Theresa May is to reach out to business leaders by pledging an extra £2bn a year in funding for scientific research and development by 2020, according to BBC. 

In a speech to the CBI, Mrs May will outline a new fund that will back areas such as robotics and biotechnology and help commercialise new discoveries.

The investment will help put post-Brexit Britain at the "cutting edge", the prime minister is to say.

Delegates will call on Mrs May to offer more "clarity" over Brexit.

Mrs May's speech to the Confederation of British Industry in London comes two days before the government delivers its first post-EU referendum budget, in the form of the Autumn Statement.

She is to promise a new approach that is about "stepping up, not stepping back" when it comes to intervening in the economy.

Speaking about a new industrial strategy challenge fund, she will say: "Britain has firms and researchers leading in some of the most exciting fields of human discovery.

"We need to back them and turn research strengths into commercial success."