UK Businesses Putting Themselves In Danger With Lack Of Innovation

UK business leaders struggle to innovate on a broader scale, a new global study suggests.

The study has also shown that the leaders are overwhelmed with regulatory compliance, concerned about a lack of innovation and in danger of losing ground in the global marketplace due to lack of investment.

Some 42 per cent of UK organisations believe that a failure to innovate and keep up with evolving customer needs will have the biggest negative impact on their company in the next five years; a figure higher than in the US, France and Germany.

This is according to a new global study, “Innovate or Perish”, sponsored by Automic and conducted by Vanson Bourne.

The study surveyed a sample of 400 BDMs and 4,000 consumers in the UK, the US, France and Germany (100 BDMs and 1,000 consumers in the U.K). It spanned four verticals: energy and utilities, financial services, retail, and telecommunications.

The vast majority of UK business decision makers also believe their organisation will suffer if their company fails to adapt in tandem with technical change within the next year.

Some 86 per cent anticipate a decline in the number of customers if they fail to evolve, 84 per cent forecast a reduction in revenue and 73 per cent expect international operations to decline.

Just eight per cent of the BDMs surveyed feel that their organisation is on the cutting edge of technology and only nine per cent feel their organisation has kept up completely with changing customer demands.

“This survey highlights the growing importance of utilising technology – especially business automation – as a key instrument in delivering enterprise innovation and change,” says Chris Boorman, CMO of Automic.

“Those companies that don’t embrace new technologies risk permanently damaging customer relationships and revenue streams as they fail to meet market needs.”