets. Speaking on the sidelines of the summit, he backed calls for reforms to how UK pension funds allocate capital and urged the government to take a more active role in channelling investment into British industry.
The event also highlighted a significant funding gap for later-stage growth capital – a key hurdle for DeepTech firms moving from research breakthroughs to global commercial scale.
Despite these challenges, the summit showcased the fundraising successes of Bessemer Society members, with headline deals including:
• $740m raised by Oxford Nanopore
• $380m by Pragmatic Semiconductor
• $175m by Tokamak Energy
Alex Stewart, founder of the Society and great-great grandson of Sir Henry Bessemer, said the group’s members are already shaping the UK’s industrial future – but need consistent backing to go further.
“Our members are building the infrastructure of the next industrial revolution – in clean energy, advanced materials, semiconductors and AI. But too many are forced to look overseas to grow,” he said. “We need the UK to invest in itself again.”
The summit featured panels on energy security, dual-use defence technologies, AI, and regional innovation clusters. The overwhelming theme was that HardTech – companies rooted in engineering and scientific advances – will be essential to future economic resilience and national sovereignty.
But delegates warned that unless government policy catches up, more companies will go the way of Arm, the UK chip designer now headquartered in the US, or Wise and Flutter, which recently shifted primary listings from London to New York.
“The UK can lead the world in HardTech – but only if we match our world-class research with world-class capital and commercial ambition,” said Dame Anne Glover.
With a general election on the horizon and mounting pressure to drive domestic growth, business leaders hope the Bessemer Society Summit will act as a catalyst for action – turning rhetoric into investment and making Britain a serious contender in the global tech economy once again.
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UK’s HardTech leaders call for urgent investment and reform to back Britain’s industrial future