Building regional networks
Enterprise continues to connect Birmingham Research Park tenants with stakeholders in the West Midlands, a thriving location for emerging health and life sciences companies. The region is already home to the UK’s largest cluster of med-tech businesses, and boasts a leading network of academic and clinical facilities, incubators and accelerator programmes.
High costs and a shortage of laboratory space are longstanding constraints on health-tech companies, particularly in the “golden triangle” of Oxford, Cambridge and London. Incubators across the West Midlands are proving a solution to that bottleneck. The region is home to world-leading research institutes, and hospitals in which large-scale trials can be conducted. In the past three years alone, Midlands universities have produced 43 spin-outs and 24 start-ups.
There has been a huge spike of interest in space and facilities for health- and med-tech companies since the pandemic. Companies are attracted to the Midlands for its diversity, its affordability, its infrastructure, and the connectivity of its ecosystem. The fact that we are keen to broker relationships for companies is priceless to them.
Enterprise is working to build deeper links between innovation partners. It has founded the West Midlands Regional Innovation Asset Network (WMRIAN), a forum of universities, science parks, innovation hubs and service providers, chaired by Ms Reynolds.
Separately, Enterprise is working with the UK Science Park Association to establish the terms of reference for a Midlands Special Interest Group, which will promote the region as a destination for science and technology startups. “We’re involved in championing the Midlands on a national scale, as well as more locally with our regional partners,” says Ms Reynolds.
The University of Birmingham is also a founding partner of the West Midlands Health Tech Innovation Accelerator (WMHTIA), a £16m UK government programme offering early-stage investment to heath-tech companies.
Apprentice of the Year, Enterprise Lab Technician Jack Wheeley
Enterprise is committed to building regional talent pools through internship schemes and student engagement programmes. Several tenants of the Research Park have taken on University interns in the past year, the Park promotes the University’s apprenticeship scheme to tenants, and the laboratory team at the BioHub assists the University’s Technical Academy activity. The BioHub also hosts regular visits from school pupils, including through In2scienceUK, a STEM work experience programme for disadvantaged students. “We’re really keen to show younger people that a scientific career is absolutely realistic for them,” says Ms Reynolds.