What links tariffs, threats to subsea cables that keep our financial system running, high-profile cyber-attacks, the global tech race, and those critical minerals shortages that dominate the headlines?

The answer: they all pose serious risks to economic security. Disruptions to global markets and the weaponisation of supply chains turn trade and the economy into tools for coercion. Intellectual property (IP) theft, espionage and cyber attacks on businesses and critical national infrastructure (CNI), while more brazen, are part of the same strategy of undermining economic resilience.

At a time when growth and industrial competitiveness are urgent national priorities, the Government has rightly stepped up efforts to protect the UK’s economic security. As the year draws to a close, this is a good moment to share how ADS has been shaping that agenda.

Providing evidence

Earlier this year, the House of Commons Business and Trade Committee launched an inquiry into economic security through its Sub-Committee on Economic Security, Arms and Export Controls, chaired by Rt Hon Liam Byrne MP. The policy team at ADS filed a written response in April after consultation with members. The inquiry’s scope was broad: from the threat landscape and emerging technology challenges to Government structures and international best practice. This range reflects in part the size of the issue itself, as well as the ambiguity of what ‘economic security’ is in the first place.

Our core recommendation was for Government to provide a cohesive definition of economic security – not as an academic exercise, but to ensure that our industrial capabilities are recognised as strategic assets essential for national security, technological leadership, and CNI protection. This definition should be transparent about balancing national security with the openness needed for trade and growth. Clarity, we argued, will empower businesses to incorporate economic security considerations into their strategic planning.

ADS was subsequently invited to provide oral evidence before the Sub-Committee on 21 May 2025. Our message was clear: to promote a whole of society approach, we should all avoid “paying lip service from siloed positions”.

Assessing outcomes

There is no point rehashing pages of submission (you can read it again here) and hours of discussion (you can watch it here). What you need to know is that besides asking for clear guidance on economic security to the private sector, our key recommendations were to adopt a cross-government strategy, ideally led by a new central, coordinating body, collaborating with industry on information-sharing and decision-making.

Fast forward to November: the Sub-Committee published its report, and we were pleased to see our recommendations front and centre. The report places industry at the heart of economic security, recognising both the vulnerabilities businesses face and the solutions they provide. ADS is cited multiple times on issues such as critical capabilities, supply chains, and the role of SMEs. Most importantly, the report’s ‘strategic principles’ convey exactly what we argued was needed:

  • The adoption of a new economic security doctrine with clear strategic principles
  • A holistic approach to threat assessment, fully involving the private sector
  • A coherent institutional framework across Government
  • A truly whole-of-society approach, underpinned by strong public-private partnership

Delivering action

When the team attended a report launch event at RUSI, they heard Sub-Committee Chair Liam Byrne MP call for a cross-Government strategy that better leverages the insights of the private sector. Now is the time to deliver on that. Since the launch, ADS has shared further ideas with Parliament on developing mechanisms for industry involvement. In parallel, we’ve been advising the Department for Business and Trade on the design of the newly launched Economic Security Advisory Services (ESAS), intended to be a single point of contact for businesses on matters of economic security.

The Government has a duty to respond to parliamentary inquiries’ findings. Their response to this inquiry is due by 24 January 2026. In the meantime, and as the Sub-Committee prepares its work programme for next year, we’ll keep engaging with the relevant decision-makers to turn good strategies into action.

Economic security is not just a policy buzzword: it’s about protecting the foundations of our prosperity: industrial capabilities, technological innovation, intellectual property, and broader infrastructure resilience.