Technology giant Sage has called on the Government to tackle the UK’s productivity crisis by accelerating moves to a digital economy.
The Tyneside firm, which sells a number of products to help small and medium-sized businesses to digitise their operations, has launched a Blueprint for Digital-led Growth which it says could help add £232bn to the country’s economy. The report comes amid the closure of the Government’s Help to Grow: Digital scheme, which offered advice and financial support for companies on how technology could help their business. The next phase of the Making Tax Digital programme has also been delayed.
Sage said that investment by UK small and medium sized businesses was below the European average, and that other countries have introduced measures aimed at increasing productivity and digital uptake among smaller firms. The company’s report outlines a number of measures to help small businesses overcome the initial cost of adopting more technology, including the establishment of a Small Business Digital Growth Fund to incentivise investment in productivity enhancing technology.
