Big Tech market dominance holding us us back more than a shortage of finance or talent, UK firms say
The market power of a handful of global technology giants is holding back British businesses and limiting the UK’s ability to capture the gains from AI, according to a IPPR report.
New polling (involving 417 UK businesses) for the think tank by Opinium finds that 79% who rely on digital platforms and infrastructure are concerned about large technology companies using their dominance to limit competition. These firms rank tech giants’ market power as the second biggest constraint on their growth, ahead of access to finance and talent.
More than a third have decided not to offer a product in the past two years because of a major technology company dominating the market. Across the three competition measures tested, 72% of firms on average said if implemented they would be able to lower prices or produce better products.
IPPR warns that previous governments have allowed a small number of firms to build extraordinary control over infrastructure on which the wider economy depends. Google handles more than 90% of UK searches, Microsoft and Amazon Web Services each account for 30 to 40% of UK customer spending on cloud services, and Microsoft business software is now under investigation for its market power.
This market concentration also leaves businesses that depend on Big Tech with limited alternatives. Almost seven in ten firms surveyed say switching away from their main technology provider would be costly, disruptive or impossible. Half say they could continue operating normally for only a matter of days if they lost access to that provider.
IPPR argues that stronger competition would address two problems: giving innovative British firms a fairer chance to enter, compete and scale, while giving businesses that rely on major technology providers greater choice and lower costs. The stakes are becoming even higher with the rapid growth of AI. Without stronger competition, IPPR warns that UK investment in home grown AI companies risks being undermined as long as they depend excessively on infrastructure controlled by overseas technology giants, making it harder for those firms to compete and grow.
The UK has already created new digital competition rules through the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act, giving the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) new tools to tackle entrenched market power in the technology sector. IPPR argues the CMA remains one of the UK’s most expert regulators, but needs stronger political backing from government to move faster and more boldly.
Roa Powell, Senior Research Fellow at IPPR, says: “Big Tech dominance is holding back British businesses, limiting competition and making it harder for new firms to innovate and grow. Our research shows that businesses themselves see stronger competition as part of the solution - it can mean more choice, lower prices and better products, while giving UK challengers more room to scale. The CMA has the expertise and the tools to improve competition, what it needs now is clear political backing from government to act boldly.”
Rocio Concha, Which? Director of Policy and Advocacy, says: “The IPPR is right to highlight the CMA’s critical role in curbing the market dominance of big tech and levelling the playing field for competitors. More competitive digital markets could boost investment and innovation, giving consumers more choice and potentially lower prices. The government should publicly support the CMA to use the powers granted to it by parliament to hold the dominant businesses in digital markets to account.”
2026 RTIH Innovation Awards
AI will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.
The awards are now open for entries and celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.
Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November.
Check out our 2025 winners here.
Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.
In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”
“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”
He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”
Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.
