David Edgerton rightly draws attention to the emphasis so often placed on startup companies in UK industrial policy – or at least in political gestures towards the manufacturing sector (The woes of startup Britishvolt should shock the UK out of its Brexit self-delusion, 11 November). Real success is no easy win, especially in turning acorns into productive oak trees.
For example, civil aerospace production, one of the UK’s major industrial successes, now supports several thousand jobs and reels in millions annually in foreign exchange. This achievement stands on the back of more than 75 years of largely public investment. For much of the time this was unprofitable. Up to 1974, the UK government had invested nearly £740m in civil aircraft for a return of less than £54m.
