University of Warwick to support £10m project to boost innovation and create ‘spinouts’ in the Midlands

The University of Warwick is amongst several universities in the Midlands supporting a government-backed project, aiming to promote innovation and create jobs in the region.

The government announced the backing of four new innovation hubs across Britain, with a £30m investment, in order to help research institutions transfer their academic progress into profitable business.  

As part of the Midlands hub, the ‘Forging ahead/Forging beyond’ group which includes University of Warwick, will receive £10m over five years and is targeted towards health, advanced manufacturing, net zero, and digital sectors. 

Given that as much as a third of the overall investment has been directed into the Midlands, it seems that the involvement of the University of Warwick will play a key role in the outcome of the scheme, in collaboration with other leading regional institutions such as Loughborough University and University of Nottingham, amongst others. 

The program aims to address regional skill shortages within industries of the future by creating a ‘Talent Pool’, which intends to help universities develop networks for innovation and investment

The program aims to address regional skill shortages within industries of the future by creating a ‘Talent Pool’, which intends to help universities develop networks for innovation and investment. 

In addition to their financial contribution of £30m to help drive growth, as part of the scheme the government is also publishing step-by-step guidance on how these public sector organisations can actually go about creating these ‘spinouts’. 

The government hopes this advice, as well as its financial backing, will help more new businesses be borne out of the innovation that takes place within the UK’s research institutions. 

In a statement announcing the news at Birmingham’s Aston University, the Science Minister, Lord Vallance, urged universities to “do more to unlock scientific research’s vast economic potential, and to help our innovators world-leading public sector labs turn brilliant ideas into businesses that attract investment and sustain jobs”. 

This latest investment forms part of Labour’s wider ‘Plan for Change’ strategy in their efforts to boost economic growth nationwide, and as part of the program they have also channelled funding towards Merseyside, East Anglia, and Northeast England.