Exclusive: 65 per cent of UK companies plan to increase investments in tech
Just over 65 per cent of all UK companies plan to increase the amount they spend on IT and new technologies, according to new research, shared exclusively with City PM today.
This follows a majority, or 56 per cent, of all UK businesses successfully adopting one or more new technologies since the beginning of the pandemic, the research found.
Moreover, 54 per cent said that using new tech has been key in enabling them to overcome challenges posed by Covid-19, according to London-based digital agency Studio Graphene.
However, 30 per cent revealed they have scrapped one or more unsuccessful digital transformation projects that were launched since the beginning of the pandemic.
Also three in ten of UK businesses lost time and money on unsuccessful digital transformation projects.
Skills
When asked about the challenges of adopting new technologies, 28 per cent of decision-makers admitted that their business lacks the skills to do so, while 29 per cent said they struggle to keep pace with technological developments.
Over a fifth are disappointed in the way their business has handled IT projects during the pandemic.
Nevertheless, Studio Graphene’s research, a survey of 750 business owners across the UK, found that 62 per cent plan to launch new digital transformation projects in the next twelve months.
“Failure is part and parcel of innovation, so these findings should not discourage businesses that are working to upgrade their technology,” commented Ritam Gandhi, founder and director of Studio Graphene.
“Indeed, business leaders have faced huge challenges in adapting to the Covid crisis, so it is promising to see the majority of companies have successfully adopted new digital tools,” he added.
When Studio Graphene surveyed 750 UK business leaders in 2019, 45 per cent of respondent said that their organisation was too risk-averse to embrace new technologies, with this figure jumping to 70 per cent of those in large businesses.
“Clearly, the pandemic has changed the picture dramatically; today, businesses of all sizes are embracing a more open and experimentational mindset,” Gandhi concluded.