Cambridge-Manchester brain train gathering speed
The campaign is being championed by the respective Mayors – Paul Bristow in Cambridge and Manchester's Andy Burnham.
Bristow joined partners in Manchester last week as part of the next phase of the Cambridge x Manchester Innovation Partnership – a city-to-city collaboration fostering innovation and growth.
Established last year between the respective universities, the two-day programme and first formal board meeting included Burnham and leaders from businesses including Shaun Grady, Cambridge-based UK Chair of AstraZeneca, local authorities and innovation organisations across the two cities.
They report that further momentum is gathering behind the partnership’s shared ambition to turn world-leading research and innovation into jobs, new investment and economic growth which delivers real benefits for local people.
Both cities’ economies bring complementary strengths. Cambridge is a global centre for leading research and discovery with global investment pull while Manchester offers scale, space, talent and a strong track record in converting innovation into commercial success.
By working together, both regions aim to be greater than the sum of their parts and deliver benefits well beyond their own boundaries, including supporting the Government’s mission to grow the national economy.
For Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, the partnership directly supports the ambitions set out in the Local Growth Plan, which focuses on growing the economy, upgrading transport and other key infrastructure and ensuring that growth benefits local people and communities. The plan sets out a mayoral ambition to triple the size of the local economy by 2050.
Building strong cross-regional partnerships is part of that ambition, helping to attract investment, strengthen innovation ecosystems and make the case for infrastructure and skills investment.
Discussions at the first formal board meeting focused on shared priorities including life sciences, advanced materials, creative industries and digital innovation, as well as the importance of growth that makes a difference to people’s lives.
The programme also showcased how collaboration can work in practice, including knowledge-sharing on transport, with Manchester’s experience of the Metrolink system and Cambridge’s ongoing work to explore mass transit options to support future growth. Light rail for Cambridge is one of Bristow’s manifesto pledges.
Other sessions including the creative and cultural innovation economy and how they can be better embedded in the science and tech sectors.
Bristow said: “The partnership is hugely ambitious for our respective regions and has everything to gain from working together in this way. Building partnerships like this which seek to drive up innovation and investment will be crucial in unlocking the potential of our economy set out in the Local Growth Plan.
“This is about regions backing each other, sharing what works and ensuring growth brings benefits to all our communities.”
Professor Deborah Prentice, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, said: “The Cambridge x Manchester partnership brings together two great universities and cities with complementary strengths and the will to work together. We are already showing how connected ecosystems can drive innovation, investment and inclusive growth. This week’s meetings underline the momentum behind our shared ambition and the firm foundations being laid for the next phase of work.”
And Kathryn Chapman, Executive Director of Innovate Cambridge, adds: "Cambridge and Manchester have deep histories of innovation, with complementary strengths that span the full journey from discovery to scale. By combining Cambridge’s track record in transformational early-stage companies and attraction of capital with Manchester’s strength in development, application and deployment across markets, this partnership will help shape the UK’s future economic growth."
Launched last August, The Cambridge x Manchester Innovation Partnership is the first cross-UK innovation partnership. The collaboration is driven by a dedicated team within Innovate Cambridge and Unit M, running a programme of specially designed activities and initiatives.
The partnership is designed to expand and strengthen innovation ecosystems in both cities, drive investment and define a new model of collaboration for the UK. Activities will focus maximising the impact of complementary innovation assets in both Cambridge and Manchester across a breadth of sectors, including AI, life sciences, and advanced materials.