Unit M is designed to address all aspects of the innovation challenge – from R&D through to innovation adoption through to talent and skills – by making the University’s world-class research, innovation assets and talent more accessible to all. It aims to address key regional and national challenges in productivity, innovation adoption, and economic inclusivity.

Earlier this year, Lou Cordwell OBE, was appointed Professor of Innovation at the ) at , and Special Advisor to the Office of the President and Vice-Chancellor. Lou brings a wealth of experience in fostering innovation, economic transformation, and cross-sector collaboration. As CEO, Lou will lead Unit M’s mission to maximise the University's impact for the benefit of the region’s economy and society.

Lou began her career working for WPP before founding the 91ֱ��-based digital design studio magneticNorth (mN). In 2021, mN merged with Fluxx, creating the UK’s leading design and innovation consultancy, . She previously developed the strategic masterplan for Sister, one of Europe’s most ambitious innovation district projects. She has spent the past year jointly leading the University’s Regional Innovation Review, which provides an in-depth analysis and roadmap for how the University can create a world-class inclusive innovation ecosystem in the region. 

Lou is also Chair of and an angel investor, particularly focusing on female tech founders. Lou was awarded an OBE in the 2018 New Year’s Honours for services to the creative and digital economy.

“We are thrilled to welcome Lou to lead Unit M,” said Duncan Ivison, President and Vice-Chancellor of The University of Manchester. “Her leadership and expertise will be instrumental in ensuring Unit M achieves its ambitious goals of driving inclusive growth and strengthening 91ֱ��’s position on the global innovation stage.”

Unit M’s launch comes at a pivotal time as the UK grapples with pressing economic challenges. By helping to accelerate the University’s impact, and leveraging 91ֱ��’s strengths as a leading city for innovation, the initiative will foster dynamic partnerships, create new jobs, and attract investment while addressing social and economic inequalities.

Speaking of her new role Lou said: "I’m absolutely delighted to be asked to lead the Unit M team and mission. The University is one of the region’s most important innovation assets and the Unit M ambition to help drive innovation-led growth will be a central theme of the University's future strategy. I'm looking forward to working with colleagues across the University as well as local and global partners to deliver exciting new opportunities for our region."

Unit M will align with and complement existing innovation capabilities across the University, including the Innovation Factory, the Pankhurst Institute for Health Technology and the Turing Innovation Catalyst, as well its sector leading business engagement, student entrepreneurship, and flexible learning teams. It will act as the University’s interface into the region’s investment zone and innovation districts, including the University’s recently launched joint venture, Sister and the Atom Valley Mayoral Development Zone, along with other place-based partnerships. It will also partner closely with external capabilities, including the Greater 91ֱ�� Combined Authority (GMCA), local councils and other institutions. 

Unit M is now live and actively engaging with entrepreneurs, investors, and changemakers eager to shape the future of the region.

For more information about Unit M and partnership opportunities, visit

Formed to challenge and disrupt the global conveyor belt market, Ecobelt Ltd is an environmentally ambitious company that champions environmental sustainability and fosters a circular life-cycle approach for belting use.

In the UK alone, 4,000 tonnes of conveyor belts are incinerated or sent to landfill every week.

The ‘Sustainable Materials Innovation for Net-zero’ award recognises Ecobelt’s patented innovative belt splice technology to address the main cause of belt failure. The technology extends belt lifespan from months to years, therefore improving the upstream sustainability by reducing the demand for new belts.

Through partnership and collaboration with The University of Manchester—supported by its UKRI Impact Acceleration Account and the Sustainable Materials Innovation Hub at the Henry Royce Institute—Ecobelt tested the performance of their technology to develop an approach to repair damaged conveyor belts, employing a whole life-cycle environmental impact approach.

The judges from the Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining commended Ecobelt’s technology, citing the robust research base and collaboration with partners as key indicators to Ecobelt’s commitment to environmental sustainability.

Conveyor belts service virtually all consumer products, production and manufacturing facilities globally, driving a market valued at $6 billion (USD) annually, fuelled by e-commerce and industry 4.0.

Despite this, the industry has been remarkably stagnant in relation to innovation, sustainability and the manufacturing process of materials used in conveyor belts. As conveyor belts are fossil fuel based, manufacturing consumes huge natural resources whilst producing significant Greenhouse Gases – an issue that Ecobelt seeks to change.

Whilst Ecobelt’s next steps for commercial scale up are still unfolding, the technology’s potential for lasting impact in the industrial settings are clear.

Professor Michael Shaver, Director of the Sustainable Materials Innovation Hub said: “Our world is driven – both literally and figuratively – by conveyor belts. Yet we don’t think of them as essential in championing 91ֱ�� as a sustainable city.

“Our eyes have been opened by this hidden gem of a local business: Ecobelt have tackled an invisible material flow that is essential to keeping our manufacturing and delivery systems moving by improving material repair, reuse and circularity. It has been a privilege to work on assessing the AnnStuMax technology and quantifying its impressive environmental credentials.”

The study, led by scientists at The University of Manchester, has revealed that a material known as a metal-organic framework (MOF) - an ultra-porous material - can be modified to capture and filter out significantly more benzene from the atmosphere than current materials in use.

Benzene is primarily used as an industrial solvent and in the production of various chemicals, plastics, and synthetic fibres, but can also be released into the atmosphere through petrol stations, exhaust fumes and cigarette smoke. Despite its widespread applications, benzene is classified as a human carcinogen, and exposure can lead to serious health effects, making careful management and regulation essential.

The research, published in the journal today, could lead to significant improvements in air quality both indoors and outdoors.

MOFs are advanced materials that combine metal centres and organic molecules to create porous structures. They have a highly adjustable internal structure, making them particularly promising for filtering out harmful gases from the air.

The researchers modified the MOF structure – known as MIL-125 – by incorporating single atoms from different elements, including zinc, iron, cobalt, nickel and copper to test which would most effectively capture benzene.

They discovered that adding a single zinc atom to the structure significantly enhanced the material’s efficiency, enabling it to capture benzene even at ultra-low concentrations – measured at parts per million (ppm) – a significant improvement over current materials.

The new material – now known as MIL-125-Zn – demonstrates a benzene uptake of 7.63 mmol per gram of material, which is significantly higher than previously reported materials.

It is also highly stable even when exposed to moisture, maintaining its ability to filter benzene for long periods without losing effectiveness. Tests show that it can continue removing benzene from air even under humid conditions.

As the research progresses, the team will look to collaborate with industry partners to develop this and related new materials, with the potential of integrating it into ready-made devices, such as air purification systems in homes, workplaces, and industrial settings.

The University of Manchester is today launching a new capability, , to rethink how it supports the region’s innovation economy. With a mandate to drive the University’s new approach to innovation, Unit M will connect and catalyse the innovation ecosystem in 91ֱ�� and the wider region to accelerate inclusive growth.

The UK faces a myriad of interlinked urgent economic and social challenges which require faster and more inclusive growth across all parts of the country. Cities like 91ֱ��, as the UK’s second largest city, are critical to rebalancing growth - but lower productivity, R&D spend and startup activity currently hinder the region in achieving its full potential. 

“The transformative potential of fully embracing innovation cannot be understated, both for the region and for the UK more widely” says Duncan Ivison, President and Vice Chancellor of The University of Manchester.  “Unit M lies at the heart of the University’s ambition to power an inclusive economy, positioning 91ֱ�� as a central player on the global stage to accelerate growth for all in society.”

Unit M is designed to address all aspects of the innovation challenge - from R&D through to innovation adoption through to talent and skills - by making the world leading  innovation assets and talents of the University more accessible to all. Unit M will drive a new strategy for the University to create a globally leading innovation ecosystem in the region. This will encompass powering the start up and scale up community, catalysing industry clusters, leading future skills provision, strengthening the University’s partnerships within the region, and telling 91ֱ��’s innovation story.  
 

Examples of some of the activities that Unit M will undertake include:

• Creating accelerator and incubator programmes and building investor networks for the startup and scale up community;
• Developing regional innovation clusters and innovation partnerships to attract new innovation-intensive businesses to the region; 
• A new lifelong approach to skills - from expanding scientific/technological skills provision for students, to training executive leaders on innovation adoption; 
• Rethinking the University’s approach to R&D to be more flexible and responsive to industry demand

Unit M will have the agility to operate dynamically in response to the most impactful opportunities as they emerge - whether that’s connecting students into the ecosystem or drawing on expertise from across the whole University to help solve real world challenges from industry. 

“91ֱ�� has experienced major change over the past 30 years, but not everyone has benefited from rising prosperity”, said Mayor of Greater 91ֱ��, Andy Burnham. “Now, more than ever, we need to pioneer a new model of regional collaboration that harnesses our industrial strengths and innovation capabilities. Unit M will not only foster inclusive growth throughout Greater 91ֱ��, but contribute to the broader prosperity of the UK.”

Unit M is live from today, and will be rapidly scaling over the coming months. The team is seeking to connect with entrepreneurs, investors, changemakers and business leaders who are interested in partnering with the University.

Cllr Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council, said: “91ֱ�� has always been a hotbed of innovation. Building on our existing strengths is vital to 91ֱ��, and Greater 91ֱ��, accelerating our growth at scale to generate more jobs and investment. With Unit M, The University of Manchester is doing exactly that - doubling down on innovation while encouraging even more collaboration with our business community. Further strengthening the city's innovation ecosystem will help create jobs, investment and growth that works for everyone.”

Unit M will align with and complement existing capabilities across the University, including the University’s tech transfer office, The Innovation Factory,  The Pankhurst Institute for Health Technology and the Turing Innovation Catalyst and its sector leading business engagement, student entrepreneurship, and flexible learning teams. It will also partner closely with external capabilities, including the Greater 91ֱ�� Combined Authority (GMCA), local councils and other institutions.  

By convening these existing innovation services across the University and its key strategic partners, Unit M will accelerate and drive the development of new opportunities to build a strong innovation economy throughout the region.  

91ֱ��’s new £1.7bn innovation district and neighbourhood opens the doors to its first building, while unveiling its new name as . The district has also announced its first customer, Sustainable Ventures, Europe's leading climate tech hub, which will officially move into the Renold Building in November. 

Previously known as ID 91ֱ��, Sister is a joint venture between The University of Manchester and . The project will see the transformation of the University’s former North campus into a 4 million sq ft globally competitive innovation district and will help elevate 91ֱ��’s position as a national centre for science and technology.

Sister will specialise in advancing innovation across sectors including digital tech, health innovation, biotechnology, advanced materials and manufacturing. It will provide access to state of the art facilities, connecting early-stage high growth potential businesses with investors, while creating a collaborative ecosystem that enables UK and global businesses to benefit from cutting edge innovation. 

Driving economic growth and creating opportunities for local communities

Sister is primed to be a catalyst for economic growth and prosperity across the North of England, and is projected to contribute around £1.5bn GVA per annum to 91ֱ��. More than just a development project, the district aims to create a positive social impact through the generation of a large portion of high-quality employment opportunities, including over 10,000 on-site full-time equivalent jobs and accessible routes to education, training and apprenticeships for local people. 

Over 1,500 new homes will be delivered, alongside over 2 million sq ft of commercial, innovation, retail and leisure space. Within 9 acres of public realm space, Sister will also create a new civic square for 91ֱ�� and feature a variety of new and enhanced green spaces for local communities to access and enjoy.  

Reinventing a historic educational building for tomorrow's leading businesses

The opening  of the Renold Building marks the first phase of the ambitious 15 year project and is supported by funding through the Greater 91ֱ�� Investment Zone, of which the district is a key initiative supporting the growth of the advanced materials and manufacturing sector.

The 110,000 sq ft newly renovated building has been transformed into an innovation hub, celebrating its history as a purpose-built teaching facility and centre for science and technology excellence. To support the growth and scale-up of early-stage start-ups and spin-outs, the Renold Building will provide a range of low and no-cost coworking facilities, private office suites, as well as a community cafe and flexible event spaces accessible to local businesses and community groups. 

The first customer to move on site this November is Sustainable Ventures, which helps climate start-ups and entrepreneurs scale through investment, workspaces and venture support. Sustainable Ventures will expand its presence outside of its London headquarters, currently Europe’s largest climate tech hub, by occupying three floors of the Renold Building. 

It will be joined by a number of University innovation initiatives at the Renold Building, including the Turing Innovation Catalyst 91ֱ��, accelerating the growth of AI-start-ups;  the Christabel Pankhurst Institute for health technology research and innovation; and the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Catalyst, a cross-sector collaboration to empower the growth of biotechnology businesses.

Following the opening of the Renold Building, Sister will soon announce plans for the district’s first major development zone, set to include new commercial workspace, a mix of retail and leisure facilities and new public realm spaces.  

A model for successful public-private collaboration

Sister is leveraging successful cross-industry partnerships to become a major economic enabler for the future of the city. The district is one of the key strengths in the GM Investment Zone, which will invest £160 million in projects that increase growth and innovation in the region over the next 10 years and sees central and local government work closely with businesses, higher education institutions and other local partners. Key to delivering Sister’s long-term economic impact is the city region’s strong local leadership and support from industry investment, including through the Bruntwood SciTech joint venture between Bruntwood, Legal & General and Greater 91ֱ�� Pension Fund, now the UK’s largest dedicated property platform dedicated to the growth of the knowledge economy.

Why Sister?

The name, Sister, represents the close bond between industry and academia and expresses an ethos of collaboration, openness and the use of knowledge to solve problems. It builds on the heritage of the former academic campus, once home to the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST), and represents a vision to create an ecosystem of like-minded companies, institutions, districts and cities to drive innovation forward and help tackle some of the world’s greatest challenges.

Bradley Topps, Project Director, Sister and Chief Commercial Officer, Bruntwood SciTech, said: “Sister is founded on the belief that it takes a community to raise an idea and that although ideas may appear in a single mind, they flourish when people come together. This new district marks a new chapter in 91ֱ��’s history of science and innovation. Over the next 15 years, we’re dedicated to developing an inclusive space that connects talent, investment, education and enterprise, providing the perfect conditions for ideas to spark, collaboration to flourish, and world-changing innovations to scale.”

John Holden, Associate Vice-President, The University of Manchester and Executive Committee Member, Sister said: “The opening of the Renold Building is a major milestone in the development of Sister, capitalising on The University of Manchester’s research, innovation and education capabilities to catalyse the growth of successful science and technology start-ups. Sister will be home to some of the most exciting businesses in the UK developing solutions to help tackle society's biggest challenges. We're excited to open the doors to a vibrant new innovation district that will drive growth for ambitious start-ups and scale-ups, attract new science and technology companies to 91ֱ��, and create new opportunities for our staff, students and local communities.” 

Cllr Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council, said: “This is a significant moment for 91ֱ��. The fact that Sister will ultimately create 10,000 jobs and add £1.5 billion a year to the city’s economy underlines its scale and the sheer ambition behind this major new district. This development will add to 91ֱ��’s thriving innovation ecosystem and, true to the heritage of a site from which great ideas and innovations have previously sprung, will help keep the city in the forefront of future innovation.” 

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater 91ֱ��, said: “Sister will be a thriving innovation district at the heart of Greater 91ֱ��. With the Renold Building opening and welcoming its first occupier, we’re seeing the first signs of what this area will become – a home for start-ups, innovation-led businesses, universities, researchers and investors, where the clustering effect helps create jobs and opportunities. Sister is also a key site for our Investment Zone, which is supporting the growth of the advanced materials and manufacturing sector. Our city-region has been a centre of scientific and technological innovation for two centuries and places like Sister are where the next chapter of that story is written.”

CEO of Sustainable Ventures, Andrew Wordsworth, said: “We're thrilled to grow Sustainable Ventures' footprint in the UK by establishing a presence in Sister, at the heart of the UK’s second-largest tech ecosystem. This partnership empowers us to supercharge climate tech innovation across The North, bringing workspace, investment and a wealth of expertise to the region’s pioneering startups and entrepreneurs. The climate tech companies we’ve supported to date have already created over 6,000 jobs and we hope to replicate that economic growth within the region over the next few years.”

As an active member of the  group of international leaders in university research commercialisation,  and co-author of the and , launched on 20^th May, we recognise the distinction between intellectual property intensive areas such as the life sciences and the simpler pathway for some software commercialisation and sets out practical ways to improve the speed and efficiency of spin out formation. We have therefore initiated a review of intellectual property policies and practice, in collaboration with our partners in the Northern Gritstone investment company, which was established as a positive response to the high concentration of VC funding in London to provide VC funding in the North.

Innovation is a core theme for the University and our ambition is to create a thriving innovation ecosystem, which supports our entrepreneurs, spin outs and partners to start up, secure investment and scale, contributing positively to the prosperity of our region. Working through our technology transfer subsidiary, the , we have produced 29 spinouts in the past three years and remain committed to providing the optimal environment for entrepreneurs to develop their ideas. Our policy review and founder friendly approach and commitment to supporting spin outs, will catalyse growth of a vibrant regional ecosystem which supports companies to grow and scale.

Our joint venture partnership with Bruntwood Scitech to develop our North Campus into an Innovation District, will additionally provide an anchor location for our spin outs to establish and succeed within our own community, with an opportunity to access space, investors, facilities, partners, business support and networks within one location.

Professor Luke Georghiou, Deputy President and Vice-Chancellor and lead for Innovation said: “The Spin-out Review showed the vital role of universities in generating IP-Rich companies in the advanced areas most likely to revitalise our economy. We will use its recommendations as a platform to double down on bringing leading edge discoveries to the market.”

Lou is also Chair of Greater 91ֱ��’s Business Board (LEP) and an angel investor, particularly focusing on female tech founders. Lou was awarded an OBE in the 2018 New Year’s Honours for services to the creative and digital economy.

For further information about the appointment, please contact Will Stone.

They have recognised the multiple set of actors and processes that need to combine in a successful innovation ecosystem to support founders in the journey from invention to forming a spin-out and then successfully scaling up the company. The Review’s recommendations provide important guidance on the pathway to building a world-leading innovation ecosystem that takes full advantage of national strengths across all of our areas of research excellence and of our regions.

The University will review its intellectual property policies and practice, in collaboration with our partners in the Northern Gritstone investment company, which was established as a positive response to the high concentration of VC funding in London to provide VC funding in the North. We recognise the distinction the report makes between intellectual property intensive areas such as the life sciences and the simpler pathway for some software commercialisation. We welcome the recommendation that the starting point in negotiations should be terms set out in the produced by the group of national and international leaders in university research commercialisation (of which 91ֱ�� is a member).

Innovation is a core theme for the University. Working through our technology transfer subsidiary, the , we have produced 16 spinouts in the past two years and were in equal first place for this number in 2021/22.

Examples of successes include:

·&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����; founded in 2021 to develop the treatment of a leading cause of blindness and other complement-related diseases. The company has been through two funding rounds raising €77m to work on clinical proof-of-concept. This recently won the

·&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����; , founded in 2018 which develops processes to manufacture sustainable biosurfactant products for use at commercial scale and has recently opened a commercial plant on a 90,000 sq ft site in Wallasey.

·&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����; currently in its second investment round which produces advanced membranes and innovative filtration systems for the production of valuable minerals (including Lithium) and clean water.

The University also supports student start-ups (typically 35 a year with 280 in operation, an 80% long-term survival rate) through our e. Students own their IP so concerns about equity stakes are irrelevant for this important part of the landscape.

A recent example of success is:

·&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����; , this month awarded The Spectator’s Innovator of the Year Award for Excellence in Sustainability recognising its groundbreaking developments in the use of graphene to produce a form of polymer-based concrete which reduces carbon emissions by 88%. The company has secured a $1 billion plus joint venture with the Qazar Investment Company to build a factory in the United Arab Emirates.

Our spin-outs benefit from the innovation ecosystem the University is working with partners to build including:

·&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����; which has raised £312m to invest in IP-rich start-ups (principally from the three founding universities: 91ֱ��, Sheffield and Leeds) in the North of England;

·&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����; , a £1.7 billion innovation district which will provide an ideal base for spin-outs and scale-ups to interact with large corporates; and

·&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����; Our extensive range of business-friendly facilities which give start-ups access to equipment and expertise normally only available to multinationals. These include the , , the , the and the .

Worker skills, engagement, wellbeing and management competencies – skills and training are major enablers for firms to become more productive, and we know there is a link between productive firms and management practices.   

Productivity research

Our academics have produced a wide range of research relating to productivity. Some highlights include:

uses uniquely detailed large-scale commercial real estate investment data to examine how financial markets perceived the attractiveness of investing in UK regions during the last two decades.

makes the case that integrating equality into the productivity agenda is essential for a medium to long term strategy for raising productivity that aims at improving well-being for all. 

addresses the barriers to improving productivity in our region, and what needs to change to remove these.

To find out more about National Productivity Week, visit

To find out more about The Productivity Institute, visit  

This continued collaboration follows the successful completion of Phase-I of the development programme that centred on testing Luminspheres™-tracers under reservoir conditions in a laboratory setting.  Phase-II of the programme will validate multicoloured Luminspheres™ tracers under flow conditions.

Chromition’s system aims to offer an unprecedentedly detailed characterisation of complex geological environments and enable real-time monitoring of fluid flow between multiple wells facilitating proactive reservoir field management.

Mark McCairn, Chromition’s Chief Executive, said: “Shell’s continued commitment is a testament to the progress achieved to date in developing Chromition’s in-line tracer detection system, which for the first time will enable remote, real-time reservoir surveillance to improve the management of subsurface resources”.

Veronica Simmonds, Commercial Innovation Partnerships Manager/GameChanger, Shell, added: “We are very pleased with the technical progress made by Chromition during Phase-I and decided to grant an approval of the results and endorsement by the Shell GameChanger Tollgate Panel to continue to Phase-II of the programme with us”.

IBIC is a collaborative initiative, led by The University of Manchester, aimed at harnessing the region's scientific and research expertise to accelerate knowledge exchange, impact, and innovation, while fostering a more productive, research-intensive economy and promoting sustainability.

Industrial Biotechnology is a multi-disciplinary field that utilises biological resources for everyday product development, including food, fuels, and medicines. It is poised for significant growth with a market potential exceeding £34 billion in the UK alone. The confluence of consumer demand, carbon emission targets, and technological advancements requires new approaches to manufacturing, especially using methods that are divested of petrochemical feedstocks, and industrial biotechnology offers the solutions.

Together with the Universities of Liverpool, 91ֱ�� Metropolitan, Bolton and Salford, The University of Manchester will lead a consortium of academia and industry and create a cohesive ecosystem for IB innovation. The new £5million EPSRC Place-Based Impact Acceleration Account (PBIAA) builds on an existing critical mass of IB expertise in the Northwest including the 91ֱ�� Institute of Biotechnology’s pioneering work (recognised by a Queen’s Anniversary Prize in 2019), major healthcare and biomanufacturing companies like AstraZeneca, Teva, Croda, and Unilever. As well as thriving SME innovation zones, including Daresbury, Liverpool Knowledge Quarter, and Alderley Park, the UK's largest life science campus. 

Professor Miles Padgett, Interim Executive Chair at EPSRC, said:

“I’m pleased to announce our first ten Place Based Impact Acceleration Accounts which will play a unique role in enhancing the capabilities of innovation clusters across the UK. A key priority for UKRI is to strengthen clusters and partnerships in collaboration with civic bodies and businesses, thereby driving regional economic growth.”

Science Minister, George Freeman, said: “Biotechnology delivers for our health, planet, prosperity and beyond and by targeting the North-West through our £41m place-based investment, we can build on the region’s thriving innovation cluster and better integrate the UK’s renowned research activity.

“Our investment will also create hundreds of new jobs, projects and businesses that will in turn drive investment to the region to grow the local and wider UK economy.”

Professor Claire Eyers, Associate Pro Vice Chancellor for Research and Impact in the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences at the University of Liverpool, said: “The University of Liverpool is one of the UK’s leading research-intensive higher education institutions. We pride ourselves in having a long history of working with a variety of organisations and this collaboration allows for the further application of our world-class research to solve real-world challenges.

We very much look forward to working with our regional partners to combine knowledge and expertise and create meaningful and lasting impact for a thriving north-west innovation ecosystem.”

Dr Damian Kelly, Vice President – Innovation & Technology Development at Croda is fully supportive of the initiative: “At Croda we are committed to be climate, land and people positive by 2030. We work to identify functional materials that can be manufactured from widely available, non-fossil materials while also developing low emission processing.  We are looking forward to being an active member of the IBIC ecosystem and engaging with the collaborative mechanisms.”

The launch of IBIC is expected to stimulate significant investments, create numerous job opportunities, foster collaborative projects, and drive economic growth across the region. Building upon the region’s current credentials of a workforce of 25,000 people and a more than £6 billion turnover each year, the cluster is predicted to directly stimulate £2.5M cash and £4M in-kind co-investment, establish 150 collaborative projects, train 200+ students, create up to 100 green jobs, and establish 20+ new commercial ventures which could attract a further £10M in investment. This would see the cluster delivering a minimum 3:1 economic return on public investment over the medium term, with long-term plans to become an independent, business-led cluster of excellence.

For more information about IBIC and its initiatives, contact Professor Miller via email: aline.miller@manchester.ac.uk.

The Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF) is an annual assessment by Research England of the ways English universities engage with society and the economy, locally, nationally, and internationally. This is the third iteration, known as KEF3. 

Intellectual property and commercialisation 

This year, the University achieved the maximum possible rating of very high engagement for intellectual property and commercialisation . 

The achievements of the University’s in licensing, intellectual property income, investment and turnover of spinouts, maintains 91ֱ��’s performance as a leading university for creating new businesses from research and other activity. 

Research partnerships and public and community engagement 

In both research partnerships and public and community engagement, 91ֱ�� was highly rated..  

91ֱ��’s performance in research partnerships, working with business, and working with the public and third sector recognises the work of its Business Engagement and Knowledge Exchange team through collaborative research with partners, contract research and consultancy. 

The University’s leading position in is demonstrated through our sustained commitment to , our Greater 91ֱ�� Civic University Agreement, innovative GM Citizens’ Panel, achievements in volunteering, festivals, mutual partnerships, citizen science, policy engagement, patient involvement in research, and engagement with communities through its cultural institutions – Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre, John Rylands Library, 91ֱ�� Museum, and the Whitworth Art Gallery.

The results in continuous professional development and graduate start-ups are underpinned by the work within the and . 

Professor Luke Georghiou, Deputy President and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, said: “Knowledge exchange is a core priority for The University of Manchester. We are delighted to see our achievements continue to be recognised in the KEF3 profile. We shall continue to ensure that our research, teaching and social responsibility activities benefit the economy and society at local, national and global level.” 

Research England has published each university’s performance on on its website. 

Viscount Camrose started his tour at Engineering Building A, home to the new international research centre CRADLE (Centre for Robotic Autonomy in Demanding and Long-lasting Environments), where he announced the countdown to the centre’s official opening in November.

The Minister was guided by Professor Barry Lennox, The University of Manchester’s Centre for Robotics and AI Co-Director, where he learnt all about the interdisciplinary research going on in the centre, including a demonstration of a robot named Lyra, built to help transform nuclear infrastructure inspection.

Lyra was used to survey one of the radiologically contaminated ducts in Dounreay. It performed the equivalent of more than 400 air-fed suited entries into the site, equal to 2,250 man-hours. This capability reduced costs by an estimated £5m and it is predicted that similar surveys could save decommissioning costs by a further £500m in the future.

The Minister then took a tour of the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC), taking in its energy storage labs, printing lab facilities and construction materials testing facility, before making his way to ID 91ֱ�� and the location for the (TIC); a project which aims to link businesses to cutting-edge AI research and technologies to help enhance productivity.

John Holden, Associate Vice-President for Major Special Projects at The University of Manchester, said: “I was delighted to welcome the minister to The University of Manchester and to show him the leading-edge research and development activity we are undertaking in areas critical to the UK’s future economic growth and prosperity, including our pioneering work in AI and robotics.

“Funding research and development in universities is critical to regional and national efforts to improve productivity across all industries, and the visit was an opportunity to highlight to the minister how we are accelerating the translation of our research base into industrial application through initiatives such as GEIC and the Turing Innovation Catalyst.

“The visit was also an opportunity to highlight the major opportunity that ID 91ֱ�� represents for the region and UK – our plan to transform eight hectares of the North Campus into a commercially-led innovation district will create a world-leading innovation ecosystem around the University and has the potential to create 10,000 high quality jobs in research and development intensive sectors linked to the University’s capabilities over the next 10-15 years.”

The Minister for AI and Intellectual Property, Viscount Camrose, added: “Greater 91ֱ�� has long been at the forefront of science and innovation in this country, from the first splitting of the atom to the invention of the first computer.

“By engaging closely with partners including The University of Manchester, businesses and local government, we can continue to grow our innovation economy across the country and level-up the UK.

“It was great to see first-hand some of the fantastic Government-backed research in 91ֱ��, such as the development of graphene applications at the GEIC, CRADLE’s cutting-edge innovations in robotics, as well as some of the projects underway through our £100m Innovation Accelerators programme such as the Turing Innovation Catalyst, the Centre for Digital Innovation and the Immersive Technologies Innovation Hub.”

The visit ended with a round-table discussion about the . Led by Innovate UK on behalf of the Department for Science, Innovation Technology (DSIT), the pilot programme is investing £100m in 26 transformative R&D projects to accelerate the growth of three high-potential innovation clusters – Greater 91ֱ��, Glasgow City Region and the West Midlands.

Leaders from three AI-related projects backed by the Innovation Accelerator – the Turing Innovation Catalyst, led by The University of Manchester, the Centre for Digital Innovation, led by 91ֱ�� Metropolitan University, and the MediaCity Immersive Technologies Innovation Hub, led by The Landing at MediaCityUK – attended the round-table. They were joined by Cllr Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council and Greater 91ֱ�� lead for Economy, Business and International, and representatives from Greater 91ֱ�� Combined Authority (GMCA).

Participants discussed how to strengthen connections between these projects and maximise their value, and other national initiatives to support AI and related technologies.

Cllr Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council and GMCA Lead for Economy and Business, said: “Today’s visit provided a fantastic opportunity for the minister to learn more about the groundbreaking research and innovation happening right here in Greater 91ֱ��, and particularly at The University of Manchester.

“In recent years we have grown a reputation as a leading digital city-region, with AI as an important emerging sub-sector. As the impact of AI on our economy and society continues to grow, Greater 91ֱ�� is well-placed, with the potential to go even further.

“We also held a productive discussion about Greater 91ֱ��’s Innovation Accelerator programme and its AI-related projects. Through the Innovation Accelerator we are piloting a new model of R&D decision making that empowers local leaders to harness innovation in support of regional economic growth.”

Leading investors and universities have come together to launch the USIT Guide which aims to put rocket boosters under the way that the Higher Education sector spins out new companies that take advantage of research breakthroughs.

Many of this country’s most successful technology firms – Solexa, Oxford Nanopore, ARM – started off life as spin-outs from a university, and the publication’s authors believe many more will now be forthcoming.

This is an area that the UK already excels in. London’s universities, for example, are more efficient in turning research and development expenditure into spinout companies than many others. They produce a spinout for every £35.35 million invested in research and development compared with £60.42 million, £42.6 million and £54.5 million for Boston, Los Angeles and New York, respectively.

Between them the group behind the new guidance – which includes venture capitalist firms Abingworth, Sofinnova and Cambridge Investment Capital, and universities Oxford, Imperial and UCL – has helped set up 376 new companies in the last five years, raising over £8.6 billion in investment.

But the USIT Guide’s backers believe it can build on this success and allow both universities and venture capitalists to ramp up the whole process of setting up spin-outs by providing direction and advice in such areas as equity share and IP. As it stands, many of these deals are created from scratch, which is both inefficient and sometimes fails to learn the lessons from previous success stories.

The publication, which is supported by TenU, a group of university technology transfer offices in the UK and US, including MIT, Stanford and Columbia, reflects successful practice around the world.

Diarmuid O’Brien, Chief Executive of Cambridge Enterprise and chair of the USIT Guide working group, said: “The USIT Guide can unlock the full potential from UK universities research, helping to create more spin-outs faster and attracting increased venture investment. USIT can support our universities create the companies that can contribute to solving the great challenges of our time, from climate to health and the digital revolution.”

Jessica Corner, the Executive Chair of Research England, which funded the initiative, said: “The USIT Guide has come out of the deep professionalism and commitment of UK tech transfer offices to collaboration: sharing approaches internationally, and working with others – particularly investors – to make our ecosystem more effective.”

Andrew Wilkinson, CEO of the University of Manchester Innovation Factory said: “TenU provides an invaluable informal platform to understand how national governments, investors and the Universities can collaborate together more effectively to ensure that the fantastic research from our world-leading institutions can create positive social, economic, and environmental impact.  Having members from the UK, the USA and mainland Europe enables us to identify the differences and similarities between the approaches we all take to IP commercialisation and dispel some of the misunderstandings about the way things are done and challenges in different geographies.”

In the past three years, the University of Manchester Innovation Factory has helped UoM academics create 32 IP-rich spinouts (9 in 2019-20, 13 in 20-21, 10 in 21-22) and has generated licensing income of £13.85M from third party non-spinout licensees.  In addition, £9.8M in first-time investment into UoM spinouts has been secured, helping to grow these 91ֱ��-born spinouts.

Research from 91ֱ�� and other UK universities promises to be the engine room of the new economy. If universities partner effectively with business and government, these spinouts will generate significant wealth throughout the north of England, creating companies, employing people and raising productivity.

With a team of 44 and drawing on the research and expertise of the University’s academics and students, the Innovation Factory assesses and scopes research with IP potential and advises startups on critical legal, investment and asset management issues as they scale up.

A copy of The USIT Guide is .

The Germany-based company, called Complement Therapeutics GmbH (), specialises in disorders that affect the part of the body's immune system called the Complement cascade.

The complement cascade is a part of the immune system that enhances the ability of antibodies and phagocytic cells to clear microbes and damaged cells from an organism.

Complement cascade disorders cause various health problems, including Geographic atrophy (GA) - or late-stage dry age-related macular degeneration - a chronic eye condition that causes blindness in millions of people globally and for which there is currently no available treatment in the UK.

The Company has subsidiaries in the UK (Complement Therapeutics Ltd) and in the USA (Complement Therapeutics Inc) as well as research laboratories in Stevenage, UK. 

The financing will allow CTx to continue the development and complete a Phase Ib clinical proof of concept of its lead treatment, called CTx001, for GA.

Proceeds from the financing will also be deployed to grow its laboratory-based activities in Stevenage (UK), evaluate CTx’s additional new medicines for non-ocular indications as well as further develop the novel Complement Precision Medicine (CPM) platform.

As scientists’ understanding of the complement cascade improves, we now know that complement plays a pivotal role in disease, with new insights creating the opportunities for identifying and developing new therapeutic strategies.

Based on pioneering research of the company’s founders, Prof Simon Clark, Prof Paul Bishop and Dr Richard Unwin from The University of Manchester, Complement Therapeutics aims to develop innovative and effective therapeutics to address unmet needs in complement mediated diseases.

Through an extensive programme of translational research the scientists have gained powerful new insights into the ways the Complement cascade works and how it is dysregulated in age-related macular degeneration.

CTx was spun out of the University of Manchester Innovation Factory with initial funding from BGV in 2021 and subsequently received €5 million seed funding in February 2022 from Forbion and BGV.

With that funding, CTx has advanced CTx001 through preclinical proof-of-concept, secured an Innovation Passport by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and initiated a non-interventional natural history study in the UK (i-GAIN). The i-GAIN study results will help support the clinical development planning for CTx001. 

Dr Rafiq Hasan, CEO and Managing Director at Complement Therapeutics GmbH said: “With a potentially highly differentiated lead asset combined with a precision medicine approach, we are excited by the opportunity to further develop CTx001 for the treatment of GA through to the clinic. The support of this broad syndicate enables us to generate additional data demonstrating CTx001’s unique and differentiated mechanism of action, with the potential to transform the treatment landscape in geographic atrophy.”

Dr Richard Unwin, Senior Lecturer at The University of Manchester and one of the co-founders of the company said : “This is a hugely exciting step forward which will allow us to take observations we have made in the lab here in 91ֱ�� and move them towards developing new treatments for a range of common and serious complement-mediated diseases. By combing new therapies with our bespoke precision medicine platform we have the potential to make a real difference to the lives of patients with these debilitating disorders.”

UK-based Graphene Innovations 91ֱ�� Ltd (GIM), founded by University graduate Dr Vivek Koncherry, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with to create a new company in the UAE.

This exciting UK-UAE partnership - which highlights potential opportunity for UK innovators to access global investment and international markets and supply chains - will be one of the most ambitious projects to date to commercialise graphene as it fast-tracks cutting-edge R&D into large-scale manufacture – an investment vision worth a total of $1billion.

This new venture will develop and produce premium, environmentally-friendly products using advanced 2D materials, including breakthrough graphene-enhanced concrete that does not need cement or water and can be made using recycled materials.

Dr Vivek Koncherry, CEO of Graphene Innovations 91ֱ��, based in 91ֱ��’s (GEIC), said: "We are proud to be associated with Quazar so that we can assemble a powerful world-class team to provide us the opportunity to massively deploy our graphene-based technologies.”

Waleed Al Ali, CEO of Quazar, who will be active in helping bring the new company to successful, large-scale commercialisation, said: "The new graphene company will take a global lead in making environmentally friendly concrete and other products. We are glad that Quazar can play an active role in helping fulfil the UAE's His Highness Sheikh Saeed Bin Hamdan Bin Mohamed Al Nahyan's support for the UAE Vision 2030”.

James Baker, CEO of Graphene@91ֱ��, added: “This agreement with our GEIC partner Graphene Innovations 91ֱ�� and Quazar is a seminal moment for the commercialisation of graphene as it demonstrates huge confidence in the potential for this advanced material to help lead our transition into a net zero world.

“It is also a very proud moment for the Graphene@91ֱ�� community as it confirms that our innovation ecosystem is providing exactly the right platform to nurture pioneering R&D into graphene and other 2D materials that is world-class.

“91ֱ�� is known as the ‘home of graphene’ – but increasingly, it’s also being recognised as the home to its commercialisation potential. We are therefore able to form international partnerships, such as those in the UAE, based on this reputation; and from this position of strength we can place our city-region and the UK more generally into graphene’s global economy.

“As Greater 91ֱ�� further develops its innovation and manufacturing potential – all underpinned with the University’s leadership in advanced materials - this city-regional will have great opportunities with access to international supply chains, foreign investment and global markets.”       

As part of this ambition a new ‘Sustainable Materials Translational Research Centre’ is set to be created by the multi-million pound Greater 91ֱ�� Innovation Accelerator programme. The new centre is a partnership with the University’s, the, the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, and Rochdale Development Agency, and aims to connect local businesses to national opportunities, all underpinned with outstanding materials research.

The scheme is linked  to the zone and a said “… The University of Manchester's expertise in material science” could potentially support a northern economic powerhouse.

Furthermore, the graphene innovation ecosystem at The University of Manchester has recently been cited as an exemplar in attracting inward investment into the local regional economy – and therefore helping to boost the UK’s ‘levelling up’ agenda. The spotlight comes in a report entitled,   published by universities think-tank the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI).

A strategic partnerships that is highlighted is the ambitious agreement between the University and Abu Dhabi-based Khalifa University of Science and Technology which aims to deliver a funding boost for graphene innovation to develop new sustainable technologies. Attracting international funding to the North-West is also helping the UK government level-up R&D spending across the nation.

The discovery follows 15 years of research and innovation using scientific methods and approaches that are more akin to medical research and rarely seen in cosmetic product development. The new peptide blend was developed using cutting edge British R&D across several fields of science and technology including advanced robotics, mathematical modelling, bioinformatics, machine learning, cell biology and cosmetic science.

“With 87 years of innovation and scientific firsts, No7 prides itself on ensuring its products provide customers with exceptional results,” said No7’s Head of Science Research Dr Mike Bell.  The new peptide blend effectively tricks the skin into thinking that it has been damaged to signal renewal of key proteins such as collagen and fibrillin to boost skin’s natural self-repair mechanisms, targeting signs of cumulative damage both on and under the surface. The result is a brand-new peptide blend which we believe will be a game changer for our consumers.

“Underpinning this discovery is No7’s long-standing research partnership with brilliant scientists at The University of Manchester. Together we utilised new state-of-the-art methodologies and techniques such as machine learning and bioinformatics to identify and screen naturally-occurring skin efficacious peptides – a first for the cosmetics industry.”

Mike Sherratt, Professor of Biochemistry at The University of Manchester, comments: “Today the field of peptide technology research is booming, with exciting new discoveries and applications being used in therapeutic medical settings as well as in cosmetic science. This novel and revolutionary peptide innovation could only have been developed from having a deep understanding of skin damage.”

Five peer reviewed papers form the science backdrop to this latest innovation from No7 and The University of Manchester, with a further manuscript recently submitted to high impact science journal. Research presented at the American Academy of Dermatology’s annual conference in Louisiana revealed the new peptide blend is proven to enhance the expression of over 50 key skin proteins, including collagen and fibrillin, which support skin function and natural self-repair.  

No7’s new super peptide is set to be one of the most effective and tolerated skincare ingredients on the cosmetic market. Unlike retinoic acid, which is known by dermatologists to cause tolerance challenges such as skin sensitivity and redness, No7's new super peptide is both highly potent and also highly tolerated, being suitable even for those with sensitive skin. This paves the way to making gold standard skin repair available to even more people.

Cutting-edge Technology

Machine learning was utilised to identify naturally-occurring peptide sequences released from key skin molecules including collagens and elastic-fibre proteins, which were then tested using state-of-the-art omics techniques to characterise their skin remodelling activity and find the most powerful for deep down skin repair. 

Scientists evaluated thousands of possible peptide combinations to identify this new super peptide, a blend of two novel synthetic tetra-peptides, pal-GPKG and pal-LSVD, which mimic naturally occurring peptides in the skin to boost the skin’s natural self-repair function.

Robotic technology at the University of Liverpool’s Materials Innovation Factory and mathematical modelling techniques were used to optimise the formulation textures and delivery system for penetration of the peptides to where they are needed and work the best. As a result, penetration is predicted to be 50% better than existing formulations. 

The new super peptide technology has been met with excitement from the global scientific community with the technology due to be presented at three world leading scientific conferences this Spring including the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) Annual Conference in Louisiana, the British Society for Investigative Dermatology (BSID) Annual Meeting in Glasgow and the International Societies for Investigative Dermatology (ISID) meeting in Tokyo. 

Dr Matiss Ozols, formerly of The University of Manchester and now based at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, comments: “Application of this peptide discovery pipeline to other tissues could profoundly advance the treatment of age-related diseases, providing novel treatments inspired by the body’s natural self-repair mechanisms. I’m excited by the possibilities!”

This discovery builds on a long history of scientific innovation for No7; the brand was the first to prove that non-medical cosmetic products worked when the scientific efficacy of the No7 Protect and Perfect Serum was verified on BBC Horizon in 2007. In 2009 No7 was the first to publish a 12-month study on an anti-ageing cosmetic product showing clinical wrinkle improvements in a paper published in the British Journal of Dermatology.

Patent applications have been submitted and are pending for both the new peptides and the delivery system.

The ambitious innovation projects will provide critical insight and research to help inform the future development of a net zero energy system at the same time as delivering significant benefits to consumers. 

National Grid Electricity Transmission has been awarded £396,000 to fund the following projects, in which 91ֱ�� will be playing a vital role: 

• Superconductor OHLs: This project will investigate technology to increase power flow capability on existing overhead lines. Novel high temperature superconductor (HTS) technology could be implemented on existing lines, increasing power flow capability up to ten-fold at the same voltage level.  
• SF6 replacement strategy: Development of a long-term strategy to expedite the efficient rollout of SF6 replacements and remove the gas from the network at minimum cost to the consumer, with new builds and retro filling options considered across different asset profiles.  
• WELLNESS: A project to assess whole energy system resilience and develop a framework suited to the energy transition whilst protecting consumers – ensuring the network is reliable to known and credible threats, but also resilient to less frequent but more extreme disasters.  

Dr Vidyadhar Peesapati at The University of Manchester said: “The SIF programme provides a unique opportunity for us to continue our engagement with National Grid, in evaluating and de-risking a range innovations and solutions that will expedite the transition to net zero.” 

Nicola Todd, Head of Strategy and Innovation at National Grid Electricity Transmission, added: “It’s great to see National Grid leading the way with the sort of ambitious thinking needed to tackle some of the biggest challenges in energy. This funding will help drive progress on a raft of innovative projects, from new technologies to boost network capacity, to how we reduce our dependency on the greenhouse gas SF₆. 

“Work on these initiatives is helping to shape the future of Britain’s energy networks and accelerating the transition to net zero, at lowest cost to consumers.” 

At 91ֱ��, our energy experts are committed to delivering an equitable and prosperous net zero energy future. By matching science and engineering, with social science, economics, politics and arts, the University’s community of 600+ experts address the entire lifecycle of each energy challenge, creating innovative and enduring solutions to make a difference to the lives of people around the globe. This enables the university’s research community to develop pathways to ensure a low carbon energy transition that will also drive jobs, prosperity, resilience and equality. 

Full details of the funding for Ofgem’s SIF scheme, which is managed in partnership with Innovate UK, can be found on its website at:  

The list is in , Europe’s influential media monitor of European tech start-ups.  Backed by the Financial Times, Sifted is the leading media brand for the European start-up community.

Two of the top ten highlighted start-ups – and – have been created and nurtured within the University of Manchester Innovation Factory (UoMIF).

Sifted says: “There’s a new generation of entrepreneurs taking the European tech scene by storm.  From Madrid to Milan, Bucharest to Berlin, startup innovators are rewriting the economy’s rules and making waves across the continent. With some 98 cities producing at least one tech unicorn (so far) — Europe has created a decentralised Silicon Valley.”

Under UoMIF’s CEO Andrew Wilkinson, the technology transfer organisation has created 32 IP-rich spinout companies in the three years.

Sifted’s ‘top ten university spinouts to watch out for’ says: “Watercycle Technologies is a University of Manchester (UoM) climate tech spinout. The company has patented a filtration process that can extract lithium from sub-surface waters — which could be huge for the EV space, which needs lithium in huge quantities for making batteries. It’s also working with Cornish Lithium, which focuses on environmentally responsible lithium extraction.”

 “FOTENIX is another UoM spinout, which uses its IP-protected machine learning and 3D imaging tech to detect diseases and pests and improve harvest quality. Brexit, climate change and the Ukraine war are putting unprecedented pressure on crop yield, and we’re seeing a growing demand for tech in this space.”

Andrew Wilkinson, CEO of The University of Manchester Innovation Factory said: “It’s great that these two innovative University of Manchester spinout companies have been recognised as being among the very best European tech startups. Both these businesses are led by brilliant young entrepreneurs and have the potential to make an enormous environmental, social and economic impact in their target markets, as well as fantastic returns for their investors.”

The latest report also highlights that graduate recruitment at the UK's top employers increased substantially in 2022, with a 14.5% increase in the number of graduates recruited compared to 2021. 

The number of graduate jobs available is expected to increase by a further 6.3% in 2023, with accounting & professional services firms being the largest recruiters of new graduates.

For more information, please read the or visit the .

The spotlight comes in a report entitled, which has been authored by Dr Alexis Brown for the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI). Dr Brown is Head of Global Education Insights at the British Council and is calling for UK universities to leverage global connections to help drive local growth.

The report highlights where this collaboration is already being achieved. For example, the strategic, long-term relationship-building between The University of Manchester and regional civic stakeholders plus international partners, such as those based in Abu Dhabi.

This type of relationship has, for example, led to an ambitious agreement between the University and Abu Dhabi-based Khalifa University of Science and Technology which aims to deliver a funding boost to graphene innovation that will help tackle the planet’s big challenges. This project has also won praise from senior figures in the UK government.

Much of the focus of this international collaboration on advanced materials has been around the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC) which is a unique innovation accelerator based at The University of Manchester.

And, as well as supporting collaboration in the Middle East, the HEPI report also points out that the “… GEIC’s development has in turn generated further funding from a range of international and domestic partners, including the Australian-based supplier of graphene products First Graphene, the Brazilian graphene startup Gerdau Graphene, surface-functionalised graphene specialists Haydale and advanced engineering materials group Versarien.

“GEIC will also form a cornerstone element of the new £1.5 billion , alongside the University’s , which focuses on industrial biotechnology and industry-facing biomanufacturing…”

James Baker, CEO of Graphene@91ֱ��, said: “It’s fantastic to see that 91ֱ��’s graphene innovation ecosystem has been highlighted in a national policy report that outlines how universities can bring inward investment into the regional economies they serve.

“It has been five years since the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre opened its doors and our success in taking 2D materials from lab-to-market is clearly demonstrated by the many international partnerships we have formed - and the significant investment that these partners are making to drive graphene-inspired R&D in our region.

“These international research and innovation collaborations are creating new products, new businesses and new jobs. This all adds new value to our regional economy - so boosting the UK’s ‘levelling up’ ambitions.”

Advanced materials is one of The University of Manchester’s research beacons - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships tackling some of the planet's biggest questions. #ResearchBeacons

The Greater 91ֱ�� Civic University Agreement commits the five higher education institutions – University of Bolton, 91ֱ�� Metropolitan University, University of Manchester, University of Salford and Royal Northern College of Music – to collective action around the six priority areas of education and skills; reducing inequalities; jobs and growth; the digital economy; net zero; and the creative and cultural economy.

And to mark the first anniversary of this pledge, research, commissioned by the Greater 91ֱ�� Civic University Board, shows that in the next five years the universities will:

• Train nearly 9,500 nurses, over 3,500 medics and over 8,500 teachers;
• Provide over £366 million of support and services to small enterprises, business and not-for-profits;
• Undertake research with businesses and non-academic organisations worth over £1.3 billion;
• Deliver 6,288 years of professional development training and education courses to businesses and charities; and
• Create over 1,000 new companies and charities.

The Civic University Board was established following the launch of the partnership and is made up of representatives from the five higher education institutions and the Greater 91ֱ�� Combined Authority.

This board will drive forward the collective civic work of the universities. Significant progress has already been made in identifying the priority areas – education and skills, and jobs and growth.

The Greater 91ֱ�� university vice-chancellors and principal said: “Greater 91ֱ��’s universities are one of our region’s greatest strengths and while we have always recognised our individual impact, together we know that we can do more.

“Whether it’s working with our further education colleges to expand training and skills development opportunities or collaborating with the private sector to drive inward investment into innovation in Greater 91ֱ��, by coming together as a collective we can be more than the sum of our parts.

“Celebrating the first year of the Civic University Agreement allows to us to reflect on what we’ve achieved so far as well as look to the future and set ourselves bold ambitions for helping to make Greater 91ֱ�� the best place to grow up, get on and grow old.”

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater 91ֱ��, said: “Greater 91ֱ�� is proud to be home to world-leading universities that make an enormous contribution to our region. The Civic University Agreement recognises the essential role they have as anchor institutions, while setting out their responsibilities to our city-region beyond teaching and research.

“One year on from signing this landmark agreement, we’re beginning to see the benefits that closer collaboration can bring. Our universities will continue to carry out ground-breaking research, provide people with valuable skills and foster innovation and entrepreneurship, while also ensuring this contribution benefits everyone in Greater 91ֱ��.”

Cllr Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council and GMCA Portfolio Lead for Economy, Business and International, said: “Greater 91ֱ��’s universities play a fundamental role in our society and economy. Their teaching and research attracts tens of thousands of people to our city-region each year, and universities also support businesses, spark economic growth and play an important role in communities.

“The Civic University Agreement formally sets out the priorities we share and the contribution universities can make as we seek to create a fairer, greener and more prosperous city-region. With this agreement now established, we look forward to strengthening our collaboration and realising the collective potential we have to make a positive impact.

“Through their support for initiatives like Innovation Greater 91ֱ�� and Open SME, and becoming Living Wage Employers, universities are helping us shape the city-region’s economy so it delivers the right kind of growth.”

The institutions are closely involved in the development of Innovation Greater 91ֱ�� – the business-led partnership which brings together the private sector, local and national governments, and the universities to drive the growth of the city-region’s innovation ecosystem. The Government subsequently made a commitment to establish Innovation Accelerators, including one centred on Greater 91ֱ�� and Innovation Greater 91ֱ��, in the Levelling Up White Paper.

And Open SME demonstrates this collaborative commitment to working together to drive inclusive growth in the city region. This programme, that brings together Greater 91ֱ��’s business schools, the Combined Authority and the Business Growth Hub, is an online support programme designed to support small and medium sized firms in the city region to develop and grow.

All five higher education institutions in the city region are now Real Living Wage employers, paving the way for them to become supporters and members of the Greater 91ֱ�� Good Employment Charter, which was another pledge in the Civic University Agreement.

The Civic University Agreement itself was developed in direct response from feedback from residents of Greater 91ֱ�� and to mark the one-year anniversary of the agreement, a new Civic University Citizens Panel has been launched to provide a forum for civic engagement between the universities and members of the public across the city region.

People from across Greater 91ֱ��, but with a strong focus on those from underrepresented groups, will be invited to be part of the panel where they will directly feed into the work of the universities on their civic priorities. 

You can access the full report written by James Ransom from the UCL Institute of Education at  .

Today’s shortlisting for the Bhattacharyya Award, which celebrates strategic industrial collaborations that benefit society, recognises 91ֱ��’s and National Grid’s long tradition of innovating at pace to ensure the UK has access to reliable, affordable, and environmentally sustainable energy. 

Spanning more than 19 years, the partnership has delivered significant CO₂ reductions, increased productivity, stimulated large investment in new jobs and engineering activity in the UK, and has facilitated the safe transfer of cleaner and affordable energy in a Net Zero future electricity network.  

In overhead line research alone, the knowledge generated has provided approximately £11m in cost savings to the UK energy network and enabled a new design – the T-Pylon – which now delivers power to six million homes.

91ֱ�� and National Grid have been shortlisted alongside: University of Birmingham and Rolls-Royce, University of Cambridge and ARM, Imperial College London and Transport Strategy Centre, Swansea University and Steel Strategic Alliance, and University College London, HR Wallingford and Arup. 

The Bhattacharyya Award and a cash prize of £25,000 will be presented to the team who best demonstrate how industry and universities can work together. The winning partnership will be announced on 29 September 2022.   

Professor Dame Ann Dowling OM DBE FREng FRS, former President of the Royal Academy of Engineering and Chair of the judging panel for the Bhattacharyya Award, said: “All six shortlisted partnerships are excellent examples of industry-academia collaboration, with timely and innovative responses to some of the most challenging issues facing society today. It is a privilege to showcase these successful collaborations and we hope that doing so fosters even greater connection between industry and academia in the UK.” 

Margot James, Executive Chair of WMG, University of Warwick, said: “It’s great to see the extremely high quality of industry-academia partnerships shortlisted for the second annual Bhattacharyya Award. As a celebration of Lord Bhattacharyya’s legacy, the Award continues to highlight how building symmetry between academia and industry is so vital for meeting the needs of society, and adapting to global challenges. We look forward to seeing which collaboration is selected as the overall winner.”  

The winner of the Bhattacharyya Award will be announced on Thursday 29 September 2022, at an event showcasing the shortlisted partnerships at the University of Warwick.

Those wishing to attend the Bhattacharyya Award ceremony can .   

Applications for Bhattacharyya Award 2023 are now open until 16 December 2022 and can be submitted via the Academy’s online grant system. 

As the highest point in the Peak District (636m / 2,087ft), this new extension takes the NNR to 1,082 hectares in size (equivalent to 1,000 international rugby pitches), in recognition of the scientific research this area provides to help tackle the climate and nature emergencies.

The extended area includes an ‘outdoor laboratory’ (consisting of scientific monitoring equipment such as dipwells, gauging weirs, and vegetation monitoring quadrats), created in 2010, which has enabled comparisons to take place between the impact of restored peatland against an unrestored control plot, providing valuable data to help improve understanding of the value of peat in natural flood management.

Three organisations, the National Trust, The University of Manchester, and Moors for the Future Partnership, have been studying the effects of this restoration work and the benefits that can help tackle climate change, creating a healthier habitat which attracts different wildlife associated with peatlands to help increase levels of biodiversity.

Professor Tim Allott from The University of Manchester explains the importance of the control area: “The control area has been central to our scientific understanding of restoration on the site – as without it we would not have been able to properly assess the impact of the restoration work in slowing the flow of water on hillsides and reducing flood risk downstream.  It also provides a 'museum' of the past damage on Kinder Scout. 

“By simply standing within this small remaining ‘island’ of bare peatland, you get a dramatic sense of the scale of transformation of this iconic landscape by looking across the newly restored, vibrant, and diverse habitat which surrounds it.”

Craig Best, General Manager for the Peak District at the National Trust says: “When we started caring for Kinder in 1982 the mountain was a barren moonscape of bare peat, degraded by human activity over the centuries due to pollution, historical land management practices, high visitor numbers and climate change.

“However, following almost 40 years of restoration work with our partners and volunteers, the NNR is being transformed into a plateau of healthy peat bogs rich in vegetation such as cottongrass, and sphagnum moss while creating a strong habitat for wildlife such as mountain hare, upland birds like the golden plover, and the vital invertebrates that make up the basis of the food system.  This work will continue alongside the activity on the extended area.”    

Techniques trialled to help restore the peat bogs included covering bare peat with rich moorland vegetation and blocking gullies to help keep the moors wetter, which have helped increase the amount of carbon that can be stored as well as helping improve water quality as it filters into streams and reservoirs.

Monitoring data collected over the past decade, using the ‘outdoor laboratory’ in the new area of the NNR, shows this work has reduced erosion of peat by 98 per cent within 18 months of revegetation. It also revealed how different combinations of restoration work has made a significant impact in slowing water flow from the moors to the valleys, to help mitigate flooding[1].

Craig added: “Kinder has a rich history and was the backdrop to one of the mass trespass activities 90 years ago which led to open access to moorland and the creation of National Parks paving the way for millions of visitors to be able to escape city living and pollution to enjoy some of our most inspiring landscapes and connect with nature.   

Commenting on the new declaration, Oliver Harmar, Chief Operating Officer at National England said: “National Nature Reserves were established to protect some of our most important habitats, species and geology, to provide 'outdoor laboratories’ for environmental science and opportunities for people to enjoy nature. 

“They are at the heart of our ambition to create a Nature Recovery Network, full of wildlife-rich sites that are bigger, better and more connected.  I’m pleased that this vision is very much alive at Kinder Scout, with the expansion demonstrating the power of collaborative action to drive nature recovery, including vital peatland restoration to capture and store carbon.

“Kinder Scout also holds a special place in our national history as the backdrop to the very creation of our National Parks and National Nature Reserves.  Today, NNRs, like Kinder Scout, are great places to be inspired and get hands on with nature – they’re free, open and available to all.”

[1] The monitoring work on the Kinder Scout plateau undertaken by Moors for the Future Partnership and the University of Manchester represents a decade of data that has proved invaluable in understanding natural flood management (NFM) techniques. Since 2016, this monitoring has been financed under the EU Life-funded MoorLIFE 2020 project and has shown that:

·&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����; Revegetation of bare peat led to a 98% reduction in erosion of peat into the streams, within 18 months.

·&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����; A combination of revegetation, gully blocking and dense sphagnum planting led to a 65% reduction in peak flow (the time it takes for water to reach the valleys) during storm events, 10 years after initial revegetation (and five years after sphagnum planting).

·&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����;&�Բ�����; A combination of revegetation and dense sphagnum planting led to a 2 hours 40 minutes delay in delivery of peak flow during storm events. These NFM benefits increases in bigger storms.

The beer is uniquely brewed using a novel strain of yeast, a hybrid, developed by the the (MIB) and Cloudwater.

‘Tales From The Future’ will be available in a limited batch directly from the Cloudwater website. The 750ml bottles are available to buy singly or as a pack. This 91ֱ��-made beer will also be available from Cloudwater’s taproom.

Budding yeast has been integral to beer brewing since its conception, and recent discoveries of new wild yeast species have paved the way for exploiting the extant biodiversity in strain development. In 2017, Professor Daniela Delneri, from the MIB, and her team, isolated a new natural yeast species, Saccharomyces jurei, high up in the foothills of the French Alps.

It is set apart from other similar brewing yeasts as it has the ability to thrive at lower temperatures, has a different flavour profile, and is able to ferment maltose and maltotriose, two abundant sugars present in the wort. This opened up an array of new possibilities for brewers, including the development of new breeding protocols to combine the S. jurei genome with the genomes of commercially available strains to create a multitude of hybrids with different fermentation characteristics.

It is from this discovery that Paul Jones, CEO of Cloudwater Brew Co. first saw the potential opportunity to work with the MIB to create a yeast specific to Cloudwater’s needs. In a recent study, supported by a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with Cloudwater Brew Co., Delneri’s team and KTP Associate Konstantina Giannakou, they crossed this newly discovered yeast strain with a common ale yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisae) to produce new starter hybrid strains that could influence the aroma and flavour profile of the beer.

Paul said of the partnership: “We are excited to be launching this beer following on from our work with The University of Manchester. This beer represents the possibilities of joining academia with industry and the importance of projects facilitated by this Knowledge Transfer Partnership. We cannot wait to share the fruits of our labour.”

Professor Daniela Delneri says: “It is brilliant to be able to work directly with Cloudwater Brew Co. to realise the potential of our new yeast species. Based on our work, S. jurei’s hybrids afford brewers more flexibility and options when brewing beers with different flavours and aromas. From here we can build on our work to create new yeast strains for different brewing needs.

“In fact, we have now also developed a method to turn typically sterile yeast hybrids into fertile cells able to produce a plethora of offspring which can be screened for desirable biotechnological traits. Such advances allow us to combine and select desirable traits from different yeast species via multigenerational breeding, paving the way for a swathe of new and exciting products”.

To launch the beer, Cloudwater Brew Co., in partnership with the MIB, will be hosting an event at the Cloudwater Taproom on Thursday 25 August.  Additionally, at 7pm a dedicated tasting session will take place where ‘Tales From The Future’ will feature alongside five other beers from the Barrel Project. More information

Based on leading research and expertise on innovative and emerging technologies, experts are calling for sustainability to be at the forefront of humanity’s next phase of space exploration. In On Space, experts ask policymakers to consider space debris, satellite orbits and the investment needed to roll out sustainable space technology on Earth.

Many technologies used to counter climate change, including solar panels, started out as space-age innovations. Future innovations in space technology could be used to further reduce carbon emissions here on Earth.

Dr Aled Roberts explains one of the biggest challenges for off-world habitat construction is the transportation of building materials, which can cost upwards of £1m per brick. A solution could be that ‘local’ resources, such as Lunar or Martian soil, are used to make building materials. , researched at The University of Manchester, is a material is made from bio-based materials and the local planetary soil to make sturdy bricks that can be used to build space habitats.

On the use of this technology on Earth, Aled said: “Given that the construction sector accounts for 39% of anthropogenic CO2 emissions, any relatively green construction material technology developed for off-world habitats could be employed as a sustainable alternative on Earth.”

Researchers also stress the need to take care of space, particularly around the Earth’s orbit. Of the 23,000 objects regularly being tracked in orbit by radar, around 15% are active satellites, the rest is space debris.

As more commercial satellites are launched, such as SpaceX’s Starlink satellite cluster, the potential for space debris increases.

Dr Peter Roberts argues that one way to combat the problem of space debris is to coordinate International space policymakers to agree to for commercial operations to lessen humanity’s impact on the space environment. Higher level orbits should be reserved for science, crewed activities, and space exploration.

Professor Emma Bunce, President of the , said: “It is exciting to contemplate the future of the UK space sector, our use of space for the good of our planet, and its robotic and human exploration more widely. The ‘space age’ is still relatively young – just 60 years – but it is clear that our future and that of our planet will be reliant on space technology and the application of space-enabled data.”

As well as sustainability, On Space advocates for the use of advanced materials, such as graphene, in UK space technology, support for research and development into emerging space technologies in the UK and prioritising international collaborations in UK and international space policy.

On Space is available to read on .

The company, chaired by Lord Jim O’Neill and led by Chief Executive Duncan Johnson, is expected to begin deploying capital and making its first investments in innovative start-ups over the coming weeks.

Northern Gritstone has attracted funding commitments from a broad and diverse base of investors encompassing local authority pension funds, high net worth individuals, institutional investors and real estate investors active in the tech and science ecosystem of the region.

These include Greater 91ֱ�� Pension Fund, West Yorkshire Pension Fund, M&G, Columbia Threadneedle, Lansdowne Partners, Bruntwood and Greater 91ֱ�� Combined Authority as well as Andrew Law, the CEO of Caxton Associates, and Keith Breslauer, Managing Director and founder of Patron Capital, both in a personal capacity.

With plans to raise £500m overall, having hit this initial fundraising milestone the company will continue to welcome further backers over the coming months. Now that the first close has been achieved, Northern Gritstone plans to begin making its initial investments into its proprietary pipeline of world class science and innovation based businesses located in the North of England.

Having launched in July 2021, Northern Gritstone was founded by the Universities of Leeds, 91ֱ�� and Sheffield to support the commercialisation of science and IP-rich businesses originating from these three research-led institutions. Many of these opportunities are in the UK’s most exciting emerging sectors such as advanced materials, health technology, cognitive computation and AI.

Northern Gritstone was founded with the philosophy of ‘profit with purpose’, combining attractive returns for shareholders with wider positive, societal and economic impact, including supporting Levelling Up and high-skilled job creation in the north of England.

It announced the appointment of its first Chief Investment Officer, Marion Bernard, in December and this month has added James Hadley to its leadership team as CFO, who brings more than two decades’ experience working in the financial services sector, including most recently as CFO at a tech-focused venture capital investor.

In its fundraising Northern Gritstone was advised by Lazard Venture and Growth Banking led by Garri Jones. Its legal advisers are Macfarlanes and Pinsent Masons.

The University of Manchester Deputy President and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Prof Luke Georghiou – who is responsible for business engagement and commercialisation activities at the institution – said: "Northern Gritstone will transform the investment landscape for our spin-out companies and for the North of England more generally. 

"Our academic entrepreneurs, supported by the University’s Innovation Factory, have produced record numbers of spin-outs in the past two years. This huge potential can now be far more easily realised as the investments will enable them to scale-up businesses which are there to solve the world’s problems. 

“These include new treatments for devastating medical conditions, transformative applications of data analytics to farming and exploiting the amazing properties of graphene across multiple applications to name just a few.”

Commenting, Northern Gritstone Chairman Lord Jim O’Neill said: “The strong endorsement of Northern Gritstone we’ve seen from investors is testament to the huge scale of the opportunity in northern England’s world class science and innovation hubs and the spin outs they are producing. By investing in Northern Gritstone, asset managers are directly buying into the brightest prospects for Britain’s future economy.

 “Today marks a significant milestone as Northern Gritstone continues to build its investor base allowing the company to deliver its philosophy of Profit with Purpose which underpins all we seek to do.”

Northern Gritstone Chief Executive Duncan Johnson added: “There is rightly huge excitement about the innovative, science-led spin outs emerging from our leading research universities and the ecosystems they support, and this has been reflected in our conversations with investors so far. We are greatly encouraged by both the size of our first close, and also the range and quality of investors that the Northern Gritstone proposition has attracted.

“Whilst fundraising will continue, this first close and the backing that Northern Gritstone has received from investors so far, allows us to begin making our first investments shortly. It also importantly enables us, alongside our friends and colleagues in the wider northern venture ecosystem, to accelerate the development of a northern innovation hub to rival the UK’s Silicon Fen and ultimately Silicon Valley.” 

Open SME is a free, on-demand online learning programme for SME leaders that aims to give them the tools they need to grow their business beyond the pandemic. The programme has been developed in partnership between the University of Manchester, 91ֱ�� Metropolitan University, Salford University, the University of Bolton, and the Business Growth Hub, and is funded by Greater 91ֱ�� Combined Authority (GMCA).

The programme, which will be self-directed by the business owners, aims to help at least 400 SMEs, particularly from under-represented areas in Greater 91ֱ��, to increase productivity, profitability, resilience, and sustainability. The scheme will also establish 250 longer-term mentoring relationships.

Prof Fiona Devine, Head of Alliance 91ֱ�� Business School, said: “Alliance 91ֱ�� Business School is very proud to partner with 91ֱ�� Metropolitan University, University of Bolton, and the University of Salford on the OPEN SME programme.”

“We’d like to thank the Greater 91ֱ�� Combined Authority and Growth Business Hub for supporting this strategically important initiative.

Open SME forms part of Greater 91ֱ�� Leadership Hive, a new resource for SME leaders who want to grow their business and become more profitable. Delivered by Greater 91ֱ��’s leading university business schools and the Business Growth Hub, the Leadership Hive brings the best leadership and management training available in the region together in one place.

Joanne Roney, Greater 91ֱ�� Combined Authority (GMCA) Lead Chief Executive for Economy and Business, said: “The launch of Open SME is fantastic news for SMEs in Greater 91ֱ��.

“The programme takes the wealth of knowledge and expertise that exists in our world-class business schools and makes it available to the wider business community. Open SME is free of charge and easy to access, with modules completed at a pace to suit you.

“SMEs will help drive Greater 91ֱ��’s economic recovery from the pandemic, so it’s vital that we find creative and effective ways to support them. Our Economic Vision for Greater 91ֱ�� includes help for small businesses to grow, wherever they are based, so that we can build a greener, fairer, more prosperous city-region. We encourage all business leaders who could benefit from Open SME to get in touch to learn more.”

Open SME is an online portal, allowing business owners and managers to work their way through several modules in the areas of finance, digital and markets and models at their own pace.  

The universities will work closely with referral and delivery partner GC Business Growth Hub and will draw on the best experts from all partners to develop the content.

Sustainability and inclusivity will be embedded throughout the programme, with Greater 91ֱ��’s 2038 carbon neutrality goal in mind.

Janine Smith, Director of Business Growth at GC Business Growth Hub, said: “Many SMEs have endured a tough couple of years and the business environment is still challenging, so it’s right that we’re doing all we can to support them as they navigate their companies across unfamiliar/changing business landscapes.

“We’re really excited to be working with Greater 91ֱ��’s outstanding business schools to apply their knowledge and expertise; helping SMEs across Greater 91ֱ��, and in turn benefiting the city-region’s wider economy.

“Through the delivery of on demand training that aims to increase productivity, profitability, resilience, and sustainability, the Greater 91ֱ�� Leadership Hive and Open SME will provide the best leadership and management support that Greater 91ֱ�� can offer.”

The will launch on May 5, 2022.

The study found that being connected to the political elite in China brings advantages to firms, despite the launch of the Anti-Corruption Campaign (ACC) by president Xi Jinping in 2012. According to the paper, recently , private firms benefit from higher subsidies if at least one director in the boardroom has ties with the ruling Communist Party’s Politburo. State-owned enterprises (SOE’s) that have at least one connected director also enjoy privileges, such as paying lower interest rates.

The findings differ between private and state owned firms, showing that connections have become more valuable for private firms following the anti-corruption campaign. According to the research, private firms face a more aggressive environment within the Chinese context, and often engage in corrupt practices as a mechanism to survive.

By contrast, corruption in state firms differs in nature, given that state firms already enjoy a privileged status within the Chinese economy and do not need to engage in corruption in order to survive. The value of connections in the state sector did not increase after the ACC, however, political connections remained important.

According to the study, in state owned firms the problem of corruption and personal connections lies in the politicisation of these companies. Whilst SOEs are tied to the Chinese Government, they can be used as a means for political interests. The researchers suggest that reducing connections between politicians and firms and introducing market rules within state companies would increase efficiency.

This research sheds light on a resource allocation mechanism that has become increasingly important in China since 2012, but which, according to the researchers, harms China’s economic growth in the long term.

Whilst the Anti-Corruption Campaign may have had some other positive effects, the researchers argue that improving market institutions in China and providing a more favourable environment for private companies requires deeper reforms.

 “We show that the value of connections in the private sector increased after the Anti-Corruption Campaign because they became a less risky alternative to pecuniary corruption. We also show that connected firms do not perform better than others, despite benefiting from advantages. The Chinese economy as a whole hence suffers due to these political economy mechanisms at play.” Said Dr , from The University of Manchester.

The University of Manchester is one of only six Strategic Partner Universities that BAE Systems engages with and the only one based in the North-West. The partnership is governed by a strategic framework agreement to establish a long-term relationship in research, education and consultancy.

Speaking at an event today alongside Charles Woodburn, the CEO of BAE Systems, and Jeremy Quin, Minister of State for Defence Procurement, Professor Luke Gerghiou,Deputy Vice-President and Vice-Chancellor of The University of Manchester said: “The UK is not punching its full weight in defence R&D because government spend is too concentrated, with over half performed in the South of England. This reduces the diversity of ideas which lead to innovation.

“Having a greater range of talent and a more diverse workforce is even more important as we enter the cyber world. Levelling up this investment will not just bring more quality jobs to the North, it will also give us better defence.”

The University and BAE have notably worked together in the aerospace sector with design and testing benefitting from the University’s geographical location, close to the BAE sites at Warton and Samlesbury. The partnership is also closely linked on the ground-breaking project which is working to re-design aircraft as we know them.

The relationship has evolved over the last couple of years to expand into data science, AI and cyber through the establishment of the Data Analytics Accelerator program, a five year sponsored program initiated in 2021 to support upskill of BAE staff in the areas of data science and support acceleration of research in this field.

BAE Systems employs approximately 10,000 people across Lancashire. Spending £70 million with more than 220 suppliers in the region in 2020, the Company supported almost 1,000 jobs in the local supply chain.

BAE Systems’ significant UK footprint across more than 50 sites and extensive supply chain mean it supported 143,000 jobs across the country and contributed more than £10 billion to UK GDP, equivalent to 0.5% of the domestic economy.

Charles Woodburn, BAE Systems Chief Executive, said: “Our sector not only supports our national defence and security, but also provides unparalleled economic value which drives the UK’s prosperity. The investment we make in highly skilled jobs, research & development and our extensive supply chain supports thousands of companies and tens of thousands of people and the communities in which they live.”

More than two-thirds of the Company’s UK employees are in engineering-related roles and the research found that the highly skilled and technical nature of their work results in an average productivity of £83,000 per employee. That’s 17% more than the UK manufacturing sector and almost 30% higher than the average across the whole economy.

Bruntwood, the North West Business Leadership Team and former Siemens UK chief executive Juergen Maier are among those calling for a re-think when it comes to addressing the North West’s productivity challenges.

The call comes on the back of the newly released Productivity Insight Paper for the North West of England, created by The Productivity Institute and its North West Regional Productivity Forum, both based at Alliance 91ֱ�� Business School. The paper highlights the strengths of the region, including its large and very productive manufacturing sector – which sits head and shoulders above its UK regional counterparts – as well as its leading R&D assets, life sciences, energy and digital industries. But it also outlines productivity gaps in the region, identifying the obstacles preventing the North West and its sub regions from gaining ground on UK average productivity levels.

The report’s authors have called on the government to prioritise policy areas that focus on the region’s strengths, factoring in improving within region connectivity through local transport connections; strengthening coordination and collaboration between businesses, government and universities; unlocking demand for skills and strengthening basic conditions for creating a productive workforce; and digitalisation.

The paper comes on the eve of the publication of the long-anticipated Levelling Up White Paper, which also seeks to address the widening gap and “dismal” productivity growth rate in the North West of England.

Outlining some of the findings in the report, Dr Marianne Sensier, Research Fellow at Alliance 91ֱ�� Business School and co-author of the report, said:

“We need to recognise the true scale of the productivity problem here in the North West. What is clear is that addressing the North West’s productivity challenges cannot be delivered with the same historical approach. It will require a sophisticated mix of coordinated policies – incorporating education and skills, R&D, innovation, health, planning, and transport investment – and long-term commitment that respond to the specific local circumstances. But not acting now, and failing to better leverage our strengths as a region, means we risk remaining trapped in a low investment, low skill and low productivity equilibrium.”

Data from the Office for National Statistics indicates that productivity in the North West has fallen by 0.3% (between 2008 and 2019), whereas the national average has increased by just 4%, highlighting the sheer scale of the issue.

Jennifer Halliday, North West Forum Chair, said: “The time has come for business leaders and boards to really engage on the topic of productivity, to set targets and to initiate projects that will really move the dial, and drive the inefficiencies out. These are often embedded deep within an organisation’s processes, and may not be easily visible to boards or to senior management. We need to take a cold hard look at the facts around productivity and really understand the factors preventing businesses from reaching their full potential.

“Let’s focus on the key drivers. In many cases, there are common themes, particularly around skills and digitalisation. Businesses should learn from others and reach out for support. One of the keys to solving the productivity puzzle is in engaging people at all levels in the organisation, and laying out a clear vision of the target they should be reaching for.”

Juergen Maier, former Siemens UK chief executive and current Northern Powerhouse Partnership vice-chair, said: “It is disappointing that the North West continues to fall behind other UK regions on productivity, but the green industrial revolution holds the key to reversing this. By investing at scale in the future industries, like hydrogen and those based on new materials like graphene, we can create many new companies that are at the cutting edge of technology and invest in skills that create the high productivity sectors of the future. We now have the chance to do this with programmes like HyNet, an innovation programme for hydrogen and low carbon energy across the North West, and they need investment at scale from both the public and private sector.”

Emma Degg, Chief Executive of the North West Business Leadership Team, and member of the North West Forum, said: ‘Tackling poor productivity matters to the country, and it matters here in the North West. We have one of the UK’s largest regional economies, and can claim the greatest manufacturing output of all UK regions. Our £180bn economy includes £27bn of exports across the globe and ambitions for Global Britain depend, in part, upon us. We are not lacking in ambition and see exciting new opportunities emerging across the North West, from the Liverpool City Region’s Freeport to Net Zero North West, and we are at the forefront of positioning the UK as a leader in clean energy and sustainable manufacturing.

“However, productivity remains a significant challenge and continues to hinder growth. If we are to ensure all our communities benefit from the opportunities before us, we must take action. This excellent report could help to drive significant improvements in productivity across the North West, raising the overall competitiveness and prosperity of the entire country. The time for action is now.”

Jessica Bowles, Director of Strategy at Bruntwood, and member of the North West Forum, said: “We do have a problem in our hands, but crucially, what this paper highlights is that by businesses working together and with academic institutions and government both local and national, we do have the tools to fix it.

“The region has many assets, but it’s about leveraging those strengths in the right way – be it our manufacturing skills, expertise in health planning or knowledge in life sciences. Only then can we start to reduce the gap and shift the dial on productivity in a meaningful way.”

Professor Barry Leahey MBE, CEO at Cumbria-based Playdale Playgrounds, Be the Business Fellow, and member of the North West Forum said: “Business, government and universities must work together if we want to level up the North West. We simply can’t afford to wait around. Lacklustre business investment during the pandemic is a concern and progress on productivity has gone backwards – compared to not only our global competitors but other UK regions – as a result. We need to leverage the expertise of our region’s most productive businesses and find mechanisms to share their tactics for success with businesses that want to improve.”

The link to the full report can be found .

The 2020/21 operating financial year, which concluded 31 July, saw the organisation exceeding their ambitious targets and fulfilling their commitment to creating positive social and economic impact by helping UoM academics and student inventors commercialise their research.

An impressive 13 new spin-out companies were created working across a broad range of technologies and applications. The businesses are:

• SmartIR Ltd – Electromagnetic ‘invisibility cloak’ and thermal management for the aerospace industry
• Aletheia Imaging Solutions Ltd – Reference targets for mission critical components made by additive manufacturing
• InPepCide Ltd – New family of anti-fungal therapeutics with an initial focus on the eye disease fungal keratitis
• Gene Gini Ltd – Reference gene software
• Mantra Diagnostics Ltd – Hypoxic Tumour Biomarkers to support targeted treatment and drug development
• Spotlight Ltd – New AI imaging software to speed up the identification of blood cancers by pathology labs
• Tabrix Ltd – Novel therapeutics targeted at hard-to-treat pathogens such as TB
• Ceydr Labs Ltd – A universal power management device with a wide range of applications including battery charging
• Retendon Ltd– Synthetic tendon repair system
• Careloop Ltd– An AP to help patients with mental health problems such as schizophrenia
• Link Biologics Ltd – New range of therapeutics targeting indications such as dry-eye disease and osteoarthritis
• Ravan Ltd - Identifying and repurposing drugs that can stop or retard cellular senescence
• CrystalGrower Ltd – Software to help chemists and biologists predict crystal morphology and surface structure.

In addition to helping UoM academics and students create new businesses with their inventions, the Innovation Factory was able to support innovative commercialisation of new technology by licensing intellectual property. Licensing income for the financial year totalled £7.4M, 48% above target. Investment into spin-outs was approximately £44M, with £3.4M being invested into newly-founded spin-out companies.

Andrew Wilkinson, Innovation Factory Chief Executive, said: “The University of Manchester is a truly global institution, with a reputation for education and innovation that resonates across the world. The Innovation Factory has the responsibility to take the world-changing ideas and technologies that are created at the University and commercialise them to be used for the benefit of society as a whole.”

Furthermore, the Innovation Factory was instrumental in facilitating the formation of a new company, Northern Gritstone created through a partnership with the Universities of Leeds, 91ֱ�� and Sheffield. Northern Gritstone has been established to provide patient capital to commercialise the intellectual property emerging from its Founding Universities. Northern Gritstone’s ambition is to be recognised as the leading University IP spin-out business in Europe and is currently seeking to raise up to £500 million from institutional, corporate, and ultra-high net worth individuals.

Professor Luke Georghiou, Deputy President and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, said: “These record results confirm the excellent trajectory of the University of Manchester Innovation Factory. With the added investment power of Northern Gritstone they mark a key step on the way to transforming the technology start-up landscape in the North of England and levelling up the UK economy. They are a credit to the Innovation Factory team and of course to the innovators and founders who made it possible with their breakthrough ideas.”

Roisin McCallion, Business Development and Investment Director for the Innovation Factory, said: “The team has delivered amazing results, under very difficult circumstances and the limitations caused by the pandemic. The fact that we secured significant investment in to the UoM’s spin-outs is a clear testament to the value these organisations offer to society.”

To find out more about the work of the Innovation Factory, please visit .

Haldane, who will operate as a Permanent Secretary as part of the civil service, will report to both the Prime Minister and Michael Gove, who last week was appointed to run the new Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities following a Cabinet reshuffle.

Haldane will be on secondment from his job as Chief Executive of the Royal Society of Arts for six months, and will now play a key role in defining and delivering the flagship policy.

In an  with Alliance MBS earlier this summer, Haldane discussed how productivity, skills and devolution were key to the levelling-up agenda, and said you could not tackle levelling-up in isolation from all three.

However he said bringing the three elements together was much easier to do locally than nationally. "What you need to be doing is joining up policies around education, health, transport and business support at the local level."

He added that success in levelling-up also came down to "delegating powers, people and finances" and that further devolution was essential. "You need to craft local plans that speak to local problems and devolution is an essential pre-requisite for making progress on levelling-up."

Professor Jones, who is also the author of more than 190 scientific papers in materials physics will focus on connecting the University to the wider innovation and policy agenda in the Greater 91ֱ�� region. He is already the independent science advisor for Innovation Greater 91ֱ��.

Before moving to The University of Manchester in 2020, he was Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation at Sheffield University from 2009 to 2016, was a member of EPSRC Council from 2013 – 2018, and chaired Research England’s Technical Advisory Group for the Knowledge Exchange Framework. He has written extensively about science and innovation policy, and was a member of the Sheffield/91ֱ�� Industrial Strategy Commission. He is the author of and is also active on .

The University of Manchester is already a significant international player in working to help develop organisations through academic expertise and turning its own research into businesses. Recently the University, alongside the Universities of Leeds and Sheffield, launched Northern Gritstone – a new investment company that is looking to raise £500m of capital.

Alongside Bruntwood SciTech, a 50:50 joint venture between Bruntwood and Legal & General, The University is also developing ID 91ֱ�� – a £1.5bn innovation district in central 91ֱ��. This year, University is top for the value of funding received from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), being awarded £98 million of competitive Research & Innovation Grants.

This role in regional innovation sits alongside the University’s commitment to the local community. 91ֱ�� is part of a civic university agreement with the other higher education institutions in the city-region. This outlines a number of priorities agreed in partnership with the elected Mayor, Greater 91ֱ�� Combined Authority and local authorities.

Professor Jones said: “The University of Manchester is the original civic university and in keeping with the nature of the city has always had a pioneering spirit. My role is to work with the people in our region, whether working in enterprise or policy, who can benefit from our world-leading expertise. This is very much about listening to those people and developing shared solutions, so I am keen to speak to as many of them as possible.”

Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor of The University of Manchester, said: “Richard is a leading researcher and highly influential and respected authority on innovation, policy and civic engagement, and this new role will put him at the centre of this important aspect of our University’s strategic aims. I am often told that our University’s close connections and partnerships are part of what makes the city-region so successful and having Richard in this role can only enhance that.”

Following a decade of consistent and dedicated support for businesses to improve their competitiveness and productivity through the better use of knowledge, technology and skills that reside within the university, the achievements realised by colleagues across the University has put the University at the top of Innovate UK’s Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) ranking, the institution announces today. This ranking demonstrates The University of Manchester is the partner of choice for businesses that want to drive informed innovation for commercial advantage.

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) bring together academic institutions, with innovative businesses, to facilitate the transfer of knowledge between academia and business to deliver transformative change. KTP projects are funded by UKRI through Innovate UK - the UK's innovation agency - who manages the KTP programme and facilitates its delivery through a range of partners including the Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN). The programme provides a grant contribution towards total eligible project costs of up to 67% to support collaborative projects between Academia and UK businesses - to translate and apply research and expertise to drive innovation in business.

Led by the University’s Knowledge Exchange Team, the University has secured £25M to support over 100 projects with a range of SMEs and large business partners over the past 10 years. Through delivery of these projects, 91ֱ�� academics have used their knowledge to support strategic commercial innovation for the benefit of UK plc, providing an ongoing and vital contribution at a time when the world is faced with the challenge of economic recovery following the pandemic.

Professor Luke Georghiou, Deputy President and Deputy Vice Chancellor of The University of Manchester said: "Being recognised by Innovate UK as the top institution for KTPs is fitting recognition of a decade's hard work from The University of Manchester. 

"The University of Manchester's KTPs have attracted over £25m funding to support businesses delivering real-world innovation, like inov-8 who are pioneering the use of graphene technology and Jackson Lees who are applying artificial intelligence (AI) powered tools to provide cost-effective and consumer-focused delivery of legal services.

"Topping Innovate UK’s KTP table is a testament to the hard work of the Knowledge Exchange team and academic researchers across UoM and is making us an innovation partner of choice for business."

Fiona Nightingale, Senior Knowledge Transfer Adviser of the Knowledge Transfer Network said: "As the nominated Knowledge Transfer Adviser for 91ֱ��, I am absolutely delighted that The University of Manchester has attained the top position as the University with the most active KTPs in the UK .This is a well-deserved result that reflects the hard work and exemplary support provided by the University’s outstanding Knowledge Exchange team and the academic involved in delivering the projects.

"The KE team supports academics, companies and graduates at every step of the process, from finding the right expertise, developing a partnership, applying for funding and supporting a KTP project throughout its life.

"The 91ֱ�� region punches above its weight in terms of participation in KTP and this is a fitting outcome following lots of dedicated effort to support business innovation."

There are ongoing opportunities to develop Knowledge Transfer Partnerships and if you are interested in developing a partnership please contact The University of Manchester’s Knowledge Transfer Team here [ke@manchester.ac.uk]

The study was undertaken by researchers at The Productivity Institute, a UK-wide research organisation that is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and based at The University of Manchester. It reviewed each country’s approach and the impact on productivity, competiveness and the environment.

Analysing data from recovery packages revealed in 2020, it found:

• Using budgets for green recovery to measure ambition, France and Germany provided far more funding, and strategically invested through integrated recovery plans. France committed EUR30.4 billion (1.25% of 2019 GDP); Germany EUR27.5 billion (0.80% of 2019 GDP); compared to UK investment of EUR17.3 billion (0.69% of 2019 GDP).
• All three countries dedicated the bulk of their green recovery funding to four sectors and technologies: hydrogen, electric vehicles, buildings energy retrofits, and railway infrastructure. In dedicating the largest share (57.8%) to hydrogen and electric vehicles, Germany used the green recovery to accelerate sectors with long-term economic and green potential. In comparison, France and the UK used the green recovery to deliver short-term economic and environmental benefits to sustain jobs.
• The UK’s failure to develop multi-year projects pre-COVID-19 - and the subsequent poor implementations of key policies - impacted on jobs, the economy and the environment. Using the Green Homes Grant launched in 2020 as an example, the research revealed how implementation challenges quickly derailed UK policies in their infancy. In comparison, Germany invested its buildings energy retrofit recovery budget into a well-established 14-year old programme. Similarly, France leveraged pre-existing administrative experience and recognition by funding a mix of both new and existing programmes.
• Germany’s support for sectors with a long-term productivity potential was enabled by its COVID-19 resilient economy. The French and UK focus on short-term gains, however, was driven by political motivations: France’s Presidential elections in 2022, and the UK’s need to show quick gains post-Brexit and ahead of COP26 in November 2021.

The project was led by a team of experts based at the Alliance 91ֱ�� Business School: Professor Frank W. Geels, Professor of System Innovation and Sustainability and one of the most cited scholars in the world; Professor Jonatan Pinkse, Professor of Strategy, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship at the 91ֱ�� Institute of Innovation Research; and Guillermo Ivan Pereira, Postdoctoral Research Associate in Sustainable Energy Innovation.

“While the UK had good intentions, compared to France and Germany it lacked ambition, and smooth and clear delivery,” said Professor Pinkse. “The UK’s green recovery would benefit from a clearer post-pandemic strategy that connects and expands the actions proposed so far. Although there is significant attention for hydrogen, the UK does not yet have a national hydrogen strategy (unlike Germany and France) – we hope to see it sooner rather than later in 2021.”

“How each country decided to balance the options has been shaped by their pre-pandemic trajectory on climate and economic progress, and priorities for the future,” added Dr. Pereira. “Germany’s support for sectors with a long-term productivity potential shows a greater focus on gaining competitive advantage in new sectors and was enabled by an economy that was more resilient to the short-term economic shock. The French and UK focus on short-term gains is more clearly driven by political motivations.”

‘Public investments in COVID-19 green recovery packages: A comparative analysis of scale, scope, and implementation in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom’ can be accessed at .

Foresight Group, an award-winning listed infrastructure and private equity investment manager, has invested £3.0 million of growth capital into NorthWest EHealth Limited (“NWEH” or “the Company”), providers of software and services to the clinical trials market.

Established in 2016, NWEH grew out of a collaboration between the University of Manchester, Salford Royal Foundation NHS Trust and Salford Clinical Commissioning Group. Its products provide the life sciences industry with an alternative approach to clinical trial design and management. NWEH’s leading-edge technologies help run trials more cost effectively, from feasibility studies to the World’s first large scale Phase III trial using data directly from source electronic health records (EHR).

With Foresight’s support, NWEH aims to become a leading provider of clinical trials and data-driven trial design, feasibility and recruitment. The investment will be used to expand the current data network, enabling the Company to deliver a larger number of trials at a global level, increase product development and expand the sales and marketing team to help build long term, strategic relationships. The existing team have strong credentials in their field and are led by founder and CEO Martin Gibson.

Customers include several of the largest global pharmaceutical and research companies, such as GSK, Novartis and PPD. The market opportunity is vast, with global clinical trials estimated to be worth $69 billion annually and forecast to grow at a rate of 5.7% per year until 2026. The UK is one of the leading global markets for clinical trials, currently worth £3 billion per year, with life sciences identified as a priority sector by the UK Government post-Brexit.

Foresight is committed to working towards a smarter future by supporting SMEs with the potential to have a positive impact on society. NWEH’s innovative technology seeks to reduce the cost of running clinical trials and increase the efficiency of clinical trials, in turn contributing to improved medical treatment and a healthier population.

Commenting on the investment, Martin Gibson, CEO of NWEH, said: “The pandemic has strengthened the need for increased data integration to enable rapid trial design, recruitment and remote follow-up. Whilst our software meets many of these needs already, this investment means we can significantly accelerate our development and deployment programmes.”

“We are very pleased to be working with Foresight. Their track record in supporting SMEs and their particular focus on growth investment for life science and technology made them the ideal investment partner for us.”

Matthew Evans-Young, Senior Investment Manager at Foresight, added: “The last year has only highlighted the importance of the pharmaceutical and life sciences industry, and we see the UK as continuing to play a significant role in the sector going forwards. NWEH is a thought leader in the market, and we have been consistently impressed by the team’s vision for the future of clinical trials. We look forward to supporting them in achieving this vision over the coming years.”

The company, called will fund spinout enterprises from each institution using external capital raised from a range of different investors. These businesses will either be newly formed spinouts or ones historically founded by or linked to the universities. The company also aims to be a key part of the Government’s ‘Build Back Better’ levelling up agenda and  in the North.

The three Universities initially came together in 2018 to create the Northern Triangle Initiative and secured a £5million award from the Research England Connecting Capabilities Fund (CCF). By 2020 the CCF had supported around 20 commercially viable projects, substantially improving commercialisation rates across the three Universities, and generating a sustainable pipeline of University spinouts.

Northern Gritstone will build on this successful collaboration by providing significant start-up and follow-on funding to support the Intellectual Property developed at Leeds, 91ֱ��, and Sheffield. Northern Gritstone plans to raise up to £500 million from strategic corporate partners, institutional investors, and qualifying individuals. If successful, the financing will make Northern Gritstone one of the largest dedicated investors into the commercialisation of university science and technology related Intellectual Property in the UK.

Northern Gritstone will provide funding for a diverse range of companies across areas such as advanced materials and manufacturing, health and life sciences, artificial intelligence, and data sciences

Jane Madeley, the University of Leeds’ Chief Financial Officer, will represent the University as a non-executive director on Northern Gritstone’s board.

She said: “Leeds and our fellow founding universities are technological powerhouses, pursuing research and innovation that has the potential to help tackle some of the biggest challenges facing the world. But a lack of capital investment has sometimes limited that capability – Northern Gritstone will go a long way to help release this pent-up potential.”

The University of Manchester Deputy President and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Prof Luke Georghiou – who is responsible for business engagement and commercialisation activities at the institution – said: “Northern Gritstone will play a key role in the Government’s levelling up agenda and help the North of England’s local and regional economies to ‘Build, Back, Better,’ following the pandemic and economic burdens of lockdown. This company will be a game-changer for investment and commercialisation of university-led research, ideas and IP in the UK.”

Professor Dave Petley, Vice-President for Innovation at the University of Sheffield, said: “Northern Gritstone is the culmination of a great deal of hard work and collaboration between three of the country’s leading research universities, but we are just at the beginning of a project that has immense potential for everyone, from investors to researchers.

“The combination of a globally significant cluster of highly innovative activity and large-scale investment power will drive the rapid scale-up of firms at the forefront of sectors based on technologies such as health and life sciences, AI and data analytics, advanced materials and manufacturing.”

The data, available on the , informs a series of metrics that look at the performance of English higher education providers from a variety of perspectives, including public and community engagement, working with partners ranging from big businesses to small local firms, and how they commercialise their research.

For The University of Manchester, the KEF results demonstrate our achievements across the full range of knowledge exchange activities benchmarked against the UK’s leading research-intensive universities. We particularly welcome the recognition of our sector-leading performance on research partnerships and on public and community engagement. You can view each university’s performances on the .

Our position on research partnerships performance recognises our collaborative research with partners in business and the public sector, also reflected in a strong showing for working with business and with the public and third sectors.

The leading position in public engagement encompasses our achievements in volunteering, mutual partnerships, citizen science, festivals, widening participation, policy engagement, patient involvement in research, and engagement with communities through our cultural institutions.

We are well ahead of the average for our cluster in skills enterprise and entrepreneurship which measures continuing and professional development and graduate start-up businesses supported by the . Our all-round performance is completed by recognition of our contribution to local growth and regeneration [] and our rapidly increasing rate of IP commercialisation via the .

Deputy President and Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Luke Georghiou commented: “Knowledge exchange is a core priority for the University of Manchester. We shall continue to ensure that our research, teaching and social responsibility activities benefit the economy and society at local, national and global levels.”

Last year, a  was launched at COP25, the UN climate change conference in Madrid. The report identified points of leverage for coordinated international action to accelerate low carbon transitions in ten of the highest emitting sectors.

He also recently contributed to another landmark report on the state of Europe’s environment, which featured a whole chapter drawing on his work around how societies can transition towards more sustainable futures.

You can access the , with more .

Alliance 91ֱ�� Business School will host a new institute funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) to make the UK economy more productive.

The new £32m Productivity Institute is being funded by £26m from ESRC and £6m from Alliance 91ֱ�� Business School and its partner institutions for five years, from 1 September 2020.

The creation of the new institute was announced today by Science Minister Amanda Solloway. She said: “Improving productivity is central to driving forward our long-term economic recovery and ensuring that we level up wages and living standards across every part of the UK. The new Productivity Institute and LSE’s innovative research will bring together the very best of our researchers, boosting our understanding of the different drivers of productivity and helping people and businesses produce and earn more in every area of our economy.”

The business school, part of The University of Manchester, will partner with eight other institutions across the country in a bid to help policy and business leaders across the UK understand how to improve productivity and living standards as the economy begins to recover from the impact of COVID-19.

While UK productivity (the amount of production per worker) has historically risen over time, It is lower now than it was at the onset of the financial crisis in 2008, even though the economy grew until COVID-19 reached the UK – something dubbed Britain’s ‘productivity puzzle’*. Addressing this puzzle could mean better jobs, higher living standards and the country becoming richer on a per-person basis.

The Productivity Institute is being funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) as part of its largest single investment into social sciences research. ESRC is part of UK Research and Innovation, which is principally funded by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS). Alliance 91ֱ�� Business School has been chosen as the lead institution because of its extensive background in business engagement and developing world-class economic research that informs public policy.

Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-chancellor of The University of Manchester, said: “This is a landmark investment by the government. It demonstrates how serious the government is about solving the UK’s productivity puzzle and importantly, it signals a commitment to help create an economy that works for everyone, with growth that is sustainable, inclusive and regionally distributed. We are proud to lead a group of some of the UK’s most prestigious institutions to tackle what is perhaps the greatest economic challenge of our times and to do so from our region, with its rich heritage in productive growth.”

The Institute will be led by Professor Bart van Ark as Managing Director who has been appointed to a Chair in Productivity Studies at Alliance 91ֱ�� Business School and was previously Chief Economist at The Conference Board in the US. Professor van Ark will be supported by over 40 co-investigators who are world-renowned experts in their fields, including Professor Anthony Venables of the University of Oxford, who will be appointed as the Institute’s Research Director; Professor Diane Coyle of the University of Cambridge; and Professor Jagjit Chadha at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.

The Institute will develop its research agenda and practical business interventions through a programme of regional engagement with policymakers and business leaders from firms of all sizes as well as bodies like HM Treasury, BEIS and the CBI.

It will create eight Regional Productivity Forums across the country to work with these businesses and policy makers on critical productivity issues in the regional context; and it will form a national Policy Reform Group to work with policy makers on productivity aspects of nation-wide policies.

The Institute’s goal is to make long-term policy recommendations that help to improve the UK’s productivity, which is lower than in the US, Ireland, France, Germany and Spain, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development**.

Professor van Ark said: “For many years the UK has grappled with how to create better jobs and boost productivity, thereby increasing people’s prosperity around the country. The COVID-19 recession makes it time for a fresh look at these challenges. If we are to reboot the economy we need jobs that create high value, use economic and natural resources efficiently, and drive sustained growth through technological change and innovation. Productive jobs will pay more and improve people’s well-being.

“Working closely with businesses, policymakers and other stakeholders across the nation and sharing insights with other countries, we aim through our research and engagement to develop practices and policies to encourage more productive and inclusive growth across the UK.”

Professor Fiona Devine CBE, Head of Alliance 91ֱ�� Business School, added: “This landmark project shows how business schools act as a force for good for the whole of society. By taking our original thinking and research and applying them to a huge economic challenge, we can play our part in building a stronger working UK economy with all the benefits that brings to people and businesses right across the country.”

The partner institutions supporting Alliance 91ֱ�� Business School are: University of Cambridge, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, University of Glasgow, University of Sheffield, King's College London, Queen's University Belfast, Cardiff University, University of Warwick.

The Productivity Institute will also collaborate with the Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence (ESCoE) and with organisations outside of the UK, including the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris.

Designed to be one of Europe’s most effective University Technology Transfer offices, the has built a new team and processes for commercialising the University’s innovations and intellectual property.

The new organisation’s core mission is to use this IP to create positive social and economic impact. The Innovation Factory works with academic and student inventors to identify research that has the potential to create future value.

Access to innovations may be created via technology licensing or the formation of new spin-out companies. The Innovation Factory aims to provide a world class service to academic colleagues as well as important external stakeholders, including industry, entrepreneurs, licensees, VC & angel investors as well as corporate venturing partners.

has the objective of creating between 15 to 20 new spin-out companies each year based on novel ideas coming from the University’s three faculties; Medicine Biology & Health, Science & Engineering and Humanities. It also aims to generate significant incremental income and impact by signing deals with companies wishing to license the University’s diverse portfolio of intellectual property.

Previously known as UMI³., the organisation has recently been restructured to more effectively deliver its mission. It now comprises four main functional groups: Operations; Business Development; Finance, Legal & Asset Portfolio and Information & Digital Marketing. New processes are also being developed to ensure that ideas with potential value are identified, rapidly evaluated and built into assets such as patents or new businesses.

Andrew Wilkinson, The Innovation Factory’s Chief Executive comments: "The University of Manchester is a truly global institution, with a reputation for education and innovation that resonates across the world. The Innovation Factory has the responsibility to take the world-changing ideas and technologies that are created at the University and commercialise them to be used for the benefit of society as a whole.

"We are building a team, processes and a culture in the new organisation that focuses, above all, on creating positive social and economic impact. We are also looking to create new funding models to support translational research and new spinout businesses. These include The Ideas with Impact Partnership Programme."

The University of Manchester has received a £2.5million donation to boost the region’s capacity and capability in Financial Technology (FinTech).

The donation was made by Greensill, a leading British FinTech company founded by Lex Greensill, who is also an MBA alumnus (Class of 2006).

Greensill offers working capital finance to millions of customers all over the world, combining advanced technology and capital markets expertise to allow businesses of any size access to cash at rates previously preserved for the largest multinational corporations.

The donation will enable the University to drive the FinTech agenda in the North West with a new Chair in FinTech, as well as other key academic posts and PhD scholarships over the next five years.

The Greensill Chair in FinTech investment sees the appointment of Markos Zachariadis as Professor of Financial Technology and Information Systems at AMBS. Part of Professor Zachariadis’ role will involve managing projects which will build the University’s public profile in FinTech, as well as creating partnerships with leading businesses to work on projects.

The funding will also enable the collaboration of academics from across the University to promote multidisciplinary research and support student entrepreneurship in FinTech and related fields.

According to the latest UK FinTech State of the Nation report, $3.3 billion was invested in UK FinTech in 2018 and the number of FinTech firms is set to double to more than 32,000 by 2030.

Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice Chancellor at The University of Manchester, said: "This generous donation from Greensill is very forward looking and will enable the University to spearhead the understanding and sharing of FinTech expertise across business communities locally, nationally and globally.

"As well as funding the Greensill Chair position, we will also develop our teaching capabilities by creating two lecturer posts, allowing us to plan for growth in undergraduate, postgraduate and executive education in this developing field. Two postdoctoral research fellows and four PhD scholarships will also enable us to carry out ground-breaking research and help us to create strong links with businesses, policy makers and authorities, positioning 91ֱ�� at the forefront of this evolving field."

Professor Fiona Devine, Head of AMBS, said: “It is an honour to receive support from Lex Greensill as an MBA alumnus of Alliance 91ֱ�� Business School, the donation marks a significant milestone in the development of FinTech in the North West. I am delighted we have appointed Professor Markos Zachariadis as Greensill Chair in FinTech and to be able to realise our ambitions for the University’s FinTech strategy.”

Lex Greensill added: “At Greensill we are passionate about how finance and technology can change for the better the way we live and work. To that end, we look forward to developing an ever-closer relationship with Alliance 91ֱ�� Business School. We are delighted to be able to give back to an institution that was so important to the foundation of our firm.”

The partnership will be celebrated at an event on FinTech in the North West at AMBS in Spring 2020

Starting his first technology business aged just 14, Professor Vikas Shah MBE is one of the UK’s most high-profile serial entrepreneurs and philanthropists.

As well as being an Honorary Professor of Business and Entrepreneurship at the Alliance 91ֱ�� Business School (AMBS), he is CEO of the Swiscot Group and an investor in the tech sector. Vikas has a formidable CV and has been extremely successful throughout his entire professional and working life.

But, regardless of all these achievements, he came close to taking his own life. It is something he is very open about and, for World Mental Health Day, he has about his ongoing struggles with anxiety and depression.

One of the key things Vikas warns of is that being successful in your personal and professional life shouldn’t come at the cost of your health, no matter what. He says there is an unhealthy perception in some professions that the more hours you put in, the better you must being doing: “There’s this weird mantra in entrepreneurship, which is a curiously European, British thing, where people think they have to work 20 hours a day.”

It is something Vikas has first-hand experience of and now strongly warns against: “When you burn out, it’s horrible, and it teaches you a hard lesson. If you don’t take time out for yourself, you very quickly find that what you do for a living becomes who you are, and that’s a very dangerous place to be.”

Outside of work pressures, Vikas also thinks there is a toxic masculinity in society that not only contributes to various mental health issues in men, but even stops them from talking about it. He adds: “The caricature of masculinity that magazines purvey and persuade people they need to buy into is really dangerous.

“In the same way that toxic femininity pervaded women’s magazines and persuaded everyone they had to be size zero and all think kind of thing. But I think that is one really specific issue. I think the wider issue is around the fact that men as a group vocabulary for discussion emotion.”

Vikas now uses every opportunity he can to speak out and raise awareness about mental health issues and implores others to do the same, as it might literally save their lives as it did with his: “It was only because I’d made a phone call to the Samaritans, that I didn’t do it [take his own life].

“The weight of not saying it was so profound, that the act of being able to speak to a stranger took the weight off a little bit. It committed it to the real world – it wasn’t a demon in my head anymore.”

As well as being a business man, Vikas is now also a renowned public speaker with a massively popular and interviews with some of the world’s most prominent leaders and thinkers including Buzz Aldrin, Melinda Gates and Sir Richard Branson. You can to the full conversation and the rest of the University's podcasts on .