Trade and industry secretary Alistair Darling claims investment in skills has put UK firms at top of European wealth creation league

Alistair Darling, secretary of state for trade and industry, believes investment in skills and research and development has put the UK’s largest companies at the top of the European league of wealth creation.

The Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI’s) annual Value Added Report found UK companies account for 210 of the 750 biggest value adding, or wealth creating, firms in Europe.

This trend has continued for the past four years, with UK-based companies having a higher profitability, faster value-added growth and higher wealth creation efficiency than any other country in Europe.

Darling said: “The UK is home to some of the world’s best companies and it’s a good place to do business. As the recent Budget shows, the government is backing business and helping the UK to stay on top.

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“Of course, innovation is key to business success. That’s why we’re enhancing research and development funding for business, raising skills and improving access to world markets for UK-based companies.”

The scoreboard lists the value added, or wealth created, by the top 750 European companies and the top 800 UK companies.