Next Generation Professional & Financial Services 2024 Report

AI for Services, on behalf of Innovate UK, is seeking to publish a new report to map the transformation of professional and financial services sectors in the UK and its economic and societal impact and explore future opportunities for innovation with a particular focus on emerging clusters outside London.

The report should be evidence based, cover all regions of the UK and focus on the professional and financial services sector (Please see background section for definition).

Online surveys shall be set up to gather insight from AI for Services members, private investors, and the wider community.

The content of the report shall cover the following sections: 1) Innovation Review & Impact: an outline of the different aspects that have influenced and shaped innovation in the sector over the last five years across the different sub-sectors and business type (E.g.: Large incumbent firms, mid-tier firms, new disruptors).

Both economic and societal impact should be considered covering areas such as job creation, financial inclusion and health, digital access, adoption of innovation and technologies, and access to justice.

2) Investment Landscape: an overview on the appetite of private investors for early-stage professional and financial services ventures based on online surveys and a series of one-to-one interviews with UK investors and companies that have fundraised.

3) Beyond London: a study of existing and emerging regional clusters providing deeper analysis on 3-5 of the key clusters identified.

Each cluster analysis should highlight key strengths and weaknesses, give reference to the different actors in the innovation ecosystem such as research organisations and universities, incumbent firm's incubators, and examples of innovative businesses and startups, and include a local business case study.

4) Future Shaping: A forecast on future trends and emerging technologies that have the potential to influence and shape innovation over the next five years.

Key Deliverables The key deliverables are: - Deliverable 1: Inception Report - Deliverable 2: Survey and Interview Analysis - Deliverable 3: Full Draft Report - Deliverable 4: Signed off Publication Deliverable 1: Inception Report A short document outlining in detail the research approach, work plan, scope of the assignment, list of stakeholders to be consulted and initial literature review, as well as the full questionnaires for the online surveys and interviews.

Deliverable 2: Surveys and Interview Analysis A questionnaire for the surveys and interview and analysis of the results.

Innovate UK Business Connect can arrange for the survey to be sent to AI for Services members and key contact list.

Deliverable 3: First Iteration of Full Report An initial draft of the report (~50 pages) including all tables, graphics and pictures.

Deliverable 4: Publication The final signed off publication in pdf format ready for public consumption.