National Productivity Week returns to support UK businesses in unlocking productivity potential

National Productivity Week is set to return in January 2025 following the success of the inaugural event in 2023.

The campaign is organised by The Productivity Institute – a research body funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and including eight universities and two research institutes – and aims to raise awareness of, and offer solutions to, addressing the UK’s long-held productivity challenges.  

Britain has a long history of poor productivity when compared to similar sized economies, at least dating back to the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. Average annual growth in labour productivity, measured by gross value added per hour, was around 2% in the decade before the financial crisis but has averaged less than 0.5% since. 

The inaugural National Productivity Week in November 2023 saw the launch of The Productivity Agenda, a ten-chapter report that called on policymakers to build a comprehensive growth strategy that puts improvements in productivity across the country at its heart. 

The second National Productivity Week,  will now turn its focus to businesses supporting the productivity agenda, providing them with insights on how to make strategic productivity gains, such as developing their people, making better use of emerging technologies including AI, and deploying finance and investment. 

To achieve this, the Institute will be running a week-long series of events, seminars, conferences and panel discussions across its eight Productivity Forums around the UK, starting from the 27 January.  

These will draw on the expertise of leading academics spanning the Universities of Cambridge, Cardiff, Glasgow, Kings College London, Manchester, Queen’s University Belfast, Sheffield and Warwick. At the same time, The Productivity Institute has partnered with expert bodies such as the Institute for Government and the Institute for the Future of Work to help deliver this week-long programme. 

Bart van Ark, Managing Director of The Productivity Institute, said: “The last two decades have been challenging for making productivity gains, which means it’s harder to achieve economic growth and an improvement in living standards.  

“This week will bring together key stakeholders from both the public and private sectors to shine a spotlight on the challenges the UK faces, but more importantly discuss and debate solutions and provide strategic advice for businesses looking to achieve their growth ambitions. That, in turn, will drive wider economic growth.”

You can register for further updates on the National Productivity Week website.