Dr Graeme Malcolm OBE, CEO of M Squared, examines quantum technologies commercial moment, which he argues is unlocking the UK’s next £13 billion industry
For all the excitement surrounding quantum computing, the conversation too often defaults to speculation: how many qubits, how many breakthroughs, how many years are still to come? But while others wait for a distant future, real quantum technologies are already here.
The UK has both the ability and the imperative to seize this commercial moment. Doing so could unlock a massive £13 billion industry that will underpin the country’s national security, economic resilience, and global scientific standing for decades to come.
When the UK Government made a £2.5 billion, 10-year pledge to quantum in 2023, it sent a clear signal to industry and academia that this was not just about scientific curiosity, but building a strategic asset.
Yet now, just as this momentum begins to build, a wavering of that commitment threatens to stall progress. In an era of accelerating technological competition and increasingly unstable geopolitics, the UK cannot allow its commitment to waver.
Quantum technologies in the UK
Quantum isn’t a future bet; it’s already being delivered to Britain. Quantum technologies are already being built, sold, and deployed by UK companies today. For instance, quantum clocks offer the most precise timing ever achieved, vital for the integrity of global financial systems and national infrastructure. Quantum accelerometers enable navigation free from GPS, offering a resilient alternative for military and maritime operations free from tampering. Finally, Quantum gravimeters, capable of detecting hidden underground features, could transform how we monitor critical infrastructure and assess environmental risk.
These technologies are not theoretical exercises; they are operational and increasingly fundamental to our future sovereign capability. Crucially, they are being developed by an ecosystem of UK scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs already delivering on the promise of quantum.
The UK excels at frontier science. We have world-class universities, pioneering research labs, and a talent base to rival anywhere in the world. Because of this, after more than a decade of foundational work, we are no longer in the realm of hypotheticals.
Towards enabling a full-scale industry
That shift requires a deliberate push from academia and government alike: from nurturing ideas to enabling full-scale industry. Even promising developments, like the recent announcement of quantum’s role in tackling financial crime, are still part of the ‘carried phase’; they hint at what’s possible but fall short of a full commercial breakthrough.
That kind of early-stage proof-of-concept work is important, but it shouldn’t be the extent of our ambitions. We must now see meaningful deployment of quantum technologies in critical sectors, applications that justify their cost and prove their national value.
Yet for too long, we’ve repeated a familiar mistake: making breakthroughs in our labs, only to watch these companies succeed elsewhere overseas. When it comes to commercialisation, too many British deep-tech firms find themselves stranded in the so-called “valley of death”, caught between proof of concept and market-ready products, with government procurement too slow and fragmented to offer real lifelines.
There are signs of progress. The Spring Budget’s commitment to faster procurement and the ringfencing of 10% of defence spend to R&D for emerging technologies are welcome steps. But we must shift to an immediate industrial mindset. We need a broader policy environment that gives businesses the confidence to invest and grow. This means simplifying regulation for startups, enhancing tax incentives to offset early-stage risks, and embedding industry perspectives into national security and tech policymaking.
If we want UK-based firms to remain UK-owned and UK-scaled, we must offer them the clarity, consistency and capital to thrive. The government must more actively support companies already building quantum systems in the UK and accelerate time-to-deployment across all critical departments.
Above all, we must treat quantum not as a research curiosity but as a core pillar of our economic and national strategy.
The commercial readiness of quantum
The UK has a genuine head start in quantum. We have the institutions, the infrastructure, and the ingenuity. However, global competition is fierce, and rivals quickly align policy, investment, and procurement. If we hesitate, we send mixed signals or underplay the commercial readiness of quantum – we risk losing our ever-narrowing lead.
