Half of UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) investments last year were made to organisations outside London and the South East, the highest proportion ever.
This represents an additional £1.4 billion invested outside the Greater South East since 2021 to 2022.
All regions and nations received an increase but one of the greatest absolute increases was in the West Midlands.
Helping great ideas become reality
Earlier this month, Science Minister Lord Vallance visited Aston University, one of many leading Midlands universities working to transform how research and innovation are translated into real-world impact across the region.
It’s part of a new UKRI £30 million investment supporting four regional projects.
It brings together universities, industry and other partners to help more inventions reach their commercial potential, creating jobs and attracting investment.
But science investment often benefits the things that many people think are most important, including:
- health
- decent jobs
- growing businesses
- public services
West Midlands Innovation Accelerator
Significant investments in the region include West Midlands Innovation Accelerator which recently had extended funding and is helping the city-region to become a major, globally competitive centre for research and innovation.
The programme has created more than 160 jobs already and attracted £74 million in co-investment.
Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands, said:
Our Innovation Accelerator has connected some of the brightest minds from our world-class universities with the entrepreneurial spirit of our businesses.
Together they’re using 21st century technologies like 5G and AI to tackle real-world challenges. That’s improving lives and boosting our economy, with hundreds of new jobs created, millions of pounds of new investment, and real momentum for the growth we want to see in our economy.
This is the kind of growth that takes the people in our region with it, growth for everyone.
Improving health and wellbeing
iCount
One of the businesses supported though the accelerator is iCount.
iCount uses conventional technology and artificial intelligence (AI) to help reduce the risk of swabs being left inside the body during surgery or childbirth, which risks sepsis and other complications.
iCount inventor and doctor, Aditi Desai, said:
Investing in health tech is investing in safer, smarter care. Turning scientific innovation into real-world impact takes the right support at the right time.
We’re grateful to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, UKRI and the Innovation Accelerator for helping accelerate the iCount journey towards clinical impact.
Creating jobs and supporting businesses
Advanced Ceramics Centre
The Advanced Ceramics Centre in Staffordshire, a county with significant industrial heritage, is helping local innovators translate ceramics materials into real-world products by enabling development at an industrially relevant scale.
The centre, along with other work in the Midlands, is expected to help grow 4,200 jobs in the next decade.
Science Minister Lord Vallance said:
To sustain the economic growth we need to improve lives across the UK, we must take full advantage of the research talent and facilities that exist across our country.
From the Advanced Ceramics Centre in Staffordshire building on one of the county’s famous industries, to the West Midlands Innovation Accelerator driving technology to support healthcare breakthroughs, these investments back Midlands innovators to build on local expertise and improve lives.
Spaceplay
Small, Birmingham firm Spaceplay which produces art pieces and miniatures, has benefitted from a collaboration with researchers at Birmingham City University.
Spaceplay is now using AI to make its packaging more precise and protective.
It’s helping the company grow and reduce waste, and ensuring delicate objects like sculptures are sent safely.
Improving access to justice
Research is also being used to improve access to justice.
Children can be important witnesses during criminal investigations but their evidence is often wrongly discounted as inaccurate due to their age.
Research at the University of Birmingham looked at what behaviours like shrugging, pausing or confidence tell us about the accuracy of what children are saying.
This has helped practitioners interpret children’s eyewitness accounts and has been used to train both the West Midlands and Somerset and Avon Police forces.
Equal access to opportunity
UKRI’s annual reports and accounts show that in the 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024 financial years (6 April 2022 to 5 April 2024), UKRI invested a combined £17 billion across the UK.
This report sets out where we invested our funding in 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024 and how the geographical distribution of our investment has changed since 2021 to 2022.
Jessica Corner, who heads UKRI’s strategy on regional investment, said:
The government has made it clear that economic growth and more equal access to opportunity are key elements of its ambition to tackle regional disparities in the UK.
Investing in research and innovation is a vital part of the way we boost productivity, wages, jobs and living standards across the country.