By Dr Annette Bramley, Director, N8 Research Partnership
The below article was first published in The Northern Agenda.
In the Chancellor’s recent growth speech it was encouraging to hear how the government plans to enhance transport connectivity in the North, support efforts to reopen Doncaster-Sheffield airport and how the redevelopment of Old Trafford football ground will bring significant benefits for the wider Greater Manchester community.
As the director of an organisation focussed on research excellence, I was also pleased to see support for the UK’s research base and how the government plans to foster growth through innovation by addressing infrastructure and skills deficits.
Yet overall, much of this investment focused on the Golden Triangle. We should rightly be proud of what that region achieves, and there is no denying the work done there exemplifies how research can stimulate economic expansion, attracting investment and generating employment in the Greater South-East.
As such, we would also encourage the Chancellor to consider what similar scale investment in the North of England could achieve. It is superb that the government recognises the transformative power of university led R&D and industrial collaboration but without widening its scope of ambition we will not solve one of the major challenges for this administration – how to drive investment and create good jobs and connectivity in the North.
It really is a major challenge: our region faces lower life expectancy, reduced healthy life years, and only a third of the median household wealth compared to the South. This contributes to a productivity gap costing the UK approximately £13.2 billion annually. Last week, we also heard the sad news that AstraZeneca has cancelled plans to invest in vaccine manufacturing in the Liverpool City Region.
In order to deliver growth across the country and reverse this damaging North-South imbalance, it is absolutely essential that the productivity potential of the North of England is unleashed through the power of research and innovation.
And there is truly much to unleash. The North already possesses a dynamic engine for growth: a constellation of eight world-class universities, a wealth of local talent, and a network of forward-thinking Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs) and businesses primed for transformation.
Today, we call for a new vision — a pan-Northern initiative that mirrors the transformative power of the Oxford-Cambridge Arc.
The North is not starting from scratch; we are already collaborating across academia, industry, and government. Our region boasts strengths in advanced manufacturing, life sciences and AI, supported by a consortium of eight world-class universities, the N8, within a small, 62-mile, radius. These institutions had a combined research income of £1.4 billion in 2021-22 which in turn drove an economic impact of £18.8 billion and are pivotal in fueling regional innovation.
For example, take the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC), which helps turn the latest world-leading research into huge practical improvements for industry partners such as McLaren, Rolls-Royce, and Boeing.
As part of the South Yorkshire Investment Zone, Boeing recently announced Compass (Composites at Speed and Scale) – a new £50m manufacturing technologies research and development facility based at the AMRC. Industrial initiatives such as these – built on research excellence – improve productivity and have transformative potential. If the South Yorkshire region was to match the average productivity rate across the UK, it would add £5.9 billion to the economy, benefiting each resident in South Yorkshire by £4,200.
Imagine the cascading effects if we adopted a coordinated, pan-Northern approach. By coordinating AI Growth Zones and other economic initiatives at a Northern level, we can create a synergistic environment that attracts inward investment, fosters early AI adoption, and generates high-skilled jobs. Significant investment in health innovation and public health in the North of England would capitalise on existing collaborations between universities, NHS and public bodies and to help people be healthier, happier and more productive.
This is not a mere dream. It is a realistic pathway built on the foundations already laid by the N8 – a ‘Golden Octagon across the North of England – and our local partners. Universities play a key role in bringing together businesses, start-ups, and investors across key sectors in the North of England.
This is our call to action: let us invest in the North’s potential and forge a new vision of collaboration, innovation, and inclusive growth. With the N8 universities at the forefront, working seamlessly with business leaders and MCAs – representing 90% of the North’s population – there is an unprecedented opportunity to effect positive change.
Together, we can build a Northern equivalent to the Oxford-Cambridge Arc, delivering benefits that ripple across the nation. and transforming the challenges of today into the successes of tomorrow.
The time is ripe for the Chancellor to embrace a vision where the power of research and innovation is harnessed across the entire country.
Invest in the North, invest in our collective future, and watch the UK flourish.