Ian Hillier, Defence lead for PwC UK, said:
“In the Budget, the Chancellor reaffirmed her commitment to increase defence spending to 2.6% of GDP by April. Given the Defence Committee’s recent assessment that our industrial base is unable to support sustained collective defence, public support for greater military strength gives her license to be bold in making continued investments.
“The Chancellor mentioned the reengineering of venture capital schemes to supercharge the growth associated with scale-up businesses. In the US and Germany, venture capital-style acquisition models are being used to accelerate the adoption of emerging technologies for military use. If the adoption of alternative private financing schemes can be applied to the defence sector, there's an opportunity to put the UK’s considerable financial muscle to better use in the pursuit of national security.
“Our Forces for Change research demonstrates that the public understand the increased security risk to the UK, with two thirds supporting a strengthening of the military and recognising the development of the industrial base will be critical to doing so.”
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