07 February 2023
Our annual reports are the yearly pulse-check for the HVM Catapult, providing our performance data for the previous financial year.
Following the completed rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations, the UK saw the permanent reopening of the economy. Though many manufacturers continued nationally critical operations throughout the pandemic, this meant that the rest of the sector could return to their production lines. It also meant that manufacturers could focus more on their long-term prospects than their short-term survival.
The sector’s rebounding confidence in UK capacity has reignited the national passion for innovation. This is reflected in the HVM Catapult’s performance, with an 11% increase in revenues over the previous financial year.
Other global events were less positive. The war in Ukraine drastically altered the international energy market, with the price of natural gas reaching extreme highs. Alongside the changing landscape of UK international relations, it has also disrupted supply chains for crucial UK goods.
This highlighted the importance of investment in national energy security, using methods like nuclear, renewables and hydrogen, as well as in securing domestic supply chains. That’s why we at the HVM Catapult continue to invest in the areas, both technological and geographic, that will deliver maximum value for the UK. We invested £80 million in 2021/22 in capital projects and capabilities that will have the biggest impact on the UK’s economy and wider society.
Through this and our wider work, we have continued to support technological development in manufacturing, both the revolutionary and the incremental. And we have helped the UK to secure its supply chains.
We have also been pivotal in the UK’s move to restructure its technical skills system, championing investment in adult reskilling and upskilling alongside the training of the next generation.
In isolation, technology, supply chain and workforce development would be severely limited. Together, they form the blueprint for true industrial transformation. It is only organisations that sit on the intersection of research, business and government that can deliver on this insight.
This year has shown that the HVM Catapult is delivering for the UK.
Katherine Bennett CBE FRAeS Chief Executive, HVM Catapult
