Industry Insights
Information &
Communication
Agriculture
Industry
The UK Agriculture Industry is made up of over 215,000 farm businesses spread across the nation, contributing £3,585 million to the UK economy in the third quarter of 2022. Agriculture provides half of the food we eat and employs a workforce of over 301,000 members, a 1.3% increase since 2021 (Department for Environment and Rural Affairs, 2022; Department for Environment and Rural Affairs, 2022; Trading Economics, 2022).
The wheat shortage and the energy crisis will threaten the rural economy in 2023. However, the energy crisis could open up opportunities to deliver renewable energy schemes.
With farmers starting to embrace renewable technology, UK agri-tech has a vital role in reaching net zero. The UK Government has set 2050 as its net zero deadline. However, the National Farmers Union (NFU) aims for 2040 by encouraging landowners and managers to improve production efficiency and land management and change land use to capture more carbon (UK Electronics, 2023).
Financial &
Insurance
Business Confidence within financial services (FS) has recovered from last quarter’s lows as markets have stabilised, inflationary pressures have increased, and the Government has reinforced its commitment to FS growth and competitiveness. A period of increased certainty has supported an increasing focus on investment in skills, technology and growth. In the post-Brexit world, the Government wants to see an “open, sustainable, technologically advanced financial services sector that is globally competitive” (Pwc, 2022).
UK fintech start-ups and scale-ups raised over $11bn in 2022, more than any country apart from the US.
