Tom Bridges is UK Government and Innovation Leader, Leeds Office Leader and Director at Arup

In a positive step, the UK Government has launched what it calls a “refocused Investment Zones programme….aimed at catalysing a small number of high-potential clusters in areas in need of levelling up to boost productivity and growth.” Investment Zones are now being focused on growing knowledge-based clusters and innovation districts, which can become homes to highly productive, research intensive businesses. There is consensus across the political spectrum to make the UK a ‘science superpower’, and to grow clusters and sectors where the country has particular strengths. With growing momentum and ambitions plans around innovation districts in UK cities, the refocused approach to Investment Zones has great potential.

As cities and combined authorities prepare to respond, we suggest five actions that will shape successful schemes:

1. Identify the right locations and sectors

Identifying the right locations and sectors will be critical. The “core” spatial focus (where tax and business rates retention sites will be located) should be “where interventions should focus on facilitating co-location of businesses, fostering collaboration between industry and research institutions, and driving innovation in companies at the frontier of the target sector.” There should be a focus on one of five target sectors (digital, life-sciences / med-tech’ creative, green industries, advanced manufacturing). Positively there is scope to consider linkages and common features (for example around specific technologies and skills) across sectors, which is to be welcomed, recognising that our largest cities often have a related diversity of sectoral strengths.

This all points to the need for Combined Authorities to be hard-headed and evidence-based in identifying their genuine sector strengths, and the locations with the strongest research capabilities and greatest scope to crowd-in private sector investment. Based on the guidance in the IZ Policy Prospectus, this is likely to point towards the innovation districts in the centres of the core cities, as well as linked sites that have capacity and potential for large scale job growth and investment in functions like manufacturing or lab space that are not always possible to develop in city centres.

Places should also avoid the temptation to spread Investment Zones too widely across sites with weak functional economic linkages and places with limited research strength and investor appetite. Instead, proposals should set out how wider supply chains, skills and opportunities can be created across wider functional economic areas, linked to the “core” areas of spatial focus. Interventions could include business support and innovation initiatives, educational institutions and collaborations linked to the strengths of the core of the investment zone, and skills initiatives. This could be part of a wider approach to encourage inclusive innovation.

2. Adopt the right mix of incentives and public sector investment

It will be essential to get the mix of fiscal incentives and Government spending right, with places having access to incentives and flexible government funding of up to £80m over five years. The availability of flexible spending to support initiatives such as research and innovation, skills, local infrastructure, enterprise and planning and development can really help places support growth (the fact 40% of this spend will be revenue is particularly positive).

The proposals to allow 100% local retention of business rates growth in Investment Zones for 25 years is another powerful tool, which places could seek to use to create an income stream to borrow against to reinvest in local infrastructure and economic development. The Enhanced Capital Allowances can be an attractive incentive, particularly for investment in manufacturing and labs, but places will need to identify sites suitable for those uses. Other tax reliefs could include business rates relief, enhanced structures and building allowances, and employer National Insurance Contribution Relief. However, the cost of all these incentives (capped at £45m over five years) are to be deducted from the overall £80m financial envelope over five years.

The strength of the local innovation ecosystem, skills base and the availability of premises are likely to be more important for knowledge-based businesses than some small-scale fiscal incentives, which perhaps points to places seeking to retain more flexible spending. As the LSE’s Neil Lee has argued, the appeal of Investment Zones needs to be about more than cost efficiency, citing the fact that Google’s largest European R&D facility is in high-cost Zurich. Places should mitigate against the big risk that fiscal incentives cause displacement of economic activity, or deadweight (activity that would have happened anyway). It will also be necessary to consider risks under subsidy control law.

3. Accelerate planning and development by providing certainty

Places should introduce faster planning, not less planning, and focus on increasing the supply of the right types of commercial space. By setting out a clear and flexible spatial framework, places can provide greater certainty to investors, sending clear signals to investors, and help ensure the right quality of development with good public realm and green infrastructure. Robust design codes can also provide clarity and certainty and send the right signals to the market on the nature of ambition, the economically productive uses, and quality of development being targeted. Local Development Orders and / or Planning Performance Agreements have a role to play.

Councils, Combined Authorities, Homes England and the UK Infrastructure Bank should work together to develop right mechanisms for sharing risk and reward with private sector to get more office, innovation / lab, & manufacturing space built, which as the Centre for Cities has rightly said, is really needed.

4. Think beyond bricks and mortar – build the partnership and ecosystem

Beyond obvious investments in bricks and mortar, there should be a focus on developing the softer ecosystem that is required to commercialise innovation. One of the notable and very positive features of the IZ Policy Prospectus is how it emphasises the importance of government at all levels working with the private sector, universities and other research institutions, to create the right environment and culture of collaboration for successful cluster growth. As MIT has shown through its MIT REAP – Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program framework, you need to identify activate a range of different actors and groups to be successful: universities and other knowledge producers; entrepreneurs; corporates; investors of risk capital; and government itself. In short, we need to do the D not just the R. This means that successful Investment Zones will need strong partnerships with the right players around the table and places should identify current gaps and weaknesses in their local ecosystem.

Universities are at the heart of the proposals, strengthening their civic roles, alongside their traditional research and teaching roles. They will need to engage with the Investment Zones proposals, align their own investments (including capital spend) and help lead development. Universities should consider taking equity in spin-outs; there are some suggestions that current approaches hold places back. Investment Zones have the potential to use universities to attract inward investment.

There is potential to adopt a mission-orientated approach, building partnerships and innovation initiatives around tackling societal challenges, such as responding to climate change, improving health outcomes, enhancing mobility and access to services, or tackling social exclusion. Firms respond to future profit, market and growth opportunities where there is societal need. These can be fostered by government and universities.

There’s value here to developing a network of testbeds in Investment Zones – these would enable innovators and entrepreneurs to test their proposed solutions and use cases in real-world conditions.

5. Develop strong local leadership and strategies

It is clear that successful Investment Zones will need clear, coherent and compelling strategies, based on evidence, realistic proposals and projections for future change, and around which partners can build a coalition and shared commitment. This will need to be positioned within the context of wider strategies and plans for growth, and critically where the private sector is likely to invest. Dedicated leadership and delivery capacity will be needed.

There is scope to learn from successful innovation districts globally, and also the ambitious CHIPS and Science Act in the US. Monitoring and evaluation plans should also be factored in from the start, with a clear theory of change, and particular attention needed on assessing displacement and substitution effects.

All this will require local authorities and CAs to focus on being convenors and catalysts, not controllers, to work with and through others to achieve a positive impact disproportionate to the powers and resources under their direct control. Investors, entrepreneurs, and R&D-intensive corporates. The real prize here is not the £80m of public sector investment; it is the potential to benefit from billions in private sector investment and create thousands of jobs.

Investing in a better future

Refocusing of Investment Zones on innovation and clusters is really positive, and the package of policy, fiscal funding available creates a major opportunity for the UK to adopt an ambitious development model, one that brings national investment to develop the breadth of local potential. This is a huge opportunity for our cities and city regions, and ‘UK plc’.

Flexible workspaces are in high demand due to the continued surge of hybrid working.

Sciontec has experienced a strong start to the year, thanks to a flurry of new lettings across its two Liverpool sites.

Seven businesses, working within the digital, technology and professional services sectors, have signed workspace leases with Sciontec at Liverpool Science Park (LSP) and the Sciontec AI serviced space in The Spine.

George Barclay, Acting Head of Property, FM and Operations at Sciontec, said: “It is fantastic to be experiencing such a high demand for our office and coworking spaces.

Coworking options, in particular, are becoming increasingly popular for businesses wanting flexibility from their workspaces, and our range of hot desk options provide a hybrid solution for those organisations requiring a mix of high quality workspaces alongside a dynamic business community, which are affordable and straightforward to manage.”

One of Sciontec’s new customers, MyCardium AI, has taken space at both of Sciontec’s locations. As a result of their recent expansion drive, the MedTech scale-up now occupies a 730 sqft private office at LSP and holds a Sciontec AI Flexi Space membership in The Spine.

Antony Shimmin, Chief Operating Officer at MyCardium AI, said: “We have worked closely with Sciontec to find the best model of workspace to satisfy our business needs. Having enough space for our team to come together, while having the flexibility to use different locations is a real advantage for us.”

Other new Sciontec AI customers include Morgan Sindall Construction & Infrastructure, who occupy Project Team Space for six employees, as well as Marks & Clerk LLP and Hive Projects, who have all taken up the Flexi Space coworking membership.

Just a short walk away at Liverpool Science Park, Inceptial Technologies UK Ltd and eLando AD are now co-working space occupiers, in addition to FS Waste signing up for Virtual Plus Membership.

Momita Saha Choudhury, Director at Inceptial Technologies UK Ltd, said: “Choosing to locate our HQ at Liverpool Science Park will enable us to better serve the IT and digital industry. We were really impressed with the facilities offered by Sciontec and we will certainly benefit from their close links with the local talent pool.”

Sciontec’s new customers are already embedding themselves in the Knowledge Quarter Liverpool (KQ Liverpool) innovation ecosystem, by engaging with the newly launched KQ Liverpool Innovation & Growth Services programmes, utilising the local networks and attending community events.

Georgi Tonchev, Chief Business Development Officer at eLando AD, added: “The soft landing support provided through KQ Base has enabled us to open our first Liverpool base.

“Having a high quality workspace in Liverpool will enhance our presence in the North of England, enabling us to grow our engineering team locally, and better engage with the UK FinTech community.”

To find out more about Sciontec’s workspace options, please visit their website.

Welcome…

…to the UK Innovation Districts Group Monthly Digest, exploring the latest trends and insights in innovation, regeneration, inclusive growth, placemaking and the sustainable development of innovation districts.

The UK IDG is a network of twelve self-defined innovation districts from across the UK who you can read more about here.

Why the age of American Progress Ended: Invention alone can’t change the world; what matters is what happens next.

“The Scourge of All Humankind

if you were, for whatever macabre reason, seeking the most catastrophic moment in the history of humankind, you might well settle on this: About 10,000 years ago, as people first began to domesticate animals and farm the land in Mesopotamia, India, and northern Africa, a peculiar virus leaped across the species barrier. Little is known about its early years. But the virus spread and, whether sooner or later, became virulent. It ransacked internal organs before traveling through the blood to the skin, where it erupted in pus-filled lesions. Many of those who survived it were left marked, disfigured, even blind”

READ OR LISTEN TO THE FULL ARTICLE

Grants & Competitions

Freight Innovation Fund Accelerator: DfT and Connected Places Catapult will select up to 12 SMEs to join a 6-month programme, where they will each have the opportunity to access up to £150,000 of funding to trial their solutions. Applications are open until 5 February 2023.

The Water Discovery Challenge (‘Discovery’) is a £4 million competition for bold and ingenious innovation that can help solve the biggest challenges facing the water sector today and in the future.

Discovery aims to accelerate the discovery, development and adoption of promising innovations by the water sector. It aims to achieve this by directly supporting organisations with innovative propositions and facilitating their engagement with water companies.

Discovery is a 18-month competition that brings together a blend of financial and non-financial support to support innovations to launch and succeed in the water sector in England and Wales. Finalist and winning teams retain all intellectual property rights and equity in their organisation. Entries can be entered into the Challenge confidentially. Applications close on 5th April.

Podcasts

Discover the new podcast from Glasgow City Innovation District, Door to the District takes you behind the scenes of Glasgow businesses where you’ll discover bold enterprise and cutting-edge research across an array of industries, from Space and 5G to FinTech and Quantum.

Centre for Cities podcast, City Minutes, latest episode is hosted by Andrew Carter who is joined by Centre for Cities’ Director of Policy and Research, Paul Swinney, to discuss the findings of our new report: At the Frontier: The geography of the UK’s new economy. The report explores how new economy advanced tech industries are created in urban areas and what the Government should do to seize these opportunities.

UK IDG Members

Glasgow Tech Fest is back on April 19th! A key date in the tech calendar where you’ll hear from founders, investors, & ecosystem builders through inspiring keynotes, panel sessions and fireside chats. Register here

Hosted by Downtown in Business in association with Knowledge Quarter Liverpool & Sciontec, a national conference will be held on 2nd March 2023 at The Spine, Liverpool, to explore innovative solutions to the challenges facing the UK & global economy. Book tickets.

Happy New Year !

Welcome to the UK Innovation Districts Group Monthly Digest, exploring the latest trends and insights in innovation, regeneration, inclusive growth, placemaking and the sustainable development of innovation districts.

The UK IDG is a network of twelve self-defined innovation districts from across the UK who you can read more about here.

Visual Capitalist, a company who make data more accessible has mapped the world’s most innovative countries using data from the United Nations WIPO Global Innovation Index with the UK ranking 4th.

LEARN MORE

Grants & Competitions

The Department for Transport is offering innovators grants of up to £30k to undertake early stage, high-risk research, and development projects. They’re looking for ideas that can help decarbonise the UK maritime sector and support its transition to zero emission shipping. The team are keen to consider a wide range of new clean maritime technologies and encourage applicants to think creatively. Apply here. Applications close 15th January.

RIBA’s exhibition Long Life, Low Energy: Designing for a circular economy looks at the circular economy and its role in RIBA’s strategy for a more sustainable, net zero architecture in the future.

Given the significance of the subject matter and the high levels of press interest in the exhibition, RIBA would like to showcase further works completed in 2022 under one of more of the following headings:

Buildings that use sustainable or recycled materials as core construction components
Buildings that are self-sufficient or net positive in energy consumption
Buildings that are demountable and no longer linear in terms of lifespan, with materials and components allowing for future reuse
Buildings that have successfully been re-configured for reuse without the need for demolition

Find out more details here. Applications close on 16th January.

Podcasts

Centre for Cities podcast, City Talks, latest episode is hosted by Andrew Carter who is joined by urban economic development expert John Houghton to discuss his Solving the riddle of the sands blog series, which examines how we can revive England’s struggling seaside towns.

The DNA of Cities podcast presented by Prof Greg Clark CBE and Caitlin Morrissey examines How do cities acquire traits? speaking to experts about the forces & events that they believe cause cities to accumulate their unique DNA.

Connected Places Catapult‘s 2022: A year in review revisits some of the stories & fascinating guests featured last year – from the BBC’s former Science Editor, David Shukman to one of Britain’s most well-known rail enthusiasts of Great Railway Journeys fame, Michael Portillo and much more.

UK IDG Members

Arrow supports businesses by connecting them with expertise from across Newcastle University, strengthening the local economy along the way. Over the last four years, the Arrow programme has helped over 150 businesses to step into the future.

“Innovation does not happen in a vacuum“, Emma Frost, Chair of UK IDG

The landscape of innovation is changing. So too is the rate of growth in the innovation economy.

Over the last 15 years there has been a distinct shift away from more secluded, out-of-town innovation campuses towards new models that favour urban vibrancy, diversity, connectedness, and proximity.

Over that same period, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in economic growth related to sectors typically classified as part of the innovation economy. More broadly, innovation is helping to fuel the Fourth Industrial Revolution which is said to be stimulating change at a rate 10 times faster and at 300 times the scale than the First Industrial Revolution in Victorian times.

Clearly, innovation and specifically, Innovation Districts – where much of this activity is increasingly centred, have a key role to play in the local, regional and national economy.

Podcasts

The DNA of Cities podcast first episode is out presented by Prof Greg Clark CBE and Caitlin Morrissey. The series starts with a simple question “Do cities have DNA?” . They ask an expert panel of urban planners, economists and architects what The DNA of Cities means from their personal and disciplinary viewpoints.
Centre for Cities podcast, City Talks, latest episode is all about examining the CHIPS and Science Act discussing the US Government’s Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors and Science Act (the CHIPS Act), recently signed into law by President Joe Biden.
Digital Catapult’s Supercharging Innovation podcast interviews Indro Mukerjee, CEO of Innovate UK about the future of innovation and his mission to inspire, involve and invest – building skills and driving diversity to help create real progress.
Innovation Uncovered podcast looks at Making Gaming Accessible for All. Roughly 46 million gamers have a type of disability, presenting specific challenges for video game developers. Playground Games, a UK-based company, whose team designed the popular Forza Horizon 5 driving game, understood the assignment.

UK IDG Member News

SHIFT

From visualizing carbon emissions from buildings to wireless charging for EVs, meet the 8 South Korean start-ups set to trail new tech related to urban mobility and net zero in London’s Living testbed: Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

Leeds Innovation Arc

Leeds council propose major developments to city centre with ‘Leeds Innovation Arc‘. Leeds City Council are proposing a series of major developments to the Western part of the city, which aim to bring in new businesses and jobs, as well as improving public spaces.

Welcome

Welcome to the UK Innovation Districts Group Monthly Digest. Join us as we explore trends, lessons and new insights into innovation, regeneration, inclusive growth, placemaking and the sustainable and accessible creation of Innovation Districts and Knowledge Quarters.

The UKIDG is a network of eight self-defined innovation districts from across the UK including: Glasgow Riverside Innovation District, Knowledge Quarter Liverpool, Leeds Innovation District, Knowledge Quarter London, Belfast Harbour, Bristol Temple Quarter, Newcastle Helix and Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. As a group, we aim to make the case for our urban centres and their potential to advance research in areas such as AI, medical sciences and the humanities, while growing the UK’s wider economy.

Each of our Monthly Digests is dedicated to ensuring that you are kept up to date with the latest thought leadership and research in this area.

Top News

Hubs of Innovation Report
Connected Places Catapult new report explores the role of Districts, Corridors and Quarters as hubs of the Covid-adjusted innovation economy. The innovation economy has been one of the defining features of the last economic cycle. How places become places of discovery and job creation has rapidly become a worldwide preoccupation for cities, local governments, regions and nations.

READ MORE

Other News

The Global Institute of Innovation Districts have published the report The Global Institute in 2021: Harnessing Innovation Districts to “Build Back Better”.

MHCLG announces 3 new levelling up and community investment programmes which aim to level up communities. The UK Community Renewal Fund, The Levelling Up Fund and The Community Ownership Fund.

BEIS launch the Net Zero Innovation Portfolio, a £1 billion fund– to accelerate the commercialisation of low-carbon technologies, systems and business models in power, buildings, and industry.

The Business Desk viewpoint article discusses how Innovation policy must be localised, granular and inclusive to level up the North.

Centre for cities podcast, City Talks, speaks with Jason Segedy and Kenan Fikri on America’s Legacy Cities

ELIEZ virtual event took place to showcase some of the innovations that have come out of East London Inclusive Enterprise Zone (ELIEZ), celebrating disability-led innovation.

Wired article explores Why location is key to startup success and how Co-location can help your science and tech startup find top talent, inspiration and support.

Seedsprint article outlines 5 European Innovation Districts You Need to Know.

Partner News

Glasgow Riverside Innovation District is engaging local stakeholders and community members to inform it’s 20-year strategy. They want to provide a step change in the way people and communities are connected to innovation decision-making and to ensure it identifies the most productive forms of interaction between academic communities and the surrounding public.

Global Disability Innovation Hub on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park has been announced as the first organisation to be awarded the status of World Health Organisation (WHO) Official Collaborating Centre on Assistive Technology.

Leeds School of Arts sees £80 million Investment in a new hub for creative education in the city and acts a gateway to the planned Leeds Innovation District

Innovations welcome!

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1. Identify the right locations and sectors

2. Adopt the right mix of incentives and public sector investment

3. Accelerate planning and development by providing certainty

4. Think beyond bricks and mortar – build the partnership and ecosystem

5. Develop strong local leadership and strategies

Investing in a better future

Welcome…

Why the age of American Progress Ended: Invention alone can’t change the world; what matters is what happens next.

Other Stories

Grants & Competitions

Podcasts

UK IDG Members

Happy New Year !

Other Stories

Grants & Competitions

Podcasts

UK IDG Members

Other Stories

Podcasts