CES 2017: UK support to tech firms 'an embarrassment'

Gary Shapiro says he does not understand why UK ministers are not doing more to help start-ups at CES

The UK government's lack of support for start-ups attending the CES tech show is a "source of embarrassment", according to the event's organiser.

Gary Shapiro compared the country unfavourably with France, the Netherlands and Israel. The head of one British firm at the Las Vegas event said the criticism was well-founded.

More than 3,800 companies are exhibiting at CES this year

But the UK's Department for International Trade said it was providing "targeted support". CES is one of the tech calendar's biggest fixtures and provides companies with a chance to meet and secure orders from retailers, as well as to gain publicity by showing their products to journalists and analysts. About 177,000 people are expected to take part in this year's show, which runs until Sunday.

'Short-sighted'

There are nearly five times as many French companies attending this year's CES as British ones. Mr Shapiro said there had been an annual increase in numbers over the past few years thanks to Paris making greater effort to help its entrepreneurs.

"Now we're starting to see other countries take notice," the president of the Consumer Technology Association added. "We've seen that the Netherlands and others going in there big time [this year].

"Britain's been a little slow to the game honestly. We have a minister from Britain coming but there's not a lot of activity that we've seen at CES. "I think it's a source of embarrassment.

"When I was in London recently, I raised it with one of the ministers, and they said: 'Yeah, it's amazing. I can get approval to go to [Texas festival] South by Southwest, but because it's Las Vegas, for some reason it's frowned upon.'6
"And that's a pretty short-sighted attitude."

Bespoke help

CES charges a discounted rate for stands in its Eureka Park start-up zone. At this year's show, there are French, Ukrainian, Czech, Saudi Arabian, Dutch, Israeli, New Zealand and US stands organised by government-backed agencies to promote local talent.

But a spokeswoman for the UK's Department for International Trade (DIT) said it thought it was more effective for UK attendees to base themselves elsewhere in product-themed areas.