Turning 20 in style: CPI’s top moments of 2024

Celebrating 20 years of CPI

For two decades, CPI has been a catalyst for groundbreaking science and innovation. Over this time, we’ve helped unlock £3 billion of private investment, created highly skilled jobs, and transformed industrial landscapes across the North of England and Scotland.

To mark this milestone, we hosted a series of 20th Anniversary Roadshow events at our centres, bringing together over 1,000 customers, stakeholders, partners and colleagues both past and present. These events provided an opportunity for people to connect, share stories, and celebrate two decades of innovation.

Our 20th Anniversary wasn’t just about celebration; it was also about giving back. In September, our colleagues volunteered in local communities, supporting initiatives ranging from food banks to the Great North Air Ambulance service. This commitment to social impact reflects our values and the deep connections we’ve built with our communities.

Launching new strategic partnerships

2024 also marked five years of CPI Enterprises, our venture capital arm. Over the past half-decade, CPI Enterprises has built 300 investor partnerships and made 13 deep-tech investments. This year, it supported groundbreaking companies in materials science, such as Evoralis and Floreon, which are transforming the plastics industry.

In November, we partnered with EverQuest Capital Partners, a new investment fund dedicated to advancing critical UK industries. This collaboration will connect high-potential SMEs with the resources they need to commercialise transformative innovations.

We also deepened our partnership with Siemens by signing a new Memorandum of Understanding to advance research into cutting-edge manufacturing processes.

At the Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre, we launched a digital collaboration exploring how AI and machine learning can accelerate medicine production, potentially delivering life-changing treatments to patients up to a year sooner.

Internationally, CPI joined two UK-India initiatives in October. These collaborations will develop secure, sustainable supply chains in pharmaceuticals and critical minerals, spurring growth in emerging sectors while supporting clean technologies.

Advancing Sustainable Materials

Materials science underpins the technologies of tomorrow, and CPI has been at the forefront of this diverse, multidisciplinary field in 2024.

CPI Enterprises invested in Evoralis, which is developing enzymes capable of breaking down polyester and nylon, paving the way for 80% of textiles to become recyclable. Another investment, Floreon, is creating bioplastics from 70 – 90% plant-based materials, driving the shift to a circular plastics economy.

In energy storage, we played a key role in the HISTORY project, supporting Ilika Technologies in scaling next-generation solid-state batteries. These batteries could revolutionise electric vehicles (EVs) with greater efficiency, longer lifespan, and fewer rare minerals.

In March, we began building the Advanced Materials Battery Industrialisation Centre (AMBIC), a national facility to accelerate battery innovation. Funded by UKRI, this centre is set to open in March 2025, positioning the UK as a global leader in battery development.

Meanwhile, at our Novel Food Innovation Centre in Redcar, we partnered with Marrabio and Aelius Biotech on cultivated meat research. The project can potentially reduce emissions by up to 90%, making lab-grown meat a crucial step toward net zero.

We’re also driving sustainability in the chemicals sector through the Flue2Chem project, which turns captured CO₂ from factory chimneys into household cleaning products. Using our specialist facilities, this project explores how captured carbon could be scaled for commercial use across the UK.

Transforming Healthcare

In February, our RNA Centre of Excellence reached a crucial milestone: receiving Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certification. This allows innovative medicines produced at the centre to be used in clinical practice so we can support our partners from developing processes to manufacturing for clinical trials, getting new vaccines and medicines to the patients who need them. Drawing on our experience in the field, we published a detailed report highlighting the need to build the necessary skills in the workforce to meet the growing demand for RNA therapeutics. 

MedTech innovation can save lives, but many new products face crippling delays in getting through regulatory approval. That’s why, in October, we joined forces with the OLS on the MedTech Accelerator: Rapid Regulatory Support Fund (MARRS). It provided grants of up to £30,000 to fund regulatory guidance and support, helping companies get new, safe, and effective devices to market faster.

In 2024, we supported BoobyBiome to develop a next-generation probiotic supplement for babies and mothers with breastfeeding difficulties. This supplement could boost infant gut health and provide a whole host of long-term benefits. 

Our Continuous 2 project, meanwhile, has been pioneering a new, less resource- and energy-intensive way to manufacture medicines. We built one of the world’s most advanced continuous manufacturing demonstrators for biotherapeutics, which can operate with limited human intervention. This technology will give companies greater flexibility to develop tailored treatments for debilitating conditions.

In December, we were delighted to see the first spades in the ground at the site of our new Oligonucleotide Manufacturing Innovation Centre of Excellence (OMICE). Oligonucleotides are a revolutionary new therapeutic option for a variety of diseases, from cancer to Alzheimer’s. When completed, this centre will provide a much-needed boost to the UK’s ability to develop, prove, and manufacture these game-changing treatments. 

Our people and culture

None of these wide-ranging achievements would have been possible without the work of our team. As an employer, we strive to offer continuous training opportunities that equip our people with skills for professional growth and success. And this year, those efforts were recognised by the 5% Club, who awarded us Platinum Accredited Membership.

We are also proud to run a range of ​“earn and learn” initiatives like apprenticeships, graduate schemes, and student placements. Our National Apprenticeship campaign in February promoted the diverse range of career options we have across CPI and encouraged applications to our current apprenticeship programme. As a result, we have 47 apprentices across CPI in 2024/25.

Looking back through these achievements serves as a reminder of both the vast scope and importance of the work we do at CPI. I am immensely proud to be a part of this organisation at the beating heart of UK innovation, pioneering medical treatments that save lives and sustainable technologies that accelerate our journey to net zero. 

As we wrap up our 20^th anniversary celebrations, we are thrilled to be gearing up to deliver more groundbreaking innovation in 2025 and beyond. Here’s to another 20 years of impact!