Innovate UK launches project to map future transformation and innovation opportunities for Professional & Financial Services

Innovate UK has announced that it is seeking to map the current and expected future transformation of Professional & Financial Services (PFS), with a focus on economic and societal impact.

The work will examine innovation across the financial, insurance, legal and accounting sectors, and will culminate in the publication of a report in February 2025.

The published report will review the presence and impact of innovation activity, the investment landscape, and the opportunity for technology and innovation to shape future growth in PFS. It will also place particular emphasis on regional activity across the UK, highlighting the breadth of capability that feeds into the national landscape.

Stephen Browning, Challenge Director, Next Generation Services at Innovate UK, said:

“This is an important project for us, because via the Next Generation Professional and Financial Services programme we fund and support innovation and research projects that aim to drive efficiencies, adoption, access to data and develop emerging opportunities. We are always looking to track emerging trends, challenges and opportunities across the various industries and regions of the UK and to continue to develop our own thinking by engaging with industry and academia.”

Innovate UK and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) are investing £26.5 million in the Next Generation Professional and Financial Services programme. This programme helps PFS sectors to develop and use digital technologies, and aims to transform UK professional and financial services by responsibly developing and deploying digital technologies to deliver world-leading services.

Whitecap Consulting has been appointed to support Innovate UK on the new project. Whitecap is a regionally focused strategy consultancy with strong PFS experience, and over recent years has been prominently involved in the creation, growth and analysis of multiple innovation-driven Tech, FinTech and LegalTech ecosystems across the UK.

Julian Wells, Director at Whitecap Consulting, said:

“We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with Innovate UK on this project, which addresses some critical issues regarding the future development of the PFS sector in the UK. Our work analysing and helping develop regional innovation ecosystems in fields such as FinTech and LegalTech means we are well placed to deliver this work, and we look forward to working in collaboration with national and regional stakeholders across industry, academia and the public sector over the coming weeks and months.”

Complete the online survey

As part of the project, an online survey has been launched which will be used to gather insights and sentiment from stakeholders across the component parts of the PFS ecosystem. Stakeholders across the PFS sector are being invited to contribute their thoughts in our online survey by Friday 4^th October.

There will also be a series of individual stakeholder consultations and group sessions. The first two group sessions will take place online on 26^th September (focused on financial services) and 3^rd October (professional services). Individuals and organisations seeking to get involved in the project should email innovateuk@whitecapconsulting.co.uk to request a place at a group session.

Find out more about the programme

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