In a Mansion House speech tonight, trade and industry secretary Alan Johnson will seek to recast his department as a champion of science, technology and productivity.

He will urge British business and universities to think more creatively about globalisation, and encourage what he calls "Sgt Pepper economics".

"If the Beatles had carried on producing albums like Please Please Me, they'd have ended up with a dwindling catalogue, dwindling sales and a dwindling audience," he will say.