To solve the UK’s struggle to scale its world-class startups, we must unlock the nation’s vast pension funds for venture capital investment to fuel domestic growth and ensure technological sovereignty, says Dame Anne Glover

This week, as leaders gather at Mansion House to celebrate British innovation, we must confront a hard truth: the UK is world-class at innovation, but it’s still struggling to scale the companies which are started here.

The UK is at the forefront of a new industrial revolution – not driven by steam, but by silicon, software and artificial intelligence. AI alone could deliver £45bn in annual savings through public sector modernisation and raise productivity by 1.5 percentage points per year. It’s not just a technology story; it’s an economic imperative.

But innovation needs fuel. That fuel is capital – patient, risk-embracing capital that turns prototypes into payrolls. Here is the paradox: Britain has one of the largest savings industries in the world, with insurance and pension assets per capita around seven times the global average. Yet, just 0.007 per cent of UK and........

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