University of Warwick backs creation of HealthTech Campus at Arden Cross

The University of Warwick will create a HealthTech Campus at Arden Cross, as part of a regeneration project worth £3.2 billion, it has been announced.

A joint venture involving the University, the UK government, and the private sector, the Campus will aim to bolster the UK’s life sciences industry, with a particular emphasis on developing new healthcare technologies and integrating them into medical practice.

Arden Cross is an upcoming £3.2 billion regeneration and development project to build a mixed-use hub near Solihull, centred around the proposed HS2 Interchange station.

The development is expected to house 6 million sq ft of employment space, 3,000 houses, and new infrastructure, alongside up to 27,000 new jobs.

As part of the Campus initiative, Warwick signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Arden Cross Ltd. in 2022, and subsequently signed a Statement of Intent with Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council and Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands Combined Authority.

The University of Warwick is already recognised for driving innovation in life sciences. The new Campus will strengthen our world-leading education and research work

Stuart Croft, Vice-Chancellor

The Campus will include a Digital Health Innovation Hub, which will link start-up enterprises and SMEs with the NHS and other healthcare providers. The aim is to facilitate early-stage development, testing, trials, and evaluation.

Alongside this, a Medical Technology Evaluation Centre will aim to modernise medical practice by facilitating uptake of new healthcare technologies by medical practitioners.

Stuart Croft, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Warwick, said: “The HealthTech Campus will help the life sciences and medical technology sector in the West Midlands to grow. It will also add value to the NHS and UK healthcare sector.

“The University of Warwick is already recognised for driving innovation in life sciences. The new Campus will strengthen our world-leading education and research work. It will also help us leverage investment from the public and private sectors and build academic partnerships.”

The HealthTech Campus at Arden Cross will be at the very centre of an innovation network – not just in life sciences, but in many of the UK’s most important and exciting sectors

Andy Street, West Midlands Mayor

Andy Street argued: “The HealthTech Campus at Arden Cross will be at the very centre of an innovation network – not just in life sciences, but in many of the UK’s most important and exciting sectors.

“That network will also help grow the region’s industries of the future to create a low carbon, high-tech economy capable of offering well-paid jobs and valuable opportunities to local people in the months and years ahead.”

The Mayor further added that the Campus was evidence that Warwick sees “enormous potential in Arden Cross”, suggesting the joint venture highlighted the West Midland’s “strength as an innovation-led economy,” and “the ability of HS2 to attract and enable major investment”.

More broadly, the UK has a burgeoning life sciences sector: consultancy firm PwC has suggested the industry “has seen strong growth since before the pandemic”, adding £3.2 billion to the UK economy in 2021.