Business Growth Strategy - Global Megatrends
Our economy will continue to be impacted by wider global megatrends outside of our control, but that will nonetheless require navigation.
| Global Megatrend | Implications for Business Growth Strategy |
|---|---|
| Technology and digitisation: The pace of technological change shows no sign of slowing as we move into a new era of robotics, artificial intelligence and big data analytics that may have even more profound effects on the nature of jobs generated by the economy and the sources of economic growth. | The Business Growth Strategy needs to capture intelligence and understand how these trends are impacting on our business base and ensure our facilities and support offer is relevant for the businesses of the future. |
| Climate change and net zero: Human-driven warming of the planet will drive demand for new ways of generating and distributing energy to power our businesses, homes and transport. It is also stimulating demand for products which better insulate and protect us from the effects of climate change. | The Business Growth Strategy needs to understand what sort of help local businesses need to compete in these market areas and capitalise on the opportunities that will emerge over the next 50 years as we reduce and mitigate our carbon footprint. |
| Rising geopolitical tensions: Global economic changes and tensions are impacting on the stability of international institutions, the costs of vital resources (e.g., energy) and the reliability of established patterns of international trade. The inter-connected nature of the global economy requires the UK to build new relationships and engage in emerging opportunities whilst trying to safeguard its established markets. | The Business Growth Strategy needs to track our internationally connected businesses, especially those operating in exposed supply chains and are reliant on essential inputs from overseas to ensure threats to local jobs are anticipated and opportunities to enter new markets are appreciated. |
| Demographic trends: like lots of other economically developed countries, the UK population is aging, and the working age population is projected to stop growing. This will create new pressures on the labour market. | The Business Growth Strategy needs to ensure our businesses can secure the skills they need and should aim to ensure local people get a fair opportunity to access better paid jobs locally and that the demands on housing are addressed. |