The government has published an industrial strategy designed to promote the UK's position as a global leader in professional and business services (PBS), including accountancy.

The plans, set out by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), include proposals to treble the number of Higher Apprenticeships in the PBS sector to 10,000 a year over the next five years in a drive to boost skills and create new non-graduate routes into the professions.

In addition, a new network of senior business envoys will champion UK capabilities and trade opportunities when overseas and UK Trade and Investment will also arrange trade missions specifically for PBS.

Business secretary Vince Cable said: 'Despite challenging times, exports in professional and business services have more than doubled over the past decade. I want our top executives to think British in all their overseas business, particularly in emerging markets where a growing middle-class is demanding higher-quality services. If a British advertising agency runs a campaign in India, there will be a British legal firm available to finalise the contract, or British accountancy firm to handle the transaction.'

The strategy plan was welcomed by ICAEW chief executive Michael Izza as 'excellent news for our sector', with investment in apprenticeships described as 'a sensible way forward'. However, he also said that the BIS announcement was an 'overdue acknowledgement' of the value of the sector to the UK economy and to society at large.

'It seems that for all the government rhetoric has been pretty anti-accountant (sometimes quite hurtfully so), when the business department looks at how successful - and useful - the professional services sector is - they support us,' Izza said.