Regional reflections: Place and the power of partnership

We’ve supported hundreds of companies, helped create thousands of high-skilled jobs, transformed industrial landscapes, and helped unlock billions of pounds worth of investment for the UK economy. 

But we couldn’t have achieved any of that on our own. 

Collaboration has been at the core of our achievements. Strategic partnerships with academia, government, industry and the investment community are central to our success and will play a vital role as CPI embarks on the next 20 years of its existence. 

The power of partnerships

One of the main reasons we value partnerships so highly is because they’re a force multiplier. On our own, we can only achieve so much. But together, by aligning multiple organisations and multiple agendas, we can achieve far more than we can in isolation. 

That’s why, at CPI, we are committed to addressing innovation challenges through collaboration. We work with many high-quality regional, national and international public sector and academic networks to develop and reinforce the impact of our work with UK businesses. 

Just like us, our partners share a vision for the future – one driven by innovation and collaboration. We believe that technological advancements can solve some of society’s biggest challenges and achieve economic growth. By joining together and pooling our skills, resources and expertise, we can create an environment that nurtures this mindset and builds towards our future aspirations. 

Strategic partnerships in action

We work with a diverse range of organisations from start-ups through to large multinational corporates, via civic bodies and universities across the UK. Despite the breadth of our network, the greatest benefits we’ve been able to unlock have been sustained and continued collaboration over the long term – relationships that we refer to as ​“strategic partnerships.” 

The benefits of working with a select group of public sector and academic organisations are clear. Thanks to our shared vision the projects and activities that we choose to work on are selected strategically, which ensures that everything we do is actively focused on addressing societal and industrial challenges. Together we’re also able to amplify the influence of our respective organisations, making it easy to guide and inform funders and policy makers. 

There are more immediate practical benefits, too. These partnerships enable each partner to access funding that might otherwise be unavailable to them, while our joint track record and history of successful partnerships build confidence with potential investors. 

Our combined resources can also deliver greater results. The free flow of knowledge, expertise, resources, equipment and even facilities allows us to deliver impact more effectively. 

An example of this can be seen in our partnership with Converge, Scotland’s largest company creation and enterprise programme for the university sector. For a number of years now we’ve worked closely together to ensure promising spinouts and early-stage companies can access CPI’s ecosystem of innovation support to deliver collaborative R&D and commercial projects. 

Place-based partnerships

We don’t just work with people who share the same vision that we do, but also people who share the same geography. 

CPI was originally founded in the North East of England, and it was tasked with delivering on the Region’s Strategy for Success, building the region’s capabilities, and ensuring it remained competitive. 

Since then, we’ve expanded to operate from six innovation and technology centres located across the North of England and Scotland. But our influence doesn’t stop there. Across the UK, from London to Liverpool, we’ve forged place-based partnerships designed to benefit the communities that we work in. 

Building a great project for regional benefit

These partnerships enable us to use our expertise in a way that is not only technically innovative but will have the most impact on those regions. In North West England, for example, our materials skills are playing a key role in the development of The Centre for Expertise in Advanced Materials and Sustainability (CEAMS) in Greater Manchester. 

Through this collaboration, we’ve worked closely with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) to deliver a series of impactful programmes for local businesses. By steering decision-makers and leveraging national influence and funding, we’re helping to ensure the project provides a tangible impact on the region’s communities, businesses and residents. 

This project represents a model for how national expertise and resources can be combined with local knowledge and priorities to drive regional economic growth. By leveraging Innovate UK’s funding and influence, and aligning with GMCA’s regional innovation strategy, CEAMS is poised to become a hub of innovation that delivers significant benefits to businesses in Greater Manchester and beyond. 

Further north, in Glasgow City Region, our pharmaceutical knowledge led to the creation of the Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre, for which partnerships are at the core of its existence. Whether it was our academic associates at the University of Strathclyde, decision-makers within the Scottish and UK Governments, or industry players AstraZeneca and GSK; this centre is a prime example of how public-private partnerships can drive innovation and address grand industrial challenges. 

By combining the right mix of expertise, resources, and strategic vision, these initiatives are making significant strides in bringing new materials and medicines to market, which will ultimately benefit society as a whole. 

As well as delivering impactful programmes for industry in these regions, our place-based partnerships help to shape the intellectual innovation landscape – filling innovation gaps in regional capability and partnering with the local research base. Working with local partners, we can influence strategy and activities to align local opportunities with the needs of the UK innovation ecosystem. 

Sometimes that involves large-scale projects to build physical centres, sometimes it’s simply a case of connecting industry and academia or working with local stakeholders to align the innovation agenda. But just as was the case when we first opened in Redcar 20 years ago, these place-based partnerships are designed to transform regions, create jobs and build a better future for everybody. 

Building a better future

Whilst we can look back with pride at CPI’s achievements over the past 20 years, we must also look ahead to what the next two decades will bring. Politically, economically and environmentally, the world around us is changing, and the challenges we face are becoming larger and more complex. 

Innovation is crucial for building a better future for people, places, and our planet. Today’s discoveries are the foundations on which this future will be built, so it’s vital that we do everything we can to help people make their world-changing ideas a commercial reality. 

Now, more than ever, collaboration is crucial to unlocking the UK’s innovation ecosystem. And I’m confident that through the invaluable strategic partnerships we’ve built, alongside those that are only just beginning to forge, we can leave an indelible impact on the communities that we live and work in.