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Leading companies and universities have urged Sir Keir Starmer to turn the Oxford and Cambridge region into the “crown jewel” of European innovation, in a revival of stalled efforts to create a British rival to Silicon Valley.
Investment in transport links, financial incentives and research space is needed to capitalise on the area’s “unmatched density” of enterprise, according to a letter to the prime minister whose signatories include AstraZeneca, Airbus and software company Aveva.
The lobbying effort to create a scientific “supercluster” comes after the previous Conservative government shelved a strategic project to create an “Oxford-Cambridge arc”, focusing instead on pledges to “level up” spending in the north of England.
The Oxford-Cambridge region already contributes to approximately 7 per cent of UK GDP, but the “constrained scale” of its innovation “presents a significant hurdle to greater productivity gains”, argues the letter, which has been seen by the Financial Times.
“We believe that with the right reforms, the UK can cultivate the champions of advanced industry and capitalise on its scientific expertise on the world stage,” the letter reads.
The proposals could help add £50bn a year to the British economy by 2030, with better rail links a priority, said Andy Williams, the letter’s first author and chair of the Oxford-Cambridge supercluster board.
The board is a group of more than 45 leading scientific enterprises, internationally recognised universities and global investors.
“Crucially, we need to start with connectivity through East West Rail to combine the region’s strengths and reach the critical mass we need to become a truly global science and technology supercluster, benefiting the whole of the UK,” Williams told the FT.
The letter proposes improving research and development incentives such as tax reliefs aimed at new-to-market companies, introducing a growth and skills levy to fund training in R&D-intensive industries and enhancing support for businesses spun off from universities. Further suggestions include addressing a chronic shortage of lab space by creating a special “innovation” use class for property.
Other signatories to the letter include property group British Land and the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, which already employs more than 6,000 people in more than 240 public and private sector organisations. The letter is copied to ministers across government, including chancellor Rachel Reeves.
The appeal reflects long-standing frustration that lack of infrastructure and a shortage of development capital mean innovative UK companies sometimes relocate to other countries or are bought by big overseas businesses.
The proposals aim to link into Labour’s quest to promote industries to drive economic growth, which is crucial to its public spending plans.