UK needs to do better

UK Productivity is still lagging behind that of its major rivals according to recently published figures. The data – from the Advanced Institute for Management Research (Aim), which is funded by the UK government's Economic and Social Research Council and the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council - suggests that output per hour was 15 per cent behind that of the United States and France last year and 10 per cent behind Germany.

While the "productivity gap" is closing, the authors suggest that shortfalls in innovation, skills and management practices and too much regulation hold the UK back.