Building relationships and partnerships: proximity to other organisations working in a similar space facilitates the building of relationships and partnerships. Institutional relationships can be very powerful, and corporate and historic knowledge contributes to this. Organisations with heritage that have been present in a location for a long time are well positioned to build relationships with businesses. Historic relationships between organisations are often unique to a place and cannot readily be replicated. Networks can help to provide the required scale that businesses need. For example, in a health R&D and life sciences context, bringing treatments to market requires scaling access to data, and larger businesses want access to multiple clinical trials across the UK. This can provide a collective offer that is stronger on a national and European level than one place alone.

Presence of infrastructure: the presence of historic and national infrastructure can facilitate the development of an innovation ecosystem. An example was given of national investment in an RAF base which was used for the testing of vehicles and has influenced the creation of the A5 corridor and a local ecosystem.  

Reputation and ‘brand’: long-term relationships and connections between organisations in a place can build a reputation and ‘brand’ for that place, which itself attracts businesses. Branding includes the promotion of cities and city regions, as well as innovation ecosystems, to render them attractive in the boardroom. Businesses are often looking for the presence of factors such as access to skills and talent, accommodation for staff and good transport links. A small number of leaders can have considerable impact in the branding of a place. Manchester was cited as an example of how leaders are able to work both locally and at national level in a compelling way.

Trust and devolution: regions should be trusted with local execution. While the UK Government needs an overarching national strategy it is important to provide regions with the funding and the freedom to execute locally. This is the case with the three pilot Innovation Accelerators, which it was suggested are intended to show that places can be trusted to use funding to strengthen innovation ecosystems and improve local absorptive capacity for R&I. However, it was pointed out that there has been considerable oversight by Government, for example in signing off on investment and projects, and challenging each business case. It was suggested that excessive oversight can use up a lot of time, which would be better spent developing expertise to support regions in their capacity to drive things forward. Instead, participants suggested that accountability could be structured for example around outcomes that are being achieved.

Collective strengths: encourage cross-sector regional groups to create an environment that is enabling rather than competitive. Different economic regions need distinctive support, and so it is important to better understand the broader factors that a region needs to flourish. However, local Governance in England can be uneven, with some regions, such as Greater Manchester, benefitting from a strong city region compared to others. In addition, the focus of Government policy on geography rather than sectoral strengths could lead to a risk of ending up with a tiered innovation system, with some places benefitting and others being left behind. It was also noted that funding opportunities can often lead to competition between places.

One solution to create an environment that is enabling rather than competitive would be to support collective strengths by encouraging cross-sector regional groups. This could include supporting collections of places with related strengths to work together and explore collaborative opportunities to deliver for a region. It was suggested that place-based collaborative networks between different types of organisations can support longer-term planning in a region and support collaborative opportunities. This can include links between Civic Bodies (such as combined authorities) with local organisations and groups interested in R&I. The Oxford Road Corridor in Manchester was given as an example of a partnership between universities, the NHS, businesses, and Bruntwood. Another example is the Northern Health Science Alliance, which brings together ten universities and nine research-intensive NHS Trusts in the North of England.

Geographical versus sectoral approach: there is a tension between focusing policy on geography versus R&I strengths. There has been a deliberate strategy by the UK Government to accentuate investment in high potential geographical areas that already have a critical mass of institutions, businesses and skills. It was suggested that targeting geographical areas can help to reduce geographical inequalities. However, the focus of Government policy on geography rather than sectoral strengths could lead to a risk of ending up with a tiered innovation system, with some places benefitting and others being left behind. In addition, the risk of focusing on geographical lines is that you inevitably make decisions according to pre-defined political areas. There are many R&I activities that do not fall into these politically defined areas. This leads to strange situations in which organisations are ineligible for support despite being geographically close. This could also lead to the situation that when making funding decisions, there is also the risk that money follows money based on geographical boundaries and not on R&I strengths.

R&I infrastructure and the institutional mix: not all regions benefit from R&I infrastructure that can support the R&I pathway. It was highlighted that while many places have strong universities, they lack a translational research institute that can fill a gap in the R&I pathway. A positive example was given from Northern Ireland, which has benefitted from a Catapult-like institution to bridge the gap between industry and research. Related to this, regional planning and infrastructure is a challenge. For example, in Cambridge and Oxford there is latent demand, but they are running out of lab space and as a result have decided to form a link with Manchester. If the UK is to become an R&I economy, it is important to identify where else is going to need to grow and the links that are needed.

Regional absorptive capacity: build capacity in regions in terms of innovation infrastructure. It is important to build capacity in regions to ensure they are ready and prepared to benefit from innovation support. For example, the East Midlands region was given an Investment Zone but no innovation capacity or structures to support it. Therefore, it is important to grow and strengthen areas that are not so strong to build that absorptive capacity. This includes for example ensuring regions are ready for the next round of Innovation Accelerators. This could include for example, skills development, connectivity and strong institutions.

Connectivity: invest in connectivity to link regions and drive the dispersal of innovation activity: It was suggested that if the UK wants to become more innovative and successful, it needs a strategy that helps to grow out from hubs. It was suggested that greater connectivity could lead to a greater spreading of innovation activity, and can help the places in between to link them to other hubs, local governance and the Structural Prosperity Fund.

Regional enabling structure: there should be regional provision for a forum for business and civic authority leadership which provides a platform to discuss and drive forward R&I. It was suggested that it would be helpful to invest in a forum or enabling structure that can allow regional organisations, such as businesses and universities, to come together to think about R&I and drive forward regional plans. Participants also highlighted that successful clusters often have an anchor organisation and local leaders that can pull people together and that are empowered to drive things forward. Therefore, it would be helpful to establish an organisation that can build an innovation offer on behalf of a sector or region with the funding and freedom to drive its execution. The Northern Business Forum was given as an example of a structure that used to bring together businesses, universities and local authorities in Scotland. It was emphasised that it will be important to consider incentives when bringing together different stakeholders.

Branding: support regions to market their strengths and capabilities in order to attract inward investment. Foreign direct investors require a better understanding of different localities and their strengths and capabilities to navigate an ecosystem and make R&D investment decisions. The presence of a strong brand internationally can help to provide certainty to businesses. Manchester was given as an example of where local leaders have done an excellent job of pitching the region’s brand at a national level.