Can UK science really spawn a $1-trillion company?

"Last week, a report from a House of Lords committee poured cold water on the idea, arguing that the UK science-and-technology sector is, in fact, "bleeding to death". The report warned that once a technology company reaches a certain level of success it's likely to move to the United States. And with it would go the associated prosperity, including jobs and tax revenue."

""It's a really silly target," says Giles Wilkes, a senior fellow at the Institute for Government think tank who was a special adviser on industrial and economic policy to Theresa May when she was prime minister. "But it absolutely bewitches politicians." It is possible, however, he adds. The chances of such a UK corporate giant emerging within 20 years are about one in four, he says. "You never know, there might be some version of an obesity drug or something that can do it.""

The UK government set an ambition to become a top-three global location for creating, investing in and scaling fast-growing technology businesses and to produce a domestic trillion-dollar company by 2035. A House of Lords committee warned that the science-and-technology sector is "bleeding to death" and that successful firms often relocate to the United States, taking jobs and tax revenue. Critics call the target politically attractive but potentially misguided; one commentator estimates roughly a one-in-four chance of such a giant emerging within 20 years and cites unpredictable breakthroughs as a possible pathway. Market-cap scale does not necessarily deliver widespread prosperity.

Read at Nature