The Golden Triangle adds a Golden Arc

We have previously noted the UK Government’s strategic push to develop UK science and innovation. Part of this is to leverage the UK’s academic expertise, particularly from its world-leading universities, into investment and economic growth.

The Government has recently announced a new regional partnership board to develop the region between Oxford and Cambridge, the 'Oxford-Cambridge Arc'. The partnership board’s role will initially be to champion the region as a world leader of innovation and business, particularly for life sciences. This board comes with committed funding of up to £2.5 million. Relatedly, the Government’s Autumn Statement also committed £5 billion to complete the 'Varsity railway' line between Oxford and Cambridge.

Members of the partnership board have said that it will need continued government support and funding beyond the railway in order to fully develop the potential of the Arc and bring the board’s mission to fruition. In particular, as we have previously noted, there is a real need for new lab space in the ‘Golden Triangle’ of Oxford, Cambridge, also consisting of Imperial College. This money is unlikely to address this need.

Politically, the Government will have hoped for some positive news from this announcement. It comes amid criticism of the Government’s proposed changes to the R&D tax credit system, as well as the opposition Labour Party’s continued focus on the sector.

The University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge regularly lead global rankings of universities, but are behind their American counterparts when it comes to leveraging this into successful startups and related economic growth. That said, as we noted before, the Golden Triangle continues to lead Europe in this area.

Hopefully the partnership board is a step in the direction of converting the world leading academic and research excellence of Oxford and Cambridge into equally world leading areas for investment, growth and economic success.