Knowledge Networks: London and the Ox-Cam Arc
The Cambridge Norwich Tech Corridor is one of Europe’s
most exciting growth opportunities, home to the
people and businesses tackling the grand challenges
facing humanity and shaping the future of food, energy,
medicine and mobility.
With world-leading universities in Cambridge and Norwich,
cutting-edge research institutes and science parks such
as the Wellcome Genome Campus, Babraham Research
Campus, Hethel Innovation Centre and Norwich Research
Park, an ecosystem of businesses including big names such
as Lotus, as well as thriving networks to support innovation,
commercialisation and manufacturing, the Tech Corridor
boasts a knowledge economy to rival any in the world, and
one which links to and complements the expertise on offer
in the Golden Triangle and other growth corridors such as
the UK Innovation Corridor and the Midlands Engine.
Formed in 2018, the Tech Corridor partnership brings
together business and political leaders with a shared
ambition to make the Tech Corridor a top-tier destination
for technology businesses, talent and investors from
around the world. It does this through a variety of
programmes designed to promote and support business
growth, as well as creating a bold vision for the
future of the region.
Activities include the development of an ambassador
network, through which companies can engage with
counterparts across the East and beyond. This has led
to several new cross-sector partnerships being formed.
A hackathon in October brought together businesses
from across the region with support organisations such
as The Welding Institute, Cambridge Wireless and Hethel
Innovation to tackle business challenges around the UN
Sustainable Development Goals. Participants worked
on sustainability challenges set by four local firms, all
of whom went away with at least one workable solution
to their problem.
Increasing investment into the region is also a key
aim for the Tech Corridor partnership, which is why it
launched the East of England Investment Catalyst, an
accelerator programme for the area’s most exciting
knowledge-intensive businesses. A cohort of nine
companies, spanning sectors including med-tech, life
science and ed-tech, were put through a short programme
of workshops to hone their propositions, before the top
five progressed to a final pitching event in London where
they presented to an audience of institutional investors.
Two of the finalists secured investment on the back of the
participation in the programme.
Looking to the future, the Tech Corridor partnership has
been working with Perkins & Will to create a spatial vision
for the region. Based on a wide variety of data sources, as
well as engagement with over 50 Tech Corridor ambassador
businesses across a number of workshops and events,
and interviews with key stakeholder organisations, the
report takes an in-depth look at the strengths of the
Tech Corridor, the trends around sector and business
development, the employment hotspots, and the areas
which have the strongest potential for growth.
The resulting report will be used to inform the work of
the Tech Corridor and its partners in the private and
public sector around areas such as business support
and development of the built environment. The vision
will underpin the partnership’s ambition to create a
world-class, resilient Tech Corridor that can be a key driver
of the UK economy.
‘East Anglia is full of ambitious, high-growth businesses
which add great value to the economy. We want to enable
them to work closely together and forge mutually beneficial
partnerships. A public-private partnership, the Tech
Corridor has been set up to drive and promote meaningful,
high-value growth in the area between Cambridge and
Norwich. In these in unprecedented times, the Tech
Corridor Supply Chain network has been devised to help
firms in the region source more products and services
locally. Schemes like this, which connect existing business
clusters and help develop new ones, can prepare companies
for the future.’
Linn Clabburn, Programme Director, Cambridge Norwich Tech Corridor.