The Science and Technology Secretary has announced £20m of funding each for Greater Manchester, the West Midlands and Glasgow City Region to deliver ground-breaking regional innovation, including robotics to power new medicines and AI to detect disease early.
Ahead of a landmark regional investment summit in Birmingham on Tuesday, the funding package will give local leaders a total of £50m each to fund local science and technology innovation.
The new funding for the three regions is the latest commitment from the government’s £500m Local Innovation Partnership Fund (LIPF) and builds on the initial £30m allocated to each region in the June Spending Review, as well as seven other regions across the UK, including Cardiff City Region, Belfast-Derry and West Yorkshire.
The Government is also inviting additional bids of up to £20m from high-potential innovation clusters in all other parts of the UK. This will enable local leaders to invest in the strength of local innovation, from advanced manufacturing and life sciences to digital technology and clean energy.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “The world’s best talent and most innovative businesses are in every corner of the UK, but years of chronic under-investment are holding them back.”
“We are ending this inequality by investing in every region of the country. From Glasgow to Birmingham, we are driving innovation through our transformation plans, delivering skilled jobs and building an economy that works and rewards working people.”
Promote new scientific and technological discoveries
This month’s robust funding package will support teams across the country to scale up and drive more science and technology discoveries.
Funding like this is critical to recognizing the benefits they bring to people’s everyday lives, from keeping us healthy to reducing commute delays to creating a greener planet with cheaper bills.
The additional funding will enable more government-funded spin-outs like Glasgow’s Chemify to help establish the world’s first ‘Chemputation’ facility, which combines AI-powered molecular design engines with industrial robots to accelerate drug and materials discovery.
Elsewhere, regional funding has helped Greater Manchester grow into a global AI hub, connecting universities’ technology expertise to start-ups and small businesses, enabling them to turn early-stage ideas into viable products. From technologies that can predict disease progression early, to technologies that address net-zero innovation, to the decarbonization of buildings.
In the West Midlands, additional funding could enable more projects like Biochar CleanTech, which extracts organic residues such as sawdust and fallen trees and converts them into usable low-carbon products.
boost local employment
Projects launched under our predecessor Innovation Accelerators program have delivered over £140m of private investment, hundreds of jobs and increased opportunities for people to pursue careers in science and technology.
It precedes the Regional Investment Summit, which will bring together business leaders, major investors, policy makers, regulators, local mayors and other local leaders to showcase the breadth and depth of investment, expansion and job creation opportunities across the country.
Ahead of the summit, the Prime Minister pledged that no region would be excluded from the investment, jobs and growth that will be delivered as part of the government’s transformation plan.
“The science and technology sector is a key driver of economic growth in our communities,” said Science and Technology Secretary Liz Kendall.
“By supporting people with the knowledge to build on local strengths and supporting valuable companies that build facilities that can set this country apart, we can lead the next generation of life-changing discoveries.”
Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund’s first investment
To further support innovative growth in science and technology across the region, the government is also announcing the first two investments to be delivered through the first round of the Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund (LSIMF).
Pharmaceutical manufacturer Sterling Pharmaceuticals is investing in a new 60,002-foot state-of-the-art manufacturing and research and development center in Birmingham.
Meanwhile, medical technology company Biocomposites is building a new manufacturing facility in Kiel.
As well as creating and protecting dozens of high-skilled jobs, these facilities will ensure that valuable medicines are manufactured in the UK and strengthen the UK’s resilience to health emergencies.
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