Celebrating 20 years of CPI: How one organisation helped generate billions for the UK economy

Formed in 2004 and headquartered in Wilton, Redcar, CPI began as part of an initiative to create Centres of Excellence to consolidate, build on and exploit the North East’s knowledge and skills to ensure that the region’s economy remained competitive in the growing global marketplace. 

Over the past 20 years, we’ve grown into one of the leading influences on innovation in the UK by creating an extensive network of world-class expertise, technology assets and partners. We’re helping to shape the economy of the future. 

We’ve helped to unlock almost £3bn worth of private investment, have a 60% SME customer base, and are helping to transform industrial landscapes in the North East and beyond. 

We’re now replicating that success in other parts of the UK. In the last 5 years, we’ve built our presence in Scotland by establishing the Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre and we’re a key partner in the rapid development of the Centre of Expertise in Advanced Materials and Sustainability (CEAMS) in the North West of England. 

We’ve played a crucial role in enabling the UK’s manufacturing sector, building national resilience, supporting ambitious sustainability targets, and addressing health and well-being challenges. 

Frank Millar, our Chief Executive Officer, said:

“I am proud to be part of an organisation that has done so much to change the face of the manufacturing industry in the UK. Our partnerships have helped to create highly paid, highly skilled jobs by working at the centre of the innovation ecosystem and helping to make it a national success. 

“It is a real pleasure to see what our staff and partners can achieve each and every day by bringing together a range of experts and skill sets to advance disruptive innovations in healthcare, energy and sustainability. 

“We are constantly evolving to make sure we have the skills and expertise to respond to societal and economic changes, bridging the gap between what manufacturing businesses are today and what they will need to achieve tomorrow.” 

Our social-enterprise model means businesses can take advantage of cutting-edge research and development to ensure their new product, process, or service has the best chance of reaching the open market, while we reinvest to create further cutting-edge facilities and expertise. 

Since 2011, we’ve also been a founding member of the UK’s High Value Manufacturing Catapult, a network of elite technology innovation centres tasked with catalysing the future growth and success of UK manufacturing. 

Mr Millar went on to say: ​“Over the last 20 years our model of public – private partnership has been proven to work. We are now delivering new business models to accelerate opportunities for private and institutional investors to power UK deep-tech innovation through the rich pipeline of high-growth potential companies in the UK. These ambitious and exciting programmes will be the defining feature of our next 20 years. 

“I’d personally like to thank all our staff – past and present – as well as our partners in academia, government, and industry, for their support over the last 20 years. Without them, we wouldn’t be able to achieve what we have so far, nor have such an exciting future ahead.”