Centre for Growth

The UK economy has had a tumultuous few years—seeing the largest decline in GDP in 300 years and the upheaval of leaving a trading bloc after nearly five decades. Despite a middle-of-the-road economic recovery in international terms, the outlook for growth, productivity, and investment is forecast to be challenging in the short and medium term. We believe that, by building on the UK’s fundamental strengths in knowledge and R&D, location and connectivity, entrepreneurialism, and innovation, there’s an opportunity to rewrite that outlook.

The growth challenge facing the UK is not one the public or private sector can tackle alone. We therefore draw upon BCG’s global network of experts to develop actionable policy ideas, connect key decision-makers, and build coalitions for change.

Our Approach to Energising UK Growth

The impetus—and need—for progress has never been greater. The global economic landscape is shifting rapidly. The world’s largest economic blocs are positioning themselves for a very different type of economic competition. The old rules based international order and the path to increasing globalisation that have dominated the past three decades are being challenged with a renewed focus on economic security and a shift to a multipolar world.

It is in this context that the UK needs to consider how it can best achieve its aims and where it can best compete. Not doing so risks missing out on bringing investment, jobs, skills, and idea creation into the UK.

To tackle these challenges, unlock new opportunities, and propel economic growth, the Centre for Growth focuses on big shifts that:

• Build on the UK’s sources of comparative advantage
• Capitalise on global megatrends and forces that are poised to shape the future
• Sit at the intersection of the public and private sector, where joint action can deliver outsized returns and benefits

These steps and initiatives are focused on a framework with the following two key pillars:

1. Doing the Basics Better. Bringing together a series of supply-side reforms provides a solid platform for growth and innovation. As it stands, too many areas—from the grid and energy costs to the approach of our regulators—risk being an inhibitor not a facilitator of growth and innovation. These areas contribute to the UK lagging behind the productivity frontier compared with its peers; in 2022, the UK’s productivity was 14% below that of Germany and 10% below France’s.
2. Building on Current Strengths and Targeting Future Opportunities. This involves identifying potential areas of UK comparative advantage and high growth from our already leading services sector to cutting-edge technologies such as AI. These are often sectors in which the productivity frontier is shifting quickly thanks to innovation—with many countries increasing investment in emerging sectors and technologies, the UK risks falling behind, even in areas that are currently strengths.

Within this framework, we take a bottom-up approach to how the UK economy can grow, focusing on the practical steps that can set the UK onto a better path based on our learnings from working with businesses and governments daily.

How We Work

BCG has had a significant presence in the UK since 1970, working with leading companies across the breadth of the economy, supporting—and sparking—clients’ growth, helping them improve productivity, become bionic companies, reduce carbon emissions, and boost agility. It’s a collaboration that spurs innovation, enabling clients—and the UK—to thrive amidst environmental, societal, and industrial change.

At the Centre for Growth, we combine this expertise with the unique experience of our team—including people who have served as senior policymakers in the public sector and others who have spent decades working with private sector companies—to identify and deliver opportunities to energise UK growth.

To fully understand the UK business environment and help improve it, our work is centred around the following three key pillars, which are integrated across BCG’s core business in the UK:

1. UK Macroeconomics. We support our clients and BCG with short and medium outlooks on the UK economy and key sectors.
2. Deep Dive Research. Partnering with both internal and external experts, we develop in-depth analyses and identify breakthrough initiatives to drive growth in key areas across the UK economy.
3. Expert Advisory. We help clients and stakeholders understand what the economic and policy landscape in the UK means for them and their market.