Table 9 lists the 20 companies in the UK850 which have increased their investment in R&D by the most since the previous R&D Scoreboard
The biggest increase over the last year is that of AstraZeneca which increased its R&D investment by 117% (an increase of £581 million) and is now the second largest UK corporate investor in R&D. There were notable increases in R&D spend in oil & gas production where Royal Dutch Shell and BP increased their investment by £159 million and £86 million respectively. Other significant increases in R&D investment included:
- BT, which increased its spend by £133 million, reflecting a continuation of the trend noted in last year’s Scoreboard;
- Shire, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Eisai Europe which reflected the strong growth across the pharmaceuticals and biotechnology sector; and
- Royal Bank of Scotland which increased its investment in R&D by nearly £100 million.
Table 9: Biggest increases in R&D expenditure in the UK850 (2007)
* - foreign owned firm
# - accounts not prepared using IFRS
In contrast, Table 10 lists the 20 firms in the UK which reduced their investment in R&D by the largest absolute amount over the last year. GlaxoSmithKline recorded a drop in its investment in R&D of £211 million yet remained the biggest investor in R&D in the UK in 2007. Other companies in the pharmaceuticals sector also reduced their R&D investment significantly, for example Pfizer, Merck Sharp & Dohme and Aventis. This contrasts with AstraZeneca which recorded the biggest increase in R&D investment of £581 million.
Table 10: Biggest decreases in R&D expenditure in the UK850 (2007)
* - foreign owned firm
# - accounts not prepared using IFRS
