Speaking at Innovate UK’s Materials Research Exchange (MRE) event in London last month, Henry Royce Institute CEO David Knowles made “a call to arms.” Knowles was talking about Royce’s newly unveiled National Materials Innovation Strategy interim report, and the need to form 30 working groups to help shape the strategy further, overcoming specific challenges across industry sectors.

“We need a national strategy around materials,” said Knowles. “Materials is pervasive. Everyone knows about it but people have told me that materials is everyone’s second best friend. That’s really annoying because materials should be leading.”

Knowles reeled off some numbers to illustrate the industry’s current worth to the UK economy. He said that the materials sector contributes £45bn annually and employs over 635,000 people in more than 2,500 companies. The sector also attracts significant external investment, securing an average of over £2bn each year for innovation, he added.