Concerns over green industry growth

A REPORT by accountancy firm Ernst & Young suggests there is little confidence in the Government’s commitment to companies involved in green energy and technology.

The firm surveyed 529 UK-based corporates, financiers and “cleantech” companies and found that just 13% believed the Government will establish the conditions for growth this year. This compares to a figure of 38% from a similar survey carried out between August and October last year.

There are concerns about investment levels in the sector with 51% predicting it will increase in 2011 compared to 2010, a fall of 10% from the original survey. And just 7% expect there to be sufficient investment in 2011 to give the UK a competitive advantage, compared to 17% in the earlier research.

Steve Lang, Ernst & Young’s UK cleantech leader, said: “These results are a wake-up call to a Government that had set out to be ‘the greenest ever’. Although the Comprehensive Spending Review left the clean technology sector relatively unscathed, the market is now less confident that it will deliver the economic growth and jobs that Britain so urgently requires.

“This is because the Government has not yet established a clear and long-term policy framework for cleantech that will unlock the investment needed to establish infrastructure and create jobs in such an internationally competitive sector.”

Ernst & Young, in partnership with Eco-Connect, surveyed 529 UK companies between December 27 and January 12.