Thank you to everyone who joined us for the UK Innovation Districts Group Summit 2025 on 23 September at London Knowledge Quarter!
The day brought together leaders from across the UK to explore how innovation districts can unlock inclusive growth and deliver on the UK’s Industrial Strategy. Discussions spanned:
Collaboration and partnerships: What’s the secret behind Innovation Districts and why they are so popular? With Gemma Carpenter (Vice-Chair, UK Innovation Districts Group), Jodie Eastwood (Knowledge Quarter London), Stephen Jones (Core Cities UK), Matt Mason (The Crown Estate).
From Insight to Action: The Role of Innovation Districts in delivering the Industry Strategy – Kavita Tailor (ARUP) introduced the UK IDG’s latest action paper – Unlocking UK Innovation Districts to accelerate Industrial Strategy outcomes.
Investing in innovation: unlocking growth via Innovation Districts – with Emma Frost (Chair, UK Innovation Districts Group), Emily Robson, (KQ Liverpool), Natalie Gasson-McKinley MBE (British Business Bank), Alan Welby (Connected Places Catapult).
Empowering the Next Generation: Youth Entrepreneurship as a Driver of Innovation – Eamon Banerjee (Urban Foresight) introduced the UK IDG Entrepreneurial Skills report.
Skills, Startups, and Districts: Shaping the Future of Youth Entrepreneurship – with Vasant Chari (Connected Places Catapult), Alisdair Gunn (Glasgow City Innovation District), Charlie Charlton (Newcastle Helix), Phil Smith CBE (Skills England), Professor Hanifa Shah OBE (Birmingham City University)
Catch up on the key reports shared during the event:
The UK Innovation Districts Group (UK IDG) has today published its latest action paper, highlighting the vital role innovation districts play in delivering key elements of the UK’s Industrial Strategy.
Developed in collaboration with industry leaders, universities, and local and regional government, the report sets out a series of practical recommendations to accelerate the growth of innovation districts across the UK. It recognises their unique role in translating research into commercial opportunities, scaling businesses, and fostering inclusive, sustainable economic development.
Recommendations in the paper are framed around three themes:
- Enabling more investment into innovation districts
- Building more partnerships across the UK
- Strengthening local capacity to support, scale and commercialise innovation
The paper calls for a step-change in partnership building, leadership, and coordination between government, academia, industry, and investors to unlock the full potential of innovation districts as strategic economic infrastructure.
The UK IDG is proud to have partnered with Arup, an Associate Member of the Group, which has generously supported the development of this report.
This action paper is also an invitation for further collaboration. With momentum building and growing policy alignment, now is the time to act. The UK IDG extends its thanks to the many contributors who have already helped shape the recommendations through meetings and roundtables, and welcomes further engagement with them and others who would like to get involved.
