The report, by the Department of Trade and Industry's Future and Innovation Unit, shows that companies with sustained high investment in R&D reap benefits in higher sales growth, higher productivity and higher market value.
Lord Sainsbury said:
"The UK pharmaceutical, and aerospace & defence sectors invest more in R&D than their overseas competitors, and are examples of the success that can be achieved. R&D investment levels are also rising in many UK companies in other sectors, such as in the IT hardware and software, and IT services sectors. But too many still fail to recognise that R&D is a key driver of growth. I strongly urge companies to consider the findings of this report, and the importance of investing in R&D."
The full report can be obtained from the Future and Innovation Unit's web-site, http://www.innovation.gov.uk, together with sector by sector analysis of companies' performance.