U.K. Seeks $134 Billion Boost to Productivity With Tech Push

(Bloomberg) -- The U.K. will seek to lift its economy by 100 billion pounds ($134 billion) by encouraging companies to tap into existing technologies to boost productivity.

Ministers want firms to use cloud computing and e-purchasing, as well as better management practices, to push up wages and profits, according to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond late Tuesday issued a call for evidence on productivity, details of which the business department published Wednesday.

Prime Minister Theresa May’s government is trying to improve sluggish productivity that lags other Group of Seven nations, with British workers producing in five days what Germans and Americans do in four. The latest review aims to make the most of Britain’s “untapped potential,” according to the business department.

“For centuries Britain has been a nation of discoveries, but these ideas haven’t always been commercialized in the U.K. and new ideas applied in practice,” Business Secretary Greg Clark said in a statement. “Our modern industrial strategy is ensuring that firms across the U.K. can take advantage of leading technologies and management practices, potentially adding 100 billion pounds to the economy.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Morales in London at amorales2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Flavia Krause-Jackson at fjackson@bloomberg.net, Stuart Biggs, Mark Williams

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